//------------------------------//
// Chapter Four: Testing, testing. One. Two. Three.... 
// Story: Would you take a bite? 
// by Jay Cruiz 
//------------------------------//


 Audible Range

"Explain to me again how it managed to get out?"
"I don't know sir. Subject Zero displayed speed and dexterity past what the initial examination showed possible. He was able to take down an earth pony with a single blow, evaded capture by myself and Jax, not to mention he was able to leap three meters in the air with no assistance. There is no way anything with his physiology should be that agile and powerful. It simply isn't right."
"And yet he still bled, is that correct? He may be something we can gain to study. Has the blood work come back yet?" Shining Armor looked up from his hooves, his blue eyes narrowed slightly. "Just notify me if anything changes," he said before walking out of the room.
Looking back I felt my eyes crease with worry. Subject Zero looked skeletal, his face sunken in and gaunt. His eyes wandered below his closed lids, his lips moving but making no sound. I gently rolled his head towards me and began to give him small spoonfuls of soup, hoping that he would keep it down. However I doubted it. Ever since he was brought to the infirmary he began to lose weight. Everything we fed him came back up less than an hour later. He wasn't even keeping water down. If this kept up he would die from malnutrition and dehydration. Silently I stood next to the bed, my eyes worriedly scanning Subject Zero. He was asleep, his chest rising and falling as he almost gasped for air.
His face was pulled into a grimace and his body shuddered, his legs twitching and jerking as if he were running from something. I watched in mute fascination as his hands scrabbled on the blankets like spiders wrapping their victim in web. Crying out he shot up, his injured arm shooting out as if to grab me, only to stop a few centimeters away. His eyes were open but void of life, staring into the space that I had once occupied. His mouth opened and a whisper escaped it, a word said with such fear and pain that it brought tears to my eyes. He sat like that for a moment longer before collapsing back, his injured arm hitting the bed with a loud thwack.
As I looked at his arm, which was now properly treated, I finally noticed what appeared to be a cutie mark on his shoulder and another on his chest as well. Upon closer inspection I realized it was a sigul/tribal marking of some type. It consisted of a large circle containing a hexagon, and within it was an upside-down pyramid with partial circles connecting it to the hexagon. There were glyphs and what appeared to be his language going around the inner perimeter of the circle, as I leaned in to examine it closer he began to stir again.
"What's wrong with you," I murmured over his gently moving form. "Why are you so frail? What's making you sick?" Sighing I shook my head slowly. "At this rate I'll never know." I looked at his face and was shocked to see his eyes open and staring at me, but they weren't glazed over- they were focused, on me. "T-tiller. His eyes are open. His eyes are open!" I felt a surge of relief at that sight.
The medic assigned to him rushed over, his stethoscope on subject Zeros chest a second later. His eyes never left mine. He opened his mouth and tried to speak, only to be cut off by ragged coughs and wheezes.
"Evan."
Confusion was evident on my face as he spoke. My head tilted to the side as he raised a limb and pointed it to himself. "Evan." He said something else, but all I really heard was that one word. My eyes slowly widened as it clicked in my head. I pointed to myself and slowly said my name. "Audi." I then pointed to him and pronounced the word he said slowly. "Evan?"
He smiled slightly and nodded. "A-audi," he said, pointing at me. His voice was whispery and faint, like a quill scratching on paper. "Evan," he said pointing back at himself.
I smiled, tears in my eyes. "Tiller. Get the princess. Now!" I ordered, hoping that Subject Ze- no Evan stayed awake long enough to see her. I looked at him, and noticed him raising his arm back and pantomiming something with his hand, as though he wanted.
"Water." Rushing to the sink I filled a glass of and brought it back to him. The moment his hand touched the glass held in my magic he recoiled, dropping the glass and turning pale. I only had that warning before he rolled over to the side and vomited, his frail form convulsing with the effort of trying to empty his already empty stomach. He eventually managed to lie back down. He smiled slightly, looking apologetic. 
