Deus Ex: Equine Revolution

by Melon Hunter

Chapter 1: Dreams Of The Future

Deus Ex: Equine Revolution

By Melon Hunter

Chapter 1: Dreams Of The Future

High above the rolling hills and scattered woods that made up rural Equestria, a single sky carriage swept through the evening air, the red light of sunset playing off its burnished steel sides. A logo realised in brass was briefly illuminated: Sparkle Industries, it proclaimed to the world around it. Two pegasus stallions in the familiar purple-and-pink regalia pulled the carriage in total silence, only a faint noise emanating from the wind as it swirled around their wings.

Within the carriage, the sole occupant closed her eyes and sank back in her seat, sighing in exasperation. What a nightmare, she thought. Three days. Three whole days, she’d spent sitting in meetings, wearing the same false smile, adopting the same sickly sweet reassuring tone, whilst trying to temper the shareholders’ fears about absolutely nothing. When had life become so complicated? Candy-making in Ponyville had been idyllic. Chasing criminals through Canterlot had been an exhilarating introduction to the city, and a research job at Sparkle Industries had been a dream come true... so how had she ended up having to hold the hooves of a bunch of frightened little foals? Foals who, it just so happened, could drive the company’s value into the ground if they got spooked.

Silently vowing to unleash a wrath to rival Nightmare Moon on the next pony to ask about the damn aug harnesses, she reached out to her only companions within the carriage: a small tumbler with ice, and half a litre of Stalliongrad’s finest vodka. Draining the tumbler, she rolled it across her forehead, moaning softly as the cool glass soothed the headache that had been haunting her for the past hour, seemingly anticipating the stress of presenting her findings to the board of directors when she arrived back in Canterlot. She tried not to think about that. For now, just sit back, and relax for a while—

“Hey, sweetie!”

Her eyelids flicked open to be greeted by a disembodied mint-green unicorn’s head floating in front of her, a holographic projection spell having flickered to life on the wall of the carriage.

“Hey...” The weariness in her voice brought a concerned look to the face of her partner.

“You OK? How was Stalliongrad? Did it go well?”

“Ugh. I spent all day, every day cooped up in meetings. You wouldn’t believe how worked up some of the investors are. If you really wanna know how it went, just ask me a question about those aug harnesses about four hundred times and I’ll see how many ways I can rephrase ‘that’s classified’,” she replied.

“That bad, huh?” The hologram’s gaze moved to the bottle of vodka on the side. “Bon Bon, I thought we talked about this already,” she said with a disappointed tone.

“Lyra, it’s one glass. I think I can be forgiven that, can’t I?”

“I know, I know. I just worry about you. We barely even see each other these days. I wanted to make sure you were OK. Twilight said they were a tough crowd to please, and I didn’t want you to come back feeling like you’d done something wrong.”

“It wasn’t so bad. I’m just not looking forward to having to present everything tomorrow, and you’re off to Baltimare before I even get back,” Bon Bon said morosely.

“Actually, that’s where you’re wrong,” Lyra said with a smirk. “I’ve managed to push back departure a little, so we’ve got about an hour together. So when you get in, you’re going to head straight down that elevator to Deep Labs to meet me, OK?”

“OK...” A small smile began to creep across Bon Bon’s face. “What else?”

“What else?! Isn’t seeing me good enough for you any more?” Lyra gasped in mock indignation.

“Lyra, you’re terrible at keeping things hidden. There’s something else you want to tell me, isn’t there?”

“Well... yes,” she admitted. “But I really, really can’t tell you over the comm link. It’ll need to be in a secure area.” Bon Bon raised an eyebrow. “I’m serious! This is classified research! It’ll be more than my job’s worth! However, what I can tell you is what we’re going to do with it.”

“What, the research? Isn’t that information classified as well?” the earth pony asked.

“No, silly! The payoff from the research! Look, I think we’ve spent far too much time apart from one another recently, and I’ve decided that when I return from Baltimare, we are not simply going back to our apartment.”

“Huh? Why? Where are we gonna go?”

“Oh, nowhere special,” Lyra said loftily, inclining her head as if she were admiring one of her hooves. “Just the penthouse suite at the Celestial Hotel.” Bon Bon’s mouth fell open. “Which I may or may not have booked for the entire weekend.”

“Wh- Bu- L-Lyra... how can we possibly afford that?!” she spluttered.

“Well, like I said, that research paid off handsomely, and somepony got a rather generous bonus. Say... eighty thousand bits generous.” Lyra grinned.

The cream pony sat back in stunned silence. Eighty thousand bits? What in the hay had she found?

“So, a whole weekend to do whatever we want. No conferences, no working overtime in the labs, just you, me, and seventy-two hours in the best hotel in Canterlot. Sound good?” Lyra continued.

Bon Bon simply nodded her head.

“Good! I’ve probably said too much already, so I’ll cut it off here before I get into any more trouble. I’ll see you in the Deep Labs, then! Ciao!” Lyra giggled, and blew a kiss, before the hologram abruptly vanished.

