//------------------------------// // Chapter 4: Fighting for Sanity // Story: The Conversion Bureau EarthGate Saga: Prisoner of War // by Dolphy Blue Drake //------------------------------// Weeks passed, with daily testing slowly driving Zachary closer and closer to the edge of his sanity.  Most formulas were complete and utter failures, some required him to fight back a bit, but a few were far too close for comfort, and those worried him the most, slowly fracturing his mind and degrading his mental health bit by bit. The fractures weren’t caused by any weakness on his part, though.  The potions that came too close for comfort were the ones that actually started forcing a separate identity into him, making it harder to fight back while a warped version of himself became a second opponent, dividing his attention. It was this other self that the formulas were trying to form that he was terrified of.  This “Thunder Twist” character was starting to be an even greater threat than the attempts to transform his body was.  This entity who was attempting to cage his Protean self and take his place could not be allowed to win.  Every time a test that forced that entity into his mind happened, he was forced to fight on two fronts instead of one, and if he couldn’t figure something out, it would only be a matter of time before “Corporal Zachary Jenkins of the Dataramp Fifth Regiment” became little more than a memory, and “Thunder Twist” would take his place. Even though he beat the newfoal mind that was trying to take over every time, each fight drove him closer to the edge, and he could almost sense a lingering presence of the warped version of himself in the back of his mind, waiting to be reawakened by the next potion powerful enough to force the clash to occur again. The fights were getting more frequent.  In fact, on the previous day, “Thunder Twist” actually spoke to him! As Formula #33 started to hijack Zachary’s cells, he started shifting his cells into the newest defense he’d concocted:  anti-ponification cells.  These cells walled with organic steel formed a temporary defense system that would collect information on the chemical makeup of the serum, then generate and secrete a chemical that would neutralize it.  It required concentration, but Zachary wasn’t going to lose. The presence started rising up in him again as his brain became affected, the serum trying to warp his sense of self to put down any desire to resist. Already concentrating on the protective cells, Zachary split his focus to remind himself of who he was:  He was Zachary Jenkins.  He was born in Dataramp twenty years ago to loving parents.  At the age of three, his family converted to the Zoroastrian faith— ‘And all of that matters, why?’ his own voice cut into his thoughts, confusing him. ‘Why am I asking myself such a dumb question?’ Zachary thought before shaking his head.  ‘Focus, Zack!  No doubting!  Continuing on:  I grew up in orbit as the oldest of ten children—’ Suddenly, an image appeared in his mind:  a dark purple pegasus stallion with a spiky yellow mane and tail, as well as chocolate brown eyes.  The entity opened its mouth and spoke.  But it was using Zachary’s own voice! ‘Really, now, why put up all this resistance?’ Thunder Twist asked with a shake of his head.  ‘Give up on all this ‘Zachary Jenkins’ nonsense!  You’ll love it as a pony, I promise!  Would I lie to you?  Of course not!  You never lie, and I’m just who you’ll be once you just let it happen, so I never lie, either.’ ‘You aren’t me,’ Zachary’s thoughts snapped at the creature.  ‘I recognize words of Druj when I hear them, and there wasn’t any Truth among anything you just said.’ Thunder Twist’s image backed up slightly, and Zachary prepared to banish the presence from his mind with one powerful shove, but didn’t get the chance.  The Newfoal presence trying to replace him suddenly lunged forward, and though Zachary was still in the physical realm, he suddenly found himself in an internal struggle that felt very real. ‘Queen Celestia will love you!’ Thunder Twist shouted as he grappled with Zachary’s inner self.  ‘Just let go!  You’ll finally find peace as a pony!  The Lalande 21185 System never stops fighting entirely.  You know that.  Even when all seven nations are enjoying systemwide peace, the Eco-Sphere Defenders continue to make all others in the system suffer!  If you just allow yourself to become me, Queen Celestia can accomplish what no human, klackon or Protean has been able to do for six thousand years!  She can end the Barbarian menace once and for all!’ ‘I don’t need her love, and I doubt she’d have any better luck against Gibbora’s forces than we’ve had!’ Zachary’s thoughts shot back as he imagined himself in his Singulon suit before backhanding the corruption trying to consume him.  ‘If you really are me, then what about what the three unponified people said?  They described life as a newfoal as a long, seemingly endless nightmare!  They were overjoyed to have their old selves back!’ ‘They just didn’t understand!’ Thunder Twist snapped as he checked his backwards flight with his wings and dove in again.  ‘Turning back into humans made their wicked and chaotic sides resurface, instantly warping their minds into thinking they were better off after being restored!  Now, just give in!  I’m you after all!  And you will become me, for in the end, being a pony is so much fun!’ “I’m not you!” Zachary suddenly screamed aloud as he forced the presence out of his mind.  “I’ll never be you!  Screw you, Thunder Twist!  I’ll never let myself become you!” Doctor Batch stared at Zachary in complete shock as the effects of the potion faded, not expecting the outburst at all. After regaining his composure, Doctor Batch returned Zachary to the cement block and broke into a wide grin. “So, this version of the serum actually forces the Newfoal personality into the subject’s mind?” the chemist mused as he started jotting down notes like a stallion possessed.  “With something like this, I think with a few tweaks, I’ll have the perfect potion by tomorrow!  Well, except for the whole ‘must be ingested part’.  But that can wait.”  Turning to Zachary, he grinned excitedly and said, “I think I’ll call the Princesses to watch Formula #34’s effects tomorrow.  We’ll finally give you your implant back, too!  I mean, we’ll need to give your people a good sense of what it feels like to have all of your impurities stripped away and become a completely harmonious pony!” It was now the following day, and Doctor Batch was in an incredibly good mood, giddily awaiting Celestia and her great niece. “Oh!  That must be them!” the unicorn chemist exclaimed excitedly when a knock sounded on the door to his lab.  “Come in!  It’s not locked!” The door opened, and the two Princesses Frothy had been expecting entered, along with five unicorn surgeons. “By the look of things, you brought it, right?” Frothy asked, jumping up and down in anticipation. Birthright sneered and levitated Zachary’s MILQUETOAST implant into plain view, then used a small jolt from her horn to start the device up again, the lights on it coming to life. “I promise you, you’ll all pay for this!” Zachary growled as he was once again transferred from the cement block to the metal table. “Quiet, please,” the lead surgeon demanded as she used her magic to remove Zachary’s bandages.  “Brain surgery is delicate work.  We don’t want you to become a vegetable, because we won’t be able to see if you would’ve still been able to fight back if you suffer significant brain damage.  But ponifying a vegetable would still have its purposes, so don’t even think that you can ruin everything by making us mess up.  Ponification repairs brain damage because it restructures the brain, so we’d still have your memories to work with.  Trust me, you’ll gain nothing by making us mess up.  I can guarantee it.” As the surgeons went to work cutting Zachary’s wound open, Zachary tried to focus on something else:  escape.  This was his final chance.  If he didn’t escape or succeed in killing himself, he was pretty sure that the newest formula would overwhelm him this time. He grit his teeth as they started to gingerly connect his nerve endings to the proper places on the implant.  Still, he continued to think.  What options did he have left?  His many different kinds of defenses could block the transformation, but he had barely stopped “Thunder Twist” from taking over the last time, and he was absolutely certain his captor had focused mostly on improving whatever was in that cocktail of magic and science that tried to suppress him early.  He had to be fast, but what could he do? As the last nerve was connected and the surgeons started using their magic to regrow the bone and tissue, sealing the implant back in its proper spot, Zachary decided on an option.  It was the only one he could think of, but he sent an order to his cells that was absolutely crazy in his opinion, with a suicidal failsafe command in case it failed. The one thing he couldn’t command his cells to do was to self-destruct, ending his life.  But he did have an alternative in case the insane plan failed:  he sent orders to his immune system to destroy any cells with DNA that didn’t match their own.  That way, if he failed to stop the process, the cells would destroy every single ponified cell they ran across, since he knew that ponification scrambled the DNA, unlike Protean transformations, which simply created temporary additions.  