Getting up I smiled and shook my head, showing that it was ok. Grabbing a mop I began to clean the bile off the floor. I heard the door open, causing me to turn around. There in the doorway stood Princess Celestia.
"I heard the subject is awake?" Her purple eyes widened in surprise as she took in his emaciated form. The moment she stepped over the threshold Evan made a strange noise, something between a shriek and a cough, making me look at him. His eyes were wide and darting around, his chest was rising and falling rapidly as he gasped, no hyperventilated. I could see his skin turning pale underneath the sheen of sweat that was covering him.
I opened my mouth, only to be cut off as he went ridged, his breathing all bit stopped, and I noticed a that his mouth and eyes began to shimmer slightly. The heart monitor he was attached to want haywire, picking up to the point where it sounded like one wavering note. All this happened in less than ten seconds.
Celestia stepped forward, her face creased with concern only to recoil as blood began to leak from his eyes, nose and a small trickle flowed from his ear. He looked at me and I saw that the whites of his eyes had turned a almost black and his irises were a crystal blue. He opened his mouth one last time and made the shrieking nose again before pitching forward into the mess of fluids in his lap.
The room was still for a moment before everything erupted in chaos. Voices overlapped as the med ponies rushed into the room, taking his vitals, inserting iv drips into his veins. I was shortly ejected from the room, unable to move from the pure shock. I looked at the princess and saw her face mirrored mine. 
"I-i need to lie down for a moment," she said, her voice shaking slightly. "Please stay in the castle until I call for you." Her voice was soft, her eyes distant as though she was staring at something on the far horizon.
That was almost a week ago. I barely left his side, not even sleeping. I began to run myself ragged worrying. I couldn't leave him. I felt like a mother looking after her sick child, ironic since he was around my age and a different species. I was nodding off when I felt a hoof on my shoulder.
"Get some rest. Don't worry about him. If there's any change you'll be one of the first to know."
I smiled wearily and shook my head. "I'm fine Shiney, I got some sleep last night." More like fifteen minuets, but he didn't need to know that.
"Horseapples. I know you've only left his side twice in the last three days. Go get some sleep, seriously, I will have you removed by force if need be."
"When you put it that way... I'll be back in a few hours." I balked at the stern look. "Okay, tomorrow then."
I sat in my living room staring into my fireplace, mesmerized- my mind drifting in and out of focus. I had spent the last few hours unsuccessfully trying to relax. It seemed that no matter what I did Evan stayed on my mind. Sighing I extinguished the fire with a simple hit of magic and slowly trudged up the stairs to my room. I flipped on my bed, to spent to even brush my teeth. Sighing quietly I wrapped myself up in my blanket and curled into a ball, trying to clear my head. After a few hours of tossing and turning I eventually managed to get a few hours of restless sleep.
It was around eleven when I woke up. I panicked for a moment before I realized that I was in my own home. After staying in the castle for over a week It felt strange and uncomfortable to be in my own bed. Stretching slightly I shook myself off, trying to get rid of the last dredged of exhaustion that clung to me like dew on a flower just after dawn.
"I guess I needed sleep more than I thought... He can be a bit of a turd sometimes but the captain knows when to release people of duty. But that's neither here nor there," I muttered before sitting down. "Now heres' a real question; what should I eat for breakfast?" After debating with myself I decided on eggs and waffles.  Just as I sat down I hear a gentle tapping as if someone was gently rapping on my door. "Right as I freaking sat down... This better be good," I muttered stomping to the door. "What?"
The little colt, who still had his hoof raised to knock on the door, jumped back squeaking. "S-sorry to bother you so early in the morning Ma'am but I was sent to give you this by the captain," he said quietly while handing over an envelope.
Great. Now I feel bad. "Thank you, and I'm sorry for snapping at you. Consider this my apology," I said while taking the envelope from him and giving him a ten bit coin. His eyes got big and he smiled before saluting and galloping off.
Opening the letter I began to read it aloud.

