Spark

by Fyn16

Spark

Spark

“Lights,” Nimbus said, “can we get the lights on in here?”

Storm Runner stood in the center of the room, next to a large, circular desk. Several monitors surrounded the desk, the lights blinking on and off occasionally. “Looks like the electronics here are running. Whatever cut the power to the front lobby might not have taken out the backup breakers in here.” The Pegasus dove under the desk, tearing up a few tiles. “There’s one such generator right here, let me just… there we go!”

With a snap, followed by a flickering sound, the lights turned on, illuminating the massive room. The ponies in the tubes were motionless, and the only movement Nimbus saw was the occasional rise of bubbles through the viscous liquid. Out of the corner of his eye, one of the ponies brushed against the side of the tank, revealing its profile. Nimbus turned his head. Something was off about this one.

“Storm, I’m going to check out one of the tanks…” Nimbus said, beating his wings and lifting up into a hover. As he neared the tube, he knew exactly why the profile had caught his eye. Floating in the tank was a pony with both a horn and set of wings. An Alicorn, perhaps?

From what the three pony races knew, Alicorns were a mysterious bunch. Only three confirmed Alicorns walked among them, though others had been allegedly seen. Nopony had ever been granted the chance to study an Alicorn, and out of respect, none had even considered it. What the races knew, however, was that despite their similarities to ponies, Alicorns were an almost entirely different species. They had the strength of Earth Ponies, the wings of Pegasi, and the magical capabilities and horns of Unicorns. They were so rare, that seeing one other than the royal sisters was usually chalked up to delusions, yet the creature Nimbus stared at, clear as crystal through the glass tank, at first glance appeared to be an Alicorn.

After closer examination, though, Nimbus’s blood ran ice-cold. The being in the tank was jet-black in color. While it had a horn and wings, the horn was jagged, and the wings were a translucent green color, and looked more like the wings of a dragonfly than anything else. Parts of the creature’s body were covered with iridescent, greenish-black growths that looked almost like pieces of an insect’s shell. Nimbus hovered closer- one final detail remained to be examined. There was something odd about the creature’s mouth. As he drew closer, he shuddered. While he supposed what he saw could be attributed to a trick of the light, he wasn’t so sure. Sprouting from the creature’s upper jaw were two needlelike fangs.

“Hey!” Octavia called from below, “I’ve got some reports that seem to describe what went on here.”

“Well whatever happened,” Nimbus said, “it wasn’t just ponies that were involved. There’s something up here- a… creature of some sort.“

“Kind of like a cross between a pony and an insect?” Octavia called back.

“Well… yeah,” Nimbus said, gliding down next to Octavia, “why do you ask?”

Octavia cleared her throat and paged through the file she was holding. Silky Sunset, meanwhile, was off in a corner, pacing nervously. “From what I gather, according to these files, Bright Future led a team to an undisclosed location in the northern reaches of Equestria almost forty years ago. He discovered what is identified here as a previously unknown species. From this point in the files, they’re referred to as ‘Changelings,’ an alternate name for the ‘Dark Ones’ Bright Future described earlier. Apparently all of the Changelings they found were frozen in magical stasis, which he theorizes was the result of some battle. They only managed to find eight “samples,” but…” Octavia grimaced at the word “samples,” “that doesn’t explain where all of the rest came from.”

“No kidding,” Storm Runner whispered, head spinning as he took another look around, “there are upwards of fifty specimens in here easily.”

Octavia held up a hoof to her mouth as a look of disgust fell over her. “Ugh, I think I know why,” she gasped.

“What?” Nimbus pressed, “what is it?”

“They… converted willing subjects.”

“Come again?” Storm Runner asked, peering over Octavia’s shoulder at the files.

“Somehow they managed to revive and contain one of the Changelings, a female by the looks of it. They kept her in a large tank located right where the cave entrance is now, and they were able to manipulate her through what I can only guess was torture, forcing her to cocoon whatever subjects they chose for the experiments, of which, I might add, there were quite a few.”

“Such as?” Nimbus said, tapping his hoof on the floor. Staying around in this place was starting to make him feel uncomfortable.

