Chapter 4
Velvet woke up on the ground, dazed and confused. She took a moment to gather herself, and assess the situation. She found herself on a cold, cement ground, a bit of hay in the corner, and a big pane of glass showing into the laboratory she had just been knocked out in. Looking to her right, Velvet saw Sparkling Spoon, just waking up.
"Sparky!"
"Mistress..."
She chuckled a bit, seemingly impressed.
"You found me..."
Velvet didn't answer, instead she ran up to the mare, embracing her in her hooves for what seemed like a lifetime in itself. They were soon interrupted by the loud sound of a massive machine in the laboratory outside their cell. Velvet looked at it curiously.
What the hell is this...?
Almost as if reading her mind, Sparkling told her everything. The machine in the laboratory was what the people here called Project Genesis. The project was being headed by the man she only caught a glimpse of earlier while she was losing consciousness, Faus. Faus was an ex mercenary, who made a small fortune off of his work there, after some backstabbing and manipulation with his colleagues.
In his time after retirement, Faus became bored. He became intrigued with old adventurers, treasures, and the like. Specifically, the fountain of youth. Eventually, Faus used his fortune to lead a team on the island Velvet found herself on now, in search of the mythical fountain.
He found it.
"What the hell does he want with the fountain of youth, Sparky?"
"Well, immortality is the obvious thing here. But there's a lot more to it. You see, using the fountain, Faus wants to sell it to whatever warlord has the cash. Governments, terrorists, whoever pays."
Velvet was shocked.
"They can make super soldiers.."
"Exactly."
Velvet tried to imagine the horror. Every terrorist cell, every government, every single pony out there willing to pay Faus would be in control of one of the most effective breeds of super soldier of all time, and while the world crumbled, he would be off counting his bits in some far away island. Velvet had to stop him.
But Velvet had another question.
"Sparky..Why are you here.....?"
Sparkling Spoon's face grew solemn. She sighed.
"The same reason you are, mistress. And the same reason they are..."
Sparky pointed to other cages around the room, at least a hundred of them, two ponies each.
"They need vampires, Velvet. They need vampires to make the fountain work. Our bodies powers it... Some sort of reaction."
As if on cue, a pair of guards took one of the vampires out of his cage, and dumped him into the pool of white liquid that was the fountain of youth.Velvet almost couldn't watch, as the vampire was slowly melted down into the pool, screaming until he was silenced, and eventually dissolved.
"When Faus decides to go in, they'll start really dumping us in. Now, they're just...Keeping it warm, so-to-speak...."
Velvet looked out the window once more, seeing Faus climb out of his chair, approaching the pool, taking off his robe.
"Speak of the devil..."
Faus lowered himself into the pool, and his form began to slowly shift every which way. He was beginning to age backwards. The guards around him started gathering vampires, a few at a time. First up, however, was Sparky and Velvet.
Just my luck....
The guards shoved them towards the pool, Velvet first, after Sparky. Velvet looked ahead at the pool, staring at Faus' shifting body, at this stage he looked deformed. Not equine at all. They drew closer to the pool, the guards seemingly making it a slow journey on purpose, whether it be an act of mercy or an just to make them squirm, Velvet would never know.
Velvet whispered back to her fledgling.
"You trust me?"
"About as far as I can throw you..." She smirked.
"Good thing I've been on a diet."
Velvet's eyes glowed, as she channeled all of the energy from her recent feedings into one fit of rage. She turned around, punching out one of the guards with ease, disarming the other one, sweeping his hooves with her own. Velvet pointed the weapon down at the pipes that were feeding into the pool, and the pool slowly began to drain.
Becoming aware of what she actually just did, Velvet looked ahead of her, Sparkling's hoof in grip. Velvet saw ahead of her a wave of guards running toward her, and behind her, an emptying well. Velvet gulped, looking behind her.
"Allons-y..."
She dove backwards, with her fledgling, into the well. It was no pool, not even remotely. This wasn't a collection of the fluid from the fountain, it was the fountain itself. Velvet gripped on to Sparkling, who was trembling in fear.
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They landed in a body of water in the bottom of the well, that effectively cushioned their fall. They found themselves in a cave; wet, and wide open. Velvet shrugged.
Must not have been as big a drop as I thought...
Sparkling Spoon wasn't far behind her; she got to her hooves, looking around.