For the next few minutes, Bon Bon sat absolutely still, remaining silent as her mind tried to process this information. Eighty thousand bits? For what? Her own research job had allowed her access to the vast majority of Sparkle Industries’ R&D facilities, but to her knowledge, for the past four months the most notable development was the augmentation harnesses being constructed for the workers at Luna’s Mare Cognitum facility in the Everfree Forest. Remarkably well designed and advanced, yes, advertised to an almost sickening degree, of course, but hardly something to pay a pony a small fortune over.

Now she thought about it, she’d barely seen Lyra around the labs she worked in for over a year. That was nothing out of the ordinary, nor were her vague descriptions of what she was working on when asked: that was simply company policy. So had she been working on something truly ground-breaking? If so, what?

“Erm, Miss Bon Bon?” a voice called over the intercom.

“Huh? Oh, sorry, Flint, I was lost in my own thoughts there,” she said.

“No worries. I was just letting you know we’ll be landing in Canterlot in about ten minutes. Might wanna fasten your seatbelt, thermals can get a bit rough around here,” came the reply from the pegasus outside.

“OK. Thanks for the heads up.” Bon Bon navigated the tumbler to a nearby cabinet, and the vodka into her saddlebag. Looking out of the window, she saw the faint glow emanating around the fast approaching mountain. Home sweet home, she thought.

-------

Canterlot! It was grand enough viewed from the streets, but from the vantage point of the sky carriage, it was truly breathtaking. Although the castle itself was fastened to the side of the mountain, the majority of the city was built around the other side of the peak, on a plateau with roads leading down to the plains below. Over the years, the city had gradually outgrown the land available to it, with newer buildings now poking over the sides of the peak and even being carved from the rock of the mountain itself.

Beneath it all, hidden under the glorious white marble of the main city and displaced by the now gentrified districts surrounding the approach to Canterlot proper, were the Under Warrens, slums that had been built within the catacombs inside the mountain and precariously affixed to the undersides of the buildings above, built from the detritus of the more fortunate society.

Canterlot was, thought Bon Bon, an utter mess: a clean and fastidious veneer over a dirty and dangerous core, a city unlike any other, a city she wouldn’t trade for the world. The castle and the towers behind it looked pretty enough, that was true, but her days in the Canterlot police force had shown her the true soul of the city, each district containing its own merits and flaws, and each with its own camaraderie that she’d found a welcome reminder of her birthplace, Ponyville.

As the carriage flew lower, she fixed her gaze on the tallest tower in her field of vision: a vast monolith in the shape of a six-pointed star. Viewed from above, the tower and the smaller buildings surrounding it resembled the cutie mark of its founder, none other than the egregious Twilight Sparkle. She shifted, standing up to prepare herself for the imminent landing.

They touched down on the skypad on top of the great tower, lightly coming to a halt. To their credit, the two pegasi had flown the carriage with the utmost precision through the precarious winds around the peak of the mountain, making the ride far more comfortable and far less nausea-inducing than some other fliers. Bon Bon picked up her saddlebags and pushed open the door, taking a deep breath of the rarefied mountain air as she stepped out onto the landing pad. She turned to the two pegasi, who were busy unhitching themselves from the carriage.

“Well, thank you, gentlecolts. I have to say that’s some of the finest flying I’ve ever had the pleasure of experiencing,” she addressed them.

“Ah, well, we pride ourselves on a smooth ride, don’t we, eh, Steel?” said Flint, nudging the other pegasus, who said nothing, instead opting to blush a little. Chuckling at the awkwardness of the stallion, Bon Bon rooted around in her saddlebag and placed the bottle of vodka in front of the two pegasi. “You know the policy about alcohol, Miss Bon Bon.”

“Flint, I’ve been knocking that back since we left Stalliongrad. You’ve earned it. Go on, go off and share it. You need a break.”

“Well, thank you kindly, ma’am. We won’t be keeping you,” Flint replied.

“No problem. You’ve got your noses to the grindstone as it is. When’re you next on shift?”

“Two days from now, I think. We got lucky tonight; Gamma Squad’s pulling the chariots out to Baltimare, so we ain’t got it too bad.”

“Fair enough. See you soon, Flint, Steel,” Bon Bon said, waving to the two pegasi and stepping into the entrance to the building.

A short flight of stairs led down to a vast sky lobby that took up an entire point of the star-shaped floor, the external walls entirely replaced with tinted glass to give a breathtaking view of the world around Canterlot, currently stained a deep orange by the setting sun. Nearer to the central core of the building were several bureaus, each occupied by a secretary busy with the screen in front of them, logging the various comings and goings of those at the skypad, with elevators behind them. A television sunk into one of the walls of the lobby informed visitors of the day’s news.