“Their primary focus was on creating a hybrid- a pony with the Changeling’s ability to alter form at will. Like Bright Future said, they were creating an infiltrator. Another application was the study of the Changelings’ Alicorn features, which they simply used to research Alicorn biology, or at least get a close approximation. The final experiments are easily the most disturbing. They detail what Bright Future calls the ‘Last Resort,’ a hypothetical situation in which Equestria had lost, or was about to lose, the Griffon War. In the case of such an event, an army of Changelings under mind control would infiltrate and wreak havoc upon either the Griffon Kingdom or Griffon-controlled Equestria.”

“A last-ditch effort,” Nimbus said softly, “an option that disregarded casualties on both sides in order to achieve a final goal.” He turned to Storm Runner, fixing him with a look of dead seriousness. “Still think Bright Future’s plan to create a deterrent force was a good one?”

“Oh come on,” Storm snorted, “I thought he had a real weapon, not these… things,” he gestured around the room at the tanks. “This flies in the face of ethics. I don’t support it in any way, now let’s grab those files and take this place down!”

“You’ll get no argument from me,” Silky Sunset said as she joined the group. Her voice wavered, but now Nimbus could hear a sort of faint determination in it, too. Slowly he was coming to realize that she was genuinely as concerned about Project Spark as they were. Trust was being earned.

“There are four arching support beams that meet in the middle of the ceiling,” Silky continued, pacing and directing the magic light from her horn upward. “If we take them down, we’ll initiate a collapse. I could probably do it with magic, but we’d need to be standing in the doorway when the beams go down. That’ll maximize our chances of getting out alive.”

“No,” Octavia said, shaking her head, “there must be another way.”

“Well if you have any ideas, cellist, I’m all ears,” Silky shot back, a bit of her former self showing through the scared exterior.

“Don’t call me cellist,” Octavia snarled, advancing on Silky, “I’ve had enough of your-“

“Stop it now!” Nimbus yelled. The two ponies froze, staring at him.

“If we keep bickering among ourselves, it’ll only make things worse. Silky, take the beams down. Octavia, grab the files. We’re getting out of here.”

“And Bright Future?” Storm Runner said, stepping in front of Nimbus, “what about him?”

Nimbus shook his head. “From what Silky says, he’s far beyond our help. The collapse will probably kill him.”

You assume there’s actually going to be a collapse, Aviator. Perhaps you forget that it is you who are in my control here, not the other way around.

“Wonderful,” Nimbus said, rolling his eyes, “Bright Future’s back.”

“Why don’t you show yourself, you miserable excuse of a Unicorn?!” Storm Runner growled, turning to face the gaping cave in the wall, “I’m sick of this! Come and fight us and we can end this now!”

Amusing. In time I will, but for now, there is so much more for you to see. Like me, if you tread the path ahead, perhaps even you four can reach… enlightenment.

“You’re dead!” Sunset yelled suddenly, startling the group, “and if you’re not, then you will be soon! This thing talking… it can’t be you!”

Oh, but it is, Silky Sunset. It is. Something was off about his voice, Nimbus noted. Bright Future’s tone wavered somewhat. Was it just audio distortion, or was Sunset right? Was it possible that something much more sinister was going on?

“Maybe we should back out,” Octavia said hesitantly, taking a few steps back, “if we just get some fresh air, we might be able to plan out-“

Behind the ponies, the door shut violently, and Bright Future laughed again.

Like I said, there’s so much more to see. But your desire to leave brings me doubt. Perhaps you are not quite ready to be enlightened. What you require first is a test… Good luck, ponies. I’ll be watching.

The lights of the room suddenly shut down, but this time the faint glow of the tanks vanished, too. Nimbus stretched his wings and tensed his legs, suddenly on alert.

“Storm,” he hissed, “I thought you said the lights in this room weren’t connected to the main grid.”

“They weren’t,” Storm Runner insisted, “there was an alternate source under the floor. He’s got total control of the entire facility!”

“Shut up!” Silky Sunset whispered violently, dousing the light from her horn.

“Excuse me?” Storm Runner growled, whirling around to face the direction Silky’s voice had come from.