Miss Range, I request that you meet me in the throne room at your earliest convince. There are quite a few things I would like to speak with you about. Many of which pertain to Subject Zero, as well as this morning newspaper. Best regards,
Princess Celestia.

"This morning's newspaper? What is she talking about?" I looked around my front porch before I spotted it. Upon reading the headline I paled:  Curious Creature Caught Creeping around Castle!
"FUCK!"
It's been three days since the indecent with Evan. I tried to see him earlier today but he was still under quarantine. Sitting in the mess hall I idly swirled my spoon around in my oatmeal, gently blowing raspberries at no one in particular when a hoof touched me in the side. Looking up slowly I saw the head captain staring at me.
"Walk with me Audi. We have some things to talk about." The tone of his voice made me cautious, he sounded tense and uncertain. I nodded and stood, leaving my uneaten food behind. As I followed him out I opened my mouth, only for him to cut me off.
"Hold your questions for when we get to the throne room. The princess have a lot to talk to you about." The rest of the trip was made in silence, making it seem as though we were walking for an eternity...
"Tell me what you know about Subject Ze-"
"Evan."
Celestia blinked, her face showing mild surprise before she smirked. "I commend you for being able to interrupt me and not worry, but that is neither here nor there. What do you know of him? Do you have any inclination as to why he reacted like he did?"
"I am also curious about this sister. Did he have this reaction the first time he saw you?" Celestia shot Luna a look that said 'later' before turning back to me.
"So far I haven't been able to gather much on him, at least not in the mental sense. Physically however I've found a few things. He is an omnivore, he has both molars and incisors as well as canines. He appears to be quite young, maybe twenty or so. He is actually quite similar to a monkey, but it's very distant. Like how we are similar to horses- the same on some part of out genetics but also extremely different. His heart is just between his lungs, which absorb a similar amo-"
"Not to be rude but that isn't what I meant. So I shall reiterate; do you know why he had such a violent reaction to my presence?"
"Your presence? Not to my know...ledge..." My mind flashed back to the notes in his file and him vomiting after he touched the glass I held in my magic. "I may have a reason."
"And what is that dear?"
"When he first woke up he was fine, sitting up and able to speak a bit, however when I gave him the glass he got ill. It was as though he had a reaction to my magic."
Celestia looked pensive for a moment. "If this happened with you, we may need to test it out a bit more just to see if it was the magic that was making him ill. I will have it tested with nine more unicorns with you as the controlled variable."
As per her request we tried to test how magic Affected Evan and we got the results that I expected. His body was violently rejecting magic of any kind no matter who it was from.



Later that week I was on my way back to Evans room when I saw a big commotion near the infirmary. "What happened?" I asked a pegasus who had a wing in a splint.
"That creature happened," he muttered looking at me with a bruised face. "He got violent when anyone got near him. eventually we had to restrain him but not before he managed to injure a few unlucky souls."
"How did he injure you?"
"He's strong. Way stronger than we anticipated. He managed to throw off an earth pony with one arm before we got him restrained, but even then he managed to grab my wing hard enough to pull it out of the socket," the guard laughed, his voice bitter. "Looks like we all are going to be out of  commission for a while. Hell, Blueberry took a blow to the head so hard she got concussed. I don't care what the princess says. That. Thing. Is. Dangerous." With that he made a disgusted noise and walked away. A moment later he turned to look at me, his eyes narrowed. "That thing needs to be sent to Tartarus or put down, end of story."
My mind was reeling, Subject zero violent? Needing to be sent to tartarus?  I didn't want to believe it, but they were dealing with an unknown creature. Oh crap. Turning heel I ran down the opal corridor towards the science ward, hoping that the guard was lying. However the sight that greeted me when I got there dashed my hopes.
Subject Zero was sitting in a large chair, his arms and legs restrained by thick cloth manacles, but that wasn't the part that horrified me. Blood was splattered all over the room, there were bloody hoof and hand prints everywhere, there was a rather deep indentation in the wall that resembled an earth pony. My eyes slowly raised to him and I became more and more nauseous with every centimeter. His hands were covered in blood, and I could clearly see bone sticking out of one hand. His arms were a mass of lesions and bruises. His head hung down limply,  his face covered by his hair matted with blood. I could see more of the substance dripping down on the floor like a slowly leaking faucet. I stepped forward slowly, drawn by a horrified kind of fascination. At the sound of my hoof steps he looked up, causing the blood to drain from my face. He looked at me with a sad bloody grin before spitting the aforementioned liquid onto the ground, along with a small ragged piece of something. I reared back with horror and was almost sick. It was a piece of an ear. He ripped off an ear? Oh goddess. He is a monster...
Swallowing my revulsion I timidly stepped forward until I was standing in front of him. "Why?" The question was retoric but he answered anyway, not that I understood him.
"You worthless animals. I ought to fucking kill you all for what you've done to me. I don't care if there is a god in this world... Those who did those things to me will pay. I swear on my fucking grave. I. Will. Kill. Them." He smiled again before his eyes rolled back into his head and he slumped forward unconscious.
"MEDIC!" I bellowed, my eyes wide in alarm. A group of med ponies galloped into the room, only to freeze when they saw the blood pooled around his chair. "I need a medic in here that knows how to treat bipeds. NOW!"
Shaking themselves out of their revulsion and horror they promptly began barking orders at one another. Moments later a large gurney was wheeled into the room and Evan, whom had been gently released from the chair, was laid upon it. A light brown earth pony, a mare by the name of Cinnamon Swirl put a stethoscope up to his chest whilst looking at the clock. "Heart rate is 45 bpm," she stated curtly. "I need his file." A random unicorn passed it to her and she began to compare his current vitals to the ones previously recorded. Attaching a blood pressure cuff to his arm and began pumping it. "Bp is 60/40, hes got a dangerously low blood pressure. I need a 500 mL lactated ringer, some antiseptic, bandages, isopropyl alcohol, sutures and a needle. Now!" That last part was shouted when the unicorns tried to heal him but failed, their horns coated in that heat like shimmer that indicated magic use without results.
I was rushed out of the room, where I stood in the doorway, looking in at the flurry of activity with a numb sense of awe. I need to report this to the princesses. If he did this because he is violent then he must have to be put down. But no creature would do anything this drastic unless it was brought on by some kind of previous trauma. 