Such an event would result in his own death, for if the destroyer cells became ponified, they’d then seek out every cell that was still Protean and destroy them, making it where the process couldn’t possibly complete.  Even if he succeeded, he knew he’d lose some cells to his own immune system, for he couldn’t prevent all of his cells from getting corrupted. Once the injury had vanished as if it had never existed and the implant was fully operational, Birthright looked him in the eyes and once again addressed MILQUETOAST through his eyes and ears. “Hello again!” she giggled wickedly.  “I hope you all pay close attention to this soldier’s senses!  We’ve found a way to ponify him!  You’re going to discover what it feels like to be transformed into the pinnacle of harmony and perfection!  It’ll hurt, but that’s only because having everything impure removed happens to be painful.  Anyway, watch!  Zachary Jenkins will soon be no more!  A new pony will soon be joining our lovely herd!” Frothy took the new potion, which was orange, and forced it down Zachary’s throat.  His body flared with pain, but the instructions he gave his cells took effect as soon as his blocking cells detected the potion.  Right before the potion would touch a cell, it would transform on its own, becoming a Protean pony cell, and since pony cells were ignored by the potion, the potion would move on to the next cell, which would also transform before it could be touched. The presence welled up in his mind again, and Thunder Twist started screaming at him: ‘What are you doing?’ the presence demanded, confused.  ‘The potion has to do it!  If you’ve decided to give in, just let the potion do it!  You can’t imitate it and get the same results!  Stop!  Please!’ ‘I’m not giving in,’ Zachary mentally chuckled at Thunder Twist.  ‘This is my final defense.  I’ve got nothing else left that I can think of, and I’m not even sure if this’ll work out.  There’s so many ways it could go wrong, but it seems to be working fine so far.  Thanks for giving me a means to escape, by the way.’ As Thunder Twist shrieked, begging him to stop and just embrace becoming a pony, Zachary decided to put on a show for the ponies to make the “ponification” seem more genuine. Rolling from side to side, Zachary put his hands to his ears, pretending that he was trying to block the voice out when he was actually finding the desperate pleas of the corrupting presence quite entertaining.  After all, Thunder Twist had just gone from an unbeatable foe to his ticket to freedom.  It was quite ironic. “SHUT UP!”  he screamed.  “YOU AREN’T ME!  STOP IT!  I DON’T WANT TO BE ONE OF YOU!  I’M ZACHARY JENKINS, NOT THUNDER TWIST!” Birthright cackled at the sight of what she thought was Zachary’s complete and utter defeat, and Celestia smiled, a look of triumph on her muzzle as she thought the same thing. The first part of Zachary’s surface to be breached was a spiky yellow tail sprouting from below his waist, followed by his hair turning into a spiky yellow mane. “NO!  STOP!  I DON’T WANNA BE A PONY!” Zachary screamed, still keeping up his act.  It felt like lying, and the taste of Druj in his mouth sickened him, but he continued, for this was a matter of life or death. Hooves started to form, and Zachary’s body and limbs started to shorten to accommodate the size of a pony frame. “WHY CAN’T I STOP IT?” Zachary fake-sobbed, forcing tears to his eyes to give the appearance of a man who was starting to break.  “I’M SUPPOSED TO BE IMMUNE!  ALL OF MY TRICKS AREN’T WORKING!” Suddenly, his head started to shift to that of a pony, and dark purple fur sprang from every pore on his body, followed by his legs starting to reverse direction. “AHURA MAZDA!  PLEASE!  SAVE ME!” he cried, getting ready for the final part of the act as the final piece started to breach the surface:  the wings.  “SAVE ME!  SAVE… Save… Saved!  I’ve been saved from what I thought I was meant to be!”  The wings burst from his body, and the transformation was complete.  But he was still in control.  He’d lost a few cells to the orders he sent his immune system, but for the most part, the corruption had failed.  Even the Thunder Twist in his head finally stopped his crying and shut up for good. “Thank you, Doctor!” “Thunder Twist” said as they finally undid his shackles.  “I know better now!  This really is better!  Praise Queen Celestia!” “Why thank you, my little pony,” Celestia replied with a warm smile.  “If I may ask, what is your name?” “It’s Thunder Twist, my Queen,” Zachary replied.  He was really getting sick of lying.  He was pretty sure he’d lose his lunch if he had to lie for too much longer.  “Now that I’ve seen your glorious light, may I go outside?  I’d like to take the suit I used to wear when I didn’t know better, if you don’t mind.  