“Just listen!”

Nimbus fell silent, straining to listen in the dark room. It was all he could do to stay still; he’d never fully grown out of his fear of dark places, and in a pitch-black place such as this, where he couldn’t even see his hooves in front of his face, the fear was practically unavoidable. What was worse, though, was that Nimbus could finally hear what Silky was talking about. It was the sound of… something… scratching on glass.

“What the hay-“ Storm Runner started, but he was interrupted by a sudden, sharp, shattering sound. Instinctively, the four ponies ducked. A strange, flittering sound filled the air. The ponies all froze in place, barely breathing.

“Silky,” Octavia whispered, “can you give us a bit of light?”

As Silky’s horn began to glow, her tear-stained face came into view slowly, eyes clenched shut. She wasn’t handling this well, and frankly Nimbus couldn’t blame her. He was about to say something comforting, to tell her that as long as they stood together everything would be okay, but he stopped before the words could even get out. As the light from the Unicorn’s horn traveled upward, it illuminated dozens of small points of light. The irrational, optimistic side of Nimbus immediately thought stars! Nothing dangerous about that. Nimbus knew better. They were indoors. As vague details became clearer, it became unnervingly obvious that what they were really looking at were countless pairs of luminescent eyes.

“Run,” Silky Sunset whispered, voice wavering slightly. Despite the fear in her tone, however, she was calmer than usual. "Run to the cave and don’t look back on my signal.”

“Signal?” Nimbus said, eyeing the floating lights above.

Without answering, Sunset fired a bolt of magic into the floor where Storm Runner had found the backup breaker. The lights came back on briefly, charged by their new source of magical energy and in that instant, Nimbus saw at least thirty of the creatures he’d seen in the tanks hovering above their heads. With the sudden flash of light, the creatures emitted a harsh screeching noise and recoiled.

“Go!” Octavia yelled. Nimbus pumped his wings once, giving himself an extra burst of speed, and galloped for the cave. As the lights flickered on and off, his world became a stop-motion nightmare as the beings behind them began to recover, each flash bringing them closer and closer. Sunset stumbled behind him, and Nimbus heard the crash of her body hitting the floor.

“Run!” she yelled out, “just get out of here!”

Nimbus pulled her to her hooves despite her protests and pushed her head. They were inside the mouth of the cave now, and the smooth, tiled floor had given way to cool, slippery rock that sloped gently downhill. The buzzing sound behind them was maddeningly loud. Nimbus struck out with his hooves as a waxy, chitinous hoof touched his shoulder, and a hidden creature hissed back.

Up ahead, the cave grew somewhat brighter, illuminated by what appeared to be sources of bioluminescence, though Nimbus couldn’t quite make out what the sources were. Storm Runner and Octavia stopped, beckoning Nimbus and Silky forward. As they neared each other, the noises suddenly stopped. Panting, lungs feeling as if they were on fire, Nimbus looked around anxiously.

“Where- where did they go?”

Storm Runner shook his head. “I don’t know, but I guess those were Changelings.”

“And you would be correct.”

The ponies turned around as a familiar pony stepped out from a bend in the cave just ahead. It was Bright Future, and though he appeared more ragged, and his eyes seemed to glow with a greenish light, he was the exact same pony who’d left them just hours before.

“You’re dead!” Storm Runner yelled, rushing forward. Silky Sunset, too, prepared to attack, charging her horn to full intensity with magic. Bright Future simply chuckled, and with a wave of his horn, all four ponies were pressed into the floor, lying on their backs next to one another.

“I really appreciate the effort you’re making to kill me, I do,” Bright Future said, pacing around the group in a circle. Nimbus tried moving his legs, but the only part of his body he had any ounce of control over was his head. He didn’t feel pinned, but his limbs just seemed unwilling to cooperate.

“Do you want to know why I really invested so much of my time and money into Project Spark?” Bright Future continued, “it wasn’t about the weapons, or destroying the Griffons, or even providing a deterrent. No, Spark was going to be the gateway for the pony races- we were going to use Spark to enlighten Equestria!”