"HE was WHAT?!"
I was terrified. I'd had never seen either of the princesses angry. Judging by the blood red eyes and flaming manes, I figured everything was about to go to tatarus. Or at least the two unicorns who tortured the subject were. "W-when I went into the room they were holding him in I saw what they had done to him. His entire body seemed malnourished. His skin was covered in aether burns, but they looked as though they were from healing spells gone awry more than anything, but it's hard to be sure. His limbs were covered with open wounds, after closer examination it looked as though he had been bound to something and it rubbed his raw, to the point where his skin came off."
Celestias face showed a disgusted look before it changed to sympathetic then back to rage. "How is he now? Any word?
"He seems to be alright, however an issue has occurred when it came to healing him. Our magic wasn't working, we hoped that his immunity or resistance, whichever you want to call it, would be weaker now that he's unconsious. It just dissipated, as though he was a sponge for aether. We tried healing potions, but he just vomited them up as though he had ingested ipecac. He cannot stay awake at all. He has moments where he seems fully aware of his surroundings, but then he blinks and its gone. It's as though he's retreated into his mind so deep that he can't get out."
Celestia gazed off into the sunset, her face pensive. "There may be a way to check his mind, though it may not work.."
"Why is that Princess."
Celestia looked down at me and smiled sadly. "Because he has no magic within him. I could tell that from the moment I saw him. His heart, soul- whichever you want to call it- is dark. There is, or rather was nothing in him,  he is a literal vortex of silence and possibly now anger."
Stunned I sat still,  feeling as though the world around me had stopped. No magic. Empty. The void. My mind began to race as long forgotten stories swam through my head. The void. Pure darkness in mortal form. A shade.
"I have a question for you my little pony. Out of everyone who has been in contact with Subject Zero, would you say that you have had more experience dealing with him?"
"Well, that's a bit of a vague statement. I haven't been around him too much, but I have been able to use an emotion spell or as I refer to it, an empathy link. It worked rather well, but I was unable to get more than vague emotions from him."
Celestia nodded, her brow furrowed in concentration. "Out of everpony in the guard would you say that you are the best when it comes with that particular spell?" 
"Oh no, far from the best but also not the worst. Any reason why it's important?"
Celestia smiled for the first time since she sat down. "I believe I may have a solution to accessing his mind, however I need to discuss it with my sister first. I shall let you know if my theory is correct after I speak with my sister, please wait here as we explore this theory."
It was late evening when the princess' returned to the room. Standing in front of me they shared a look before Celestia began to speak.
"After speaking with Luna, we have done up with a plan to attempt to understand Subject Zero. Luna has told me that within the past fortnight she has been able to sense an unknown presence in the dream realm. We believe that it is his mind trying to deal with this drastic change."
"Indeed. What my sister is suggesting is that we attempt to break into his dream to attempt to understand him.  However I feel as though it would be better if you were the one to make contact. He would most likely have a more favorable reaction to seeing you than anyone else."
I bit my lip nervously. "What would you have me do? Other than the obvious."
"Try to look into his mind, learn about where he came from, what he's capable of doing. However I warn you to be cautious, what we are attempting has only been done once. You must be able to guard your mind as you explore or you run the risk of being lost in him. Knowing these risks, are you willing to do this?" Lunas eyes were focused on me like a manticore that sighted its prey.
Is this going to be worth it? It seems more dangerous than anything I've ever done. Princess Luna will be there to assist me. But... This sounds terrifying. I'm not sure I could keep my concentration doing this...
"Miss Range?"
I jumped as I felt a hoof touch my shoulder. Looking up I saw Lunas purple eyes staring at me with worry. "Sorry, I was just lost in thought. This sounds dangerous, downright terrifying actually, but my curiosity is getting the better of me. I'll do it."
Luna and Celestia shared a look and I swore that the day princess slipped her younger sister something. "Good to know Miss Range. If you wouldn't mind, I would like to do this as soon as possible. Tonight if you have no objections."
I shook her head. "Why wait? I can't lie, I have a severe itch to know how his mind works."
"Excellent."
I sat in a small chair, my lip caught in between my teeth. It was a nervous tick of sorts I had picked up from my mother. My worrying was cut short as Luna walked into the room.
"Ready? First thing I will do is put you to sleep, afterwards I will push you into his dream. Remember, stay focused. Do not go astray. His mind is a foreign territory. You cannot die in a dream, but you can experience pain. So do not attempt anything." Before she could respond Lunas horn began to flow and Audi felt herself drift off to sleep.