I’d like to dispose of it myself.” “I see no harm in that,” Celestia replied before nodding to Birthright, who lit up her horn and teleported the black MonoSkin suit from somewhere and gave it to Zachary, who laid it across his back. “Doctor Batch,” Zachary said as they started up the stairs to the ground floor of the complex, all of them on hoof except for him.  He was using the wings this form provided him.  “You were right.  Now, I do forgive you.  You were only doing the right thing all along, and I was the one who didn’t know better.” “Why thank you, Mr. Twist,” the unicorn chemist replied.  “And don’t worry about how you acted as a Protean.  That was just the chaos in you lashing out.” Upon reaching the front door of the complex, the procession left the building, and Zachary looked around at the scenery to give MILQUETOAST the best visual information on the location of the facility as he could. “Canterlot is beautiful, isn’t it, Thunder Twist?” Birthright gushed, suddenly very friendly. “Yes, it is,” Zachary replied, relieved that he was finally able to say something truthful. After flying forward a couple yards, Zachary turned around and waved at the unsuspecting ponies, then his capacity for lying reached its limit, and to avoid breaking down from how disgusted he felt, he said, “Once again, thank you all…” Celestia smiled and opened her mouth to say something, but Zachary spoke right over her, “…for being utter morons and buying this whole charade!” The ponies gasped as Zachary transformed in midair, taking on the form of a human/typhoeus hybrid, then blocked a spell thrown at him by Celestia with his massive wings that were far superior than the wings he had to use for the past few minutes.  What good were wings that couldn’t be used for anything but flight?  These ones could double as shields! While easily blocking magic attacks, Zachary pulled his MonoSkin armor on over his lower body, then added a unicorn horn to his forehead and cast a spell that he’d been taught while training to use unicorn magic.  The spell enchanted the armor, allowing it to mold itself over his hybrid body and leave gaps for his wings and his dragon-like jaws. “Sorry, but you’ll have to find another guinea pig, losers!” Zachary taunted as he flew higher, stopping about two hundred feet above their heads.  To continue speaking, he added the soul-wrenching shrieks the biochaotic dragons were capable of to his voice to allow them to still hear him:  “FAREWELL, PRINCESSES!  YOU HAVEN’T SEEN THE LAST OF ZACHARY JENKINS!  I’VE GOT A LOT TO DO BEFORE I GO HOME!  MY PLAN WAS SIMPLY TO ESCAPE AND FOLLOW MY INSTINCTS AFTER THAT!  TREAD CAREFULLY, FOR ANY LIVING THING YOU SEE COULD BE ME!” Using the unicorn horn again, Zachary teleported back to the room he’d been confined in for over a month, took a deep breath, and unleashed biochaotic flame over everything in the room.  The shackles, the metal table, every single iteration of the ultra ponification serum except for the newest one… everything was reduced to useless sludge except for a single bottle of Formula #34 and all of Doctor Frothy Batch’s notes.  He took both of those items, stuffed them into pockets in his armor, and lit up his temporary horn to teleport again right as the group reentered the room, drawn by the smell of biochaotic destruction. “Sorry!  Looks like you have to start over from scratch, too!” Zachary chuckled before launching a biochaotic fireball at Celestia to stop whatever spell she had been about to use, then teleported away as the white Alicorn shrieked in agony. Arriving at the base of the mountain, Zachary cast a spell on his armor to turn it and his civvies into saddlebags just like the ones the spies used, while at the same time turning into a very bland-looking taupe earth pony with a taupe mane and tail in the most plain male style possible, taupe eyes, and a Cutie Mark of a black circle with a diagonal line through it, indicating a special talent in, ironically, being “nothing special”. Chuckling to himself over how he’d just turned himself into the most boring pony ever, Zachary trotted along the road towards a town south of the portal he was brought through over a month ago, hoping to do some spying of his own.  In fact, just to make sure he’d have help, he spoke aloud to the empty road, “I’ll need spies to assist me.  I’m planning on sneaking around the town ahead and obtaining information.  Use the portal in the town where New York City used to be, and meet me in the town to the south of the other end.  Keep an eye out for an all-taupe stallion with a circle and diagonal line Cutie Mark.  That’ll be me.”  His message to MILQUETOAST complete, Zachary resumed walking, hoping that the spies wouldn’t take too long to arrive.