Bright Future had turned his back on the ponies now, and Nimbus saw a small movement out of the corner of his eye. It was Silky Sunset, aiming her horn towards Bright Future. Nimbus nodded in approval as the Unicorn went on with his monologue, oblivious.

“The Changelings were Alicorns, don’t you get it? Wings and horns… if we could just become like them- become Changelings ourselves, even- we could all be perfect. We could be anything we wanted to be!”

“Not on your life!”

A beam of magic shot from Silky Sunset’s horn towards Bright Future. The Unicorn whirled around, deflecting it with a counterspell, but the bolt ricocheted, slamming into the floor. Almost instantly, the ground began to shake.

“You foals,” Bright Future hissed, stepping away from the rapidly-spreading cracks in the floor below, “if this is how it must be, then you only brought this on yourselves. Prepare to meet the hive!”

The ground gave way, and just as Nimbus began to regain control of his limbs, he slammed into the floor of what he could only assume was a cave below, amidst the sounds of falling rock. He didn’t dare move as stones crashed to the cave floor around him, some hitting and bruising his body. He wouldn’t be able to dodge anything in the dark anyway, and moving around would only increase the chances of hurting himself.

Nimbus lay still for almost a minute after the noise died down. He could almost feel a layer of cave dust lining his nostrils, filling his lungs with stale, dry air with each breath.

“Can anypony hear me?” he wheezed, spitting dirt out of his mouth. A few feet away, he heard some stones shift.

“Nimbus?” It was Storm’s voice, muffled and weak, but alive.

“Yeah, it’s me,” Nimbus said, “what about Octavia and Silky Sunset?”

Storm Runner shook his head as his eyes adjusted to the darkness. “No luck- I think we’ve been separated. That or…” he didn’t say anything, but Nimbus knew exactly what he was thinking. If they hadn’t heard anything from the mares, it was entirely possible they were killed during the cave-in.

Nimbus shook his head, flexing his legs and wings. Ahead, the cave stretched onward, becoming quite narrow. It was barely taller than the two Pegasi now, as well, and seemed to be turning into a perfect circle, like a tube. It made Nimbus’s stomach turn; dark and tight spaces didn’t sit well with him.

“We’re going to have to press on,” Storm Runner whispered.

“I know,” Nimbus replied, “but that doesn’t mean I want to.”

As the ponies made their way through the cave, Nimbus had the chance to finally get a good look at the tunnel’s structure. While at first glance, the walls had appeared to be made of rock, Nimbus found quickly that this was not the case. As his eyes adjusted further to the dim light, he could see that the building material in question was shinier, almost organic in appearance. Whether this was due to the Changelings’ presence or not was up to debate, but it was enough to make Nimbus conclude that touching the walls was somewhat less appealing.

Up ahead, the cave widened, and the ponies found themselves in a massive, domelike room. The walls were covered with small pockets which contained, much to Nimbus’s dismay, more cocoons.

“Keep quiet,” Storm whispered, “we’ll just have to sneak through.”

Awaken, my subjects, Bright Future’s voice boomed through the cavern, there are those here that wish to disrupt us. Protect the hive!

The cocoons on the walls began to split, spilling viscous green liquid down the walls as they did. The insect-like hum was back, and as the creatures emerged from their pockets, Nimbus identified them immediately as Changelings.

“We’re not getting out of this one, are we?” Storm Runner said as Changelings continued to emerge from the walls all around them. Nimbus put his helmet on.

“How’s your terrain alert system?” he asked in response. Storm Runner donned his own helmet.

“I think it’s okay,” he said after a few moments as the Changelings began to advance, “why?”

“Get ready to fly,” Nimbus said, digging his hooves in for a quick launch.

Wait, subjects, hold your positions.

The Changelings stopped, glaring at the two Pegasi that they now encircled. Suddenly, Nimbus’s world exploded in shades of green and it felt as if something was stabbing into his mind, cutting him off from his own thoughts. He dropped to the cave floor beside Storm Runner, who was in just as much pain. Then, as suddenly as it began, the strange sensation stopped. Nimbus panted, trying to make out their best exit route, but Bright Future chuckled darkly, speaking again.