Opening her eyes Audi found herself in a large chamber surrounded by thousands of different color stars. Upon closer inspection she realized that they weren't stars but aether marks, each one emitting a different signal. Amazed she focused on a pale one streaked with purple, only to see an alabaster unicorn with a triple diamond cutie mark smiling as she accepted what appeared to be a fashion award.
"Audi?"
Spinning around she saw Luna smiling slightly. Stepping forward she smiled sadly.
"Beautiful are they not?" She lifted a hoof and gently poked the dream Audi was previously looking in. "Seeing my little ponies so content in their little dreams brings a happiness to me that makes me regret those thousand years I spent on the moon. All the amazing thoughts that I missed. All those Beautiful dreams left unseen." She sighed sadly and gently blew the dream away where it hooked its brethren like a dandelion seed in the wind. "No matter, back to the task at hoof. This is what we are looking for." Swirling her hoof she moved them to a small black and blue speck. "Brace yourself, its going to be a bumpy ride."
Audi stepped forward into the orb of thought and was immediately assaulted by visions and feelings that were not her own. Screaming she tried to pull herself away but to no avail.  Screaming she was whisked away into the vortex that was his mind.





The pain in my arm is what woke me up. My eyes opened and I began to scream. It felt like someone was putting digging into my shredded arm. The pain in my arm abated enough for me to catch my breath so I began to frantically look around, seeing nothing but beeping machines. I looked down and saw that my feet were bandaged up and the blood had been wiped off of my chest and abdomen. I tried to sit up but I found myself strapped down again. All of this was taken in in a few seconds, my attention was drawn to my right side where I saw two unicorns standing over my outstretched arm. I opened my mouth to yell at them but upon seeing that I was awake one of them jabbed something into the gash on my arm.
I have experienced a lot of pain. I've broken my shoulder before, almost lost my left pinky, ripped my scrotum while skating (long story). I've even had my heart broken. But nothing. And I mean NOTHING was as painful as what they put in my arm. I ceased to exist. I was no longer human. I was an amalgam of pain and fear. I could feel my back arching against the straps so hard that they cut into my skin. I could feel my throat going raw, I even began to taste blood. It went on like that for an eternity. I couldn't handle it anymore and blacked out.
Water splashing across my body shocked me out of my comatose state. I gasped and wrenched my eyes open, only to slam them closed when a bright light shone in my face. I tried to keep them closed but something forced them open, and a droplet of some dark liquid was dripped into them. Almost immediately my eyes went dark. I heard them begin to talk and felt something lift me up and set me on the ground. The voices stopped abruptly and the sound of them walking grew distant. 
Shaking slightly I touched my arm, only to find it completely healed. I felt a small object on the back of my hand, and when I moved it a lance of pain shot up my arm. Great, they put a fucking shunt in me. Now what? Shaking my head I simply wrapped my arms around my legs and stared into the darkness with my now sightless eyes...
I haven't been to sleep in so long. It's hard to tell how long it's been since I still can't see. I think its been three or four days. Hard to tell since Iv'e only received a single meal. I don't want to eat, I'm pretty sure the foods drugged. I left it in the corner to rot. I feel weak from exhaustion and hunger. Every time I doze off something shocks me right in the spine. The first time it happened I made scoot to back into a corner and just stay there, but it didn't matter. Zap! Right in the damn spine. 
I'm beginning to hallucinate. They came in here and injected something into my hand. I don't know what it was. It felt like ice in my veins. I had a conversation with a friend of mine today. He told me to count to a thousand. I dont know what he means by that.
"Five hundred and sixty two," I moan out quietly. "Five hundred and sixty three, five hundred and sixtty-AH!" I felt another lance of pain as a needle stabbed me in the leg and injected its contents in me. I could feel it working its way up my leg. Burning. Crawling. It was as if someone put fire inside me. "FIVE HUNDRED AND SIXTY FOUR!" I was beginning to slip...