"How the hell are we getting out of here...?"
Velvet looked around, and saw a beam of light. She smiled. There must be an opening somewhere in that direction.
"Follow me."
Velvet and Sparky walked through the cave for a good five minutes until they found it: an exit to the cave, reaching out on to the camp. Now, it was just a matter of escaping the camp, and finding their way off the island. They sat for a moment to think.
Their contemplation on their escape was soon interrupted by the PA system at the camp going off, speaking on a loop in the eerie voice of your average pre-recorded female message..
"The laboratory has been compromised. Initiating clean up."
Guards and scientists of all sorts began rushing out of buildings, climbing into small planes, and flying off, There was an entire airfield set up, all the planes leaving at once.
"What the hell do they mean by clean up?"
Sparky was already picking up her bag, getting ready to leave.
"Self destruct. They're going to blow the base. Faus must have put the measure in to make sure nopony ever took his research here."
Velvet quickly got her bag together, thinking of what to do. Then, the obvious answer hit her.
"We should get to that airfield. If we hurry, there'll be a plane we can get to in time, and we can high-tail it off of this island."
"You can fly a plane?"
"Do you have a better idea?"
They rushed off towards the airfield, all around them soldiers and other staff were scrambling to get to their rides, all the laboratory doors were closing, preparing for the coming explosion of the lab. Sirens began going off to alert any sleeping staff. Velvet almost smiled, making her mad dash towards the airfield. She didn't think it would be so easy to foil a sinister plot, save her fledgling, and make a big explosion all in one day.
It's never that easy.
Velvet almost stopped in her tracks when she heard it.
"You BITCH!!!"
Behind the pair of vampires, was Faus. He was deformed, his face full of boils, his hooves rashy, and his mane in splotches.
"You ruined everything...All my work...All the money I put into this...."
Velvet sighed.
"At the expense of what? Society?"
"Don't you SEE? Society is tearing itself apart already... Making some money off of it doesn't hurt..."
Velvet began her rebut, but was quickly shut up when the beastly shell of a stallion pushed her to the side, rushing to the airfield. She wondered for a moment what had caused him to rush in such a manner. When she turned around, she saw why.
There was only one ship left.
"Sparky...Let's GO!"
The two mares made a dash for the plane as Faus was already climbing in, grinning.
We'll never catch him....It's over... We're going to die here, Sparky is going to die here and it's all my fault...
Sparky, apparently, had different plans. She grabbed a rock from the floor, galloping at him in a speed that Velvet had never seen her reach before. Sparky jumped on to the hood of the plane, and smashed Faus across the face repeatedly. He smashed her to the ground, falling out himself in the process.
Velvet caught up to the pair, jumping on Faus' back, stabbing at him with a jagged rock she had found on the ground. Sparky followed up by smashing him across the face once more, only to be met with a grueling headbutt, that sent Velvet's fledgling crashing to the floor.
"30 seconds until cleanup."
They had to move. Velvet bucked Faus out of the way for a moment, and picked up Sparky, throwing her into the plane.
"Start it up!"
Sparky quickly began running the engines on the plane, having had a small amount of flight experience back from her younger days. Below her, out of the plane, was the two brawling ponies: the newly deformed beast and the vampress.
Velvet threw a punch his way, which was quickly evaded and met with a strong buck to Velvet's stomach, staggering her. Faus followed up with a grueling uppercut, which knocked his assailant to the ground. Faus began to climb into the plane with Sparkling.
As Velvet got back up, the plane was beginning to take off, Sparkling only just realizing the threat climbing in with her. Before she knew it, the plane was moving, and was off the ground.
Sparkling turned around to face Faus, who grabbed her, smashing her head in against the dashboard. Sparky didn't stand a chance against the behemoth of what used to be a stallion.
Climbing up on the tail was Velvet, clinging on for dear life to the plane which was quickly gaining speed. She finally hopped into the seat, and grabbed Faus' shoulder.
"Get the hell off my plane."
She shoved him down off the plane, time almost stopping for her as she watched him fall down to the camp. She pointed Sparky to the helm of the plane.
"Go go go!"
She quickly obliged, and took control of the plane again, flying off. As they left the island, Velvet looked behind them, to see the camp burn into flames, taking Faus with it. She smiled, putting a hoof on Sparkling Spoon's shoulder, chuckling slightly.
"Good to see you again...."