Oh, I have something much better planned now. You two hold such… delicious memories.

“What are you talking about?” Nimbus yelled, stepping back. Behind him, a Changeling hissed, a dry, rattling sound, and he froze.

Without a word, the Changelings each were engulfed in a burst of green magic. This effect traveled like a wave through the ranks of the dark creatures, spreading from the center outward. When the magic dispersed, standing in the place of the Changelings was a crowd of faces Nimbus had told himself he’d only ever see in his nightmares.

Sun Blazes; hundreds of them. Each was a perfect copy of the next, right down to the eyelashes. Both Nimbus and Storm Runner were paralyzed with shock and fear by the sudden change. It seemed that Bright Future had finally found the two ponies' greatest weaknesses. Slowly, the clones began to advance.

“It is time for the truth to finally be unveiled,” they said in perfect unison, matching Sun Blaze’s voice exactly. “We are your greatest fears. Your journey ends here.”

…

Farther into the cave system, Silky Sunset came to her senses, shaking what felt like pounds of cave dust from her mane. It didn’t take her long to determine that she was not alone in the pitch darkness. There was ragged breathing coming from her right side. Choosing to go silent, Sunset squinted her eyes for a better look. It was the cellist. The mare was wedged underneath a rock, and was squirming, trying to free herself despite the pain.

Presumably hearing Silky Sunset, Octavia looked up. “Silky? Nimbus? Storm Runner? Are any of you there? Please- help me out of here!”

Sunset considered her options. She was in a very advantageous position right now. If she accompanied the mare and, if they ever managed to find them again, the Aviators through the rest of the journey, she would almost certainly be imprisoned upon returning to civilization. Suddenly, fate had given her another option- she could leave the cellist and make her way back to the surface, maybe lay low again. She was done with the Awakening now, but that didn’t mean she had to suffer for her past affiliations.

Go, her Awakening side said, there’s still a chance to get out of this alive. Leave the mare behind- she was just baggage anyway. Besides, letting her die here, under that rock, is probably more merciful than what the Changelings will do to her.

Excellent points, to be sure, but on the other hoof, the mare under the rock was a pony just like her. After all she’d been through, after all Silky had done to her, she still trusted her. Did she even have the nerve to betray that trust?

“Cellist…” Silky said softly, turning back towards the struggling pony behind her.

Hearing Silky’s words, Octavia slowly raised her head, wincing as a fresh, new bolt of pain shot up her back legs. “Silky Sunset? Where are the others? Please- I’m trapped beneath this rock. Can you help me get free?”

Silky didn’t answer, but the darkness was suddenly illuminated by a soft glow from her horn. The glow encircled the rock, lifting it gingerly off of the Earth Pony. Octavia pushed herself upright, then gasped as more daggers of pain plunged into her legs.

“No, don’t move. Let me get a look at that.” Silky knelt by Octavia, keeping her horn illuminated. Octavia found she couldn’t turn her head away, though she really didn’t want to know what damage had been done.

“A lot of this is superficial,” Sunset concluded, “the skin’s been broken in several places, but I think you may only have a severe sprain. Still, we can’t have you walking on those legs. Let’s try this-“

The magic was redirected towards Octavia’s back legs, where it swirled around for a moment, before sinking below the skin. Sunset smiled.

“I think that’ll do it. I’m supporting your bones with a bit of my magic. As long as you don’t try galloping, you should be fine.”

It was then that Octavia first got a look around. She’d been too blinded by her own pain to truly perceive where they were. Now, though, with Silky’s light illuminating the place, she could see a jagged hole above them, and rough walls on all sides.

Noting her discomfort, Silky had a look for herself.

“It’s a sheer drop,” she pointed out, somewhat unnecessarily, “no wonder we haven’t seen the others yet. They must have been separated.”

“We’ll have to climb out,” Octavia said, getting to her hooves, “I think I can-“

“No, you’re not going anywhere,” Silky whispered, sitting Octavia back down, “I’m going to climb and levitate you out of here when I get to the top.” Seeing the look of unease in Octavia’s eyes, Silky added “I know you probably don’t trust me, but I did come back for you. To be honest, I actually kind of surprised myself with that.”