I'm tired. So tired. I dont know what they're going to do to me next. I've finally been allowed to sleep. Unfortunately it was only for a few hours. They have me standing up. That weird facewrap is on again. I didnt notice it until I tried to lick my lips. I'm really thirsty. I haven't drunk anything since they put me down here. I'm pretty sure I'm in the danger zone. Hehe. Danger zone. LANA! Danger Zone~! Hehe. Archer. At least  I can see again.
I'm loopy from dehydration. I'm sure its been about 5 days. I'm going to die here. I'm okay with that though. No more dealing with this shit. No more wishing. Just bliss.
They gave me food and water today. I was so ravenous that I ate it all and drank so fast that I was sick.
It's been about two weeks since the torture stopped as far as I can tell. They've been feeding me regularly. I feel stronger. My thought are no longer fragmented and disorganized. It's a relief. If I wind up dying here, at least I'll be myself.
I sat on the floor staring intently at a crack that was in the wall when the sound of the door opening broke me from my musings. Two ponies walked in; a unicorn and a regular one. They were both burly as hell. I knew the procedure. Standing up I put my arms out at shoulder level while they put a straitjacket on me. The first time this happened I fought back as hard as I could, but I received a shock so powerful I pissed my pants and almost had a seizure. I stood motionless until they got through putting it on me before leading me out of the small room and into the larger section of the lab. Normally there were table and all sorts of lab equipment in there but it was all gone, replaced with a large treadmill and monitor.
They put me next to the treadmill, and removed the restraints. I moved to get on the machine but they stopped me. Electrodes were put on my temples, all over my back, scattered across my chest and all down my legs once my pants were removed. A special mask was put over my mouth and nose. Once all the connections were in place they put me on the machine and made me run. I was fine for the first fifteen minutes. They had me at a light jog. Then a full scale jog. Weirdly enough I wasn't out of breath after 45 minutes.  The speed increased again. Now I was flat out running. I could already feel that stitch coming on. Maybe another 5 or 10 minuets of running before I was out of breath... 
Don't you just hate it when you're right?
I've been running for almost 2 hours. I can't breathe. Every time I stop they shock me in the ass with a high voltage bolt. I don't know what's worse.
Its been three hours. I can't go on. I'm running and vomiting at the same time. The treadmill is slippery. I fall. They shock me once. Twice. Three times. It hurts so bad. I cant move. I'm pretty sure that I'm about to be beaten. They drag me into another room and spray me off before tossing me into my cell.
I'm holding weights today. My body is still sore from yesterdays running. I can feel my knees shaking from the exertion. I don't want to drop them. I'm pretty sure I'm holding about a hundred pounds of iron. My hands are slipping.
Shitshitshit. Come on, gotta keep it all up!
The weight slips from my hand and lands on the floor. I follow it seconds later as a powerful blow knocks me off balance. I slowly get to my knees, my eyes on the ground. Make yourself look small. Look weak. Look vulnerable. They'll get bored faster.
I hear them talking. Always the same two voices. One deep and mocking, the other shrill and grating. I still don't know what they look like. They always wear hazmat suits with reflective visors. I can tell theyre both unicorns though.
I'm blind again.
I'm used to it. But it's different this time. I'm pretty sure there is an animal in here with me. I can hear ragged breathing along with my own. I clenched my fists as I heard a gentle tapping sound. As if nails were being tapped on the floor gently. Tap-tap-tap-tap. Taptaptaptap. TAPTAPTAPTAP! I cringed and raised my hands up trying to protect myself...Only to find nothing.
I figured out that I was hallucinating about the animal. I'm pretty sure that I'm going to have ptsd from this. Or worse...
They have me running again. I hope I can avoid getting shocked.
It's been three hours. I can feel myself starting to slip.
I tripped and got catapulted off of the treadmill. I'm pretty sure I Broke my wrist.
Yup, broken. Its swollen and hot. Whenever I try to move it I can feel it grinding. I can't do anything about it. I'm in this cell naked. Fuck.



Audi pulled herself from the memory, her body shaking as she tried to rid herself of the horror that she had just suffered. 
"No wonder he hasn't woken up yet. Anyone would retreat into their mind after that-" the rest of her sentence was cut off as another memory pulled her in.
Shaking her head Audi found herself in a large sparsely furnished room. looking around she noted a table with two chairs, a bod on a counter with glowing numbers that flashed intermittently, what appeared to be a refrigerator-"this is a kitchen, duh." cautiously moving around the room she became aware of voices in the distance; a tired female and an angry male. It sounded as though they were arguing. Following the sounds of the voices she came upon a scene that made her freeze in her track. Two more creatures like Evan were standing near each other, the males face was contorted, and his arms flailed around violently as he yelled at the female, completely unaware of the spittle that flew from his lips. The female was standing in front of him, her face impassive as she stared into the gaping maw of the male. After a moment the female looked over the males shoulder, and her eyes widened as if she saw Audi. Scruntching her mouth she made a shooing motion in her direction. the sound of footsteps behind he make her flinch and spin around. Standing behind her was a smaller version or Evan. The young boys eyes were locked on the female, who Audi realized must be his mother. realizing she was shooing him away Evan nodded and ran through the kitchen and up a set of stairs, with Audi right behind him. The moment he reached his room Evan closed the door and grabbed a stuffed tiger off the floor and crawled onto his be, staring out the window vacantly. His lips were moving slightly, as if he was singing. Intrigued Audi moved towards him, curious as to what he was singing. At first it was unintelligible, but to her amazement she it slowly becoming understandable to her.
"...and I don't want the world to see me, cause I don't think that they'd understand. When everything's made to be broken, I just want you to know who I am..." His head turned and he stared at Audi, his small eyes narrowing. "Who are you? You shouldn't be here. NO! GET OUT!" at the last two words his eyes flashed blue and Audi found herself tumbling into darkness.



"How did he just do that? How can he have noticed me so quickly, or at all for that matter? Only unicorns can notice if someone is in their mind. How can he have-" Audi was cut off as her mind was suddenly assaulted by a massive pressure. The presence coated her mind, seeping into every nook and cranny, sifting through memories and feelings at a speed that made her eyes water with pain. After a moment the presence slowed down and she felt an ever growing curiosity coming from it. The pressure lessened but only enough for her to be able to move her mouth. "Hello? E-Evan?"
The being in question opened and insubstantial door and walked out in front of her. Tilting his head slightly the void was replaced by a larger slate roof what had 4 gargoyles on it. He smiled and the pressure in her mind lessened even more, but the presence remained there. "So," he said, his mind conveying the meaning of his words as he spoke them in his native tongue. "What are you doing here? How dare you? What made you think that you had the right to violate the one place that mankind has held sacred? The one safe place that my kind has that has been impenetrable for hundreds, if not millions of years? WHAT GIVE YOU THAT RIGHT? ANSWER ME GOD FUCKING DAMMIT!" He was in front of her a tenth of a second later and he had the barrel of a strange grey object pressed between her eyes. "You have exactly 10 seconds before your brain decorates this roof. Ten. Nine. Eight Seven. Six. Five."
Audi shrunk away as his rage became more apparent, the sky slowly darkening as lightening began to flash in the background. "You've been in a coma for almost a month! You're dying! Do you not care-"
"No." Audi was caught of guard by that one word. She didn't know if it was the resigned tone he used or how empty his eyes were.
"What? H-how can you not care? this is your life, how can you just throw it away?"
He looked at her, his brown eyes filled with pain. He walked forward until they were face to face and he leaned forward so that his lips brushed her ear. "Because this wouldn't be the first time I died." he began to shake slightly and she realized he was crying. "I don't want to live anymore. There's too much pain in my life. Too many grudges, too many hurts, too many wrongs. I've committed the gravest sin a human can do. I committed suicide. I was ready to face my fate. I was ready to embrace hell, the torture that awaited me wouldn't be anything different from what I lived. But lo and behold I awaken, still alive," he laughed, a bitter constricted noise. "Gods a fucking joker. Or maybe this is my repentance, being forced to live again."
Audi was horrified by what she had just heard, his voice was so calm and steady as he said he ended his own life. She was beyond horrified actually.
"Just get out." He turned and gently waved causing a door to appear. "Please. Just leave me be."
"But-"
"JUST GO!" He whirled on her, his eyes glowing blue and raised a hand up, pushing her towards the exit. "Just let me be woman." Before she could utter a word he forced her out of the door and back into the waking realm.



Audi Sat next to subject Zeros bed, her brow furrowed with worry. It had been almost a week and a half since had contacted him in his dreams and he hadn't woken up. He stirred and at times even talked, but he never awoke. I kept the empathy link active the whole time, slowly letting myself become acclimated to the creatures moods when he slept.
What's going on in your head?I thought, My lip caught in my teeth. Why is it that you haven't woken up yet? Your emotions have been rather stable the last few days, but...
"We need help in here!"
The guards jumped up and rushed to the room. Sargent Cutter, a large black earth pony mare arrived first, her smokey blue eyes widening at the sight. Evan had its back towards the door and was fighting the ponies trying to restrain it to the bed, its limbs lashing out and it let out a snarl. With a tremendous heave it threw one across the room, before turning and staring at Cutter, its eyes...
It's eyes aren't even open! Cutter braced herself, crouching low to the ground and preparing to jump. Subject Zero smiled at her before extending a long limb in her direction, saying something nearly intelligible and collapsing, its body lying limply, like a puppet who has had its strings cut. 
"Did you catch that?" Jax asked quietly, his voice quivering.
"Yeah, it sounded like it said something really creepy."
"Beware." Cutter murmured to herself. "That sounded like it said beware..." How was it able to say that if it didn't know our language yesterday?