Octavia sighed. “Very well. It looks like that’s our only way out anyway.”

Silky’s eyes darted over the wall, scanning for any cracks or ledges that would make suitable climbing points. Settling on a moisture-slicked outcropping that was better than nothing at the moment, she began her ascent.

“Why did you come back for me?” Octavia called out from below, trying to be as quiet as possible. “You’re allying yourself with the one pony who could, and frankly should bring you to justice.”

Silky shook her head as she pushed herself further up the wall, “Cellist, I never wanted to hurt you. I was thrust into a leadership position that I didn’t want, and made some rash decisions out of pressure. Maybe you can’t understand that now, but I think in time you might.”

“That night you told me about the Awakening,” Octavia said softly, “I could almost sympathize with your cause. You all really thought you could change the world for the better, didn’t you?”

“Rrrgh, yes, we-uff- did,” Sunset groaned, slipping backwards about a foot, “but I’m starting to see that our methods just disrupted Equestria even more. With Luna’s return, Equestria is healing itself. All we’re doing is reopening old wounds.”

“So why did you join the Awakening, then?” Octavia persisted, “what would have made you ally yourself with such a controversial group?”

The Unicorn was almost at the top of her climb now, and finding fewer and fewer hoofholds. Still, she persevered. “My parents were both in the Awakening,” she said at last, “both scholars. They never participated in combat- they only sought the truth. While they never said it, I was always under the impression that they wanted me to be just like them. They would have been proud of my status as leader, but to be honest, I think they’d look on my recent actions with shame. That hostage operation was never something they would have condoned. Now, after everything I’ve done, I’m not sure I could ever see them face to face again. I’m not sure you can truly understand how that feels.”

Octavia chuckled and a very faint smile played about her face. “Actually, Silky, I can relate to that better than you might think.”

“How? And how is any of this funny to you?”

“It’s not funny, I just never realized how alike we really were. You see- my parents wanted me to do something ‘productive’ with my life. They wanted me to study business or medicine- apply myself in a field where I could be successful. Music was for the uneducated, they said. I left home a few years ago in direct violation of their requests. I think that night I finally realized that the only one responsible for our future is ourselves.”

Hanging from a ledge, Silky Sunset thought about this. Octavia hadn’t been given a choice by her parents. She, on the other hoof, had only imagined the pressure she’d felt to join the Awakening. Perhaps still, they were closer than either realized.

“I didn’t mean the cruel things I said to you back on the Sol,” Octavia continued. “You are a leader, Sunset. You’re just not capable of evil. Helping me is proof of that.”

Sunset smiled. She didn’t know what to say. All she knew was that one of her former hostages was now giving her a second chance, one that she probably didn’t even deserve. She heaved herself up over the lip of the hole, staring down.

Last chance, she thought, one more opportunity to abandon her here and get out alone.

“Silky? Everything alright?”

Silky banished the thought from her head once and for all, pointing her horn towards the mare in the hole. “Hold still, cellist. I’m getting you out of there.”

Exhausted from the day’s strain, Silky nevertheless channeled her magic into her horn, directing it at and around the Earth Pony below. Slowly, Octavia began to rise to the top of the pit. Nearing the edge, Sunset could feel her magic slipping, and struggled to keep her focus. Gritting her teeth and bearing down hard on her magic, she lifted Octavia clear of the hole, then released her magic with a loud exhale.

Octavia coughed once, throwing a cloud of cave dust into the air. “Thank you, Silky.”

Smiling, Silky Sunset helped Octavia to her hooves. “Cellist… I never got your name.”

“Octavia.”

“Well then, Octavia,” Sunset extended a hoof, which Octavia gently shook, “perhaps it’s a bit premature, but maybe this is our chance to start over. Can I perhaps call you a friend now?”

Octavia grinned. “Silky, you have more than earned that right.”

The two mares turned to face the dark tunnel ahead, knowing full well that the only way out wouldn’t be an easy one.

“Ready?” Octavia whispered.

Silky glanced at her newfound friend. “Octavia, I was never more ready than I am now.”