I looked down at the notepad she had sitting on the mattress, it had a few words on it, each one said when the creature was unconscious. "'Beware. Shadow. Shape. Coming. Protect. Help.' What in the world do you mean?" When she had first caught wind of the message she spent a few days in the royal library, looking for anything about the term Shadow shape. "What do you mean?"
"Danger..." Audi froze, her ears swiveling toward the source of the voice. "Shadow... shapes... protect... help..." There was a feeling of fear centered in the pit of her stomach that, she realized with a start, was emanating from him.
The last word was whispered in a voice that made her look at Subject Zero in surprise. His voice was pleading, begging her to help with something she knew nothing about. Shaking her head sadly she got up and began to head home for the day. "Sorry Big guy, I don't know what you mean."
"HELP ME!" The feeling of fear almost immediately morphed into blind panic. Subject Zero sat up and began to blindly grasp at the air and scream, a sound so shrill it caused her fur began to stand on end and her eyes to water. It wasn't a scream of terror or anger, it was pain. She froze, her eyes huge and her body stuck in fight or flight, as scientists and mages poured into the room, all converging on Subject Zeros form.
"What did you do?" A mage screamed at her over the noise.
"I don't know! I just got up to walk away and he started to scream!"	She shouted back. "He's panicking about something in his mind!" The mage she was shouting at cocked his head before he lit his horn up and cast a muffle bubble around Subject Zero, leaving the room  a bit quieter.
"What do you mean he was fine before you got up? Has it formed some quasi-magical bond with you unconsciously?"
"Formed a what now?"
"I'm asking you if you have preformed any magic on him recently?"
"Yes I have why?"
"Seeing as it came from a world without magic, it is very possible that its body has formed an attachment of sorts to you since your aether was the first it cam in contact with... Sit back down."
"I don't understand how that will help." Audi replied doubtfully, but still sitting down.
"I don't believe it." All the mages looked a bit mystified when Subject Zero calmed down almost immediately when Audi sat next to it. "We need to run tests." Turning to his comrades the mage muttered a few things causing a few head nods and a snort of irritation.
"Until it is awake we cannot do much, however I will be leaving one of mine here with you so they can get a proper reading on the aether flow in the room." The head mage nodded at a small grey unicorn, motioning for them to step forward. "Sail, I trust you won't screw this up will you? And stop bouncing around."
The aforementioned pony smiled sheepishly. "Sorry sir," He smiled as he turned to Audi. "Just blame that on my ADD baby. No, in all seriousness, you can count on me to record everything sir." Sail saluted his senior sloppily as he walked out the door. "Putz."
Shaking his head sail walked around the room, pulling strange devices out of cabinets and tinkering with them for a moment. Walking over to the creature he looked down at its exposed wrist before grabbing its with magic and looking at the clock. "I need you to watch it for me, let me know if it starts to react." Sail ignored anything Audi said and began to chant quietly, his horn spewing off random magic sparks and he messed with his equipment.




Evan

I had been walking through this forest for hours. I hadn't seen any signs of wildlife at all, until I came across a large glowing insect on a tree. I approached it slowly, watching it fan its large wings out before taking off and slowly making its way towards the horizon. I took off behind it without hesitation. There was no way I was going to let something like that get way from me without at least getting a closer look. I lost it a few times but that tale tale glow always put me back on track.
After what seemed like hours I found the bug fluttering around a large flower on the base of a lake. Crouching down I began to inch towards it, my eyes held in place by that soft golden glow. When I had deemed myself close enough i gently extended a hand and captured the bug. It was in the span of about two seconds that I realized something.
I.
Fucked.
Up.
Those were the words that immediately came to mind when my whole arm erupted in an ice like grip. A voice cut into my head screaming gibberish at me, but it was the same five words, and before long I realized I was screaming them too. They were burned into my mind, a fiery slash across my consciousness 
DANGER
SHADOW
SHAPES
COMING

 "HELP!"