“...with growing anticipation for tomorrow night’s mystery unveiling by Sparkle Industries, experts are currently naming augmentations they believe might be revealed in preparation for AugCon, later this year. In other news, tensions continue to grow in Manehatten, where a group of homeless ponies and Apple Corps representatives are refusing to evacuate a set of condemned buildings scheduled for demolition. The Blueblood Corporation has declined to comment, sparking speculation that their new luxury highrises may be delayed by up to a year...”

Bon Bon ignored the wittering news anchor on the screen. Another day, another crisis. Too much poverty. Augmentation companies ‘playing God’. ‘Tensions mounting’ from here to the dark side of the Luna-damned moon. Listening to it all was enough to send a pony crazy.

Deciding against the core elevators, she instead walked to the very tip, where an elevator constructed almost entirely of glass was mounted to the point of the star: one of six ‘vista elevators’, as they were known, able to travel to any floor of the building while giving the occupants the same glorious view that was also available from the lobby. Decadent, unnecessary, but worth it, she thought, selecting the button for the ground floor as she walked in. It wasn’t every day she got to walk on the roof of the world.

The elevator abruptly stopped its descent a few floors down, allowing two unicorn mares to enter, one sky blue with a gold mane, the other a deep mahogany brown with a forest green mane. They both had variations on an antenna as cutie marks, marking them both out as communications experts, likely involved in the company’s overbearing presence on the Equestrinet and wider media networks.

“So, have you checked out who’s gonna be visiting Canterlot this winter?” the blue mare asked as the doors slid shut.

“Um, well, I think my aunt may be coming to visit...” the mahogany pony replied.

“Ugh, not in that way, Serial Link! C’mon, don’t you keep track of anything these days?” she teased.

“Oh! Uh... I think there’s a lot going on, Pulse Width. Enlighten me?” Serial Link said.

“Only the most famous musician in all of Equestria!” Pulse Width paused for a second. “DJ-PON3! Here! In Canterlot! Can you imagine what that show’s gonna be like?!”

“Well, I’m sure it’ll be nice... and loud.” Serial Link crossed one foreleg over the other, and broke eye contact.

“Hey, come on. I know you’ve listened to her stuff. And I know you secretly liked it.”

“Perhaps...” Serial Link smiled coyly.

“And, besides, I’ve managed to get a hold of two VIP tickets. Free. Of. Charge,” Pulse Width said triumphantly.

“Huh? How?! I thought those shows sold out months before—I mean, uh, at least from what I’ve heard.”

“C’mon, haven’t you seen the augs she’s tricked out with? She’s got a sponsorship with Sparkle Industries. She exclusively uses our augs, and she gets a direct link to the PR department and Marketing. I had a few ponies who owed me a few favours. A little persuasion here, a little whining there, and hey presto! Me and a very lucky guest are going to be going backstage! You get me?” Pulse Width grinned.

“Well, I’m very happy for you, Pulse. I’m sure whoever he is, he’ll be thrilled to go with you!” Serial Link smiled.

“He?”

“Why, yes. I’d imagine for an exclusive event like this, you’d invite somepony you’d want to be more than just friends with, no?”

“Uh, yeah. Something like that.” Pulse Width scratched the back of her head, and looked away, blushing slightly, while Serial Link’s gaze fell down to the floor, the coy little smile decorating her face once again.

Playing hard to get, Bon Bon thought, having borne unwilling witness to the exchange. She remembered playing that trick more than a few times herself, in the times when her relationship with Lyra had broken down, although they had always eventually drifted back together again. Nearly two decades’ worth of back-and-forthing, and somehow they still stayed together, in spite of, or perhaps, because of their diametrically opposed personalities, Lyra’s bubbly enthusiastic side being grounded by Bon Bon’s more sombre nature.

Pulse Width opened her mouth to say something, just as the elevator stopped again, opening the door to reveal a deep blue unicorn with a blue and white striped mane, and an hourglass resplendent on her flank. She met the occupants of the elevator with an almost deranged grin.

“Well, well, well. Just the two ponies I wanted to see! How’s the connections up in Marketing looking now?” she said.

“J-just fine, ma’am!” Serial Link stammered.

“And your little friend up there? Has he stopped responding to those messages from that ‘rich zebra prince’? You made sure you hammered into his head that, no, giving out bank details won’t net him ten million bits?”

“Uh, yes, Miss Colgate!” Pulse Width squeaked.

“Good, good! I guess he repaid you handsomely for that, didn’t he? Say, a ticket or two?” Pulse Width blanched, and opened her mouth to deny it, when Colgate winked and said “Don’t worry, I don’t begrudge you. Wish I could go, but... I reckon there’s somepony else you’d rather give that extra ticket to. ” Pulse Width’s eyes went even wider. “Now then, we have hackers to stop and flanks to kick!” At that, the two unicorns nodded, and scurried through the doors of the elevator.

“Run, my little minions! Run!” she called after them, and broke down into fits of laughter as they broke into canters.

Bon Bon rolled her eyes. “Oh, no, Bon Bon. Of course I’m not going to let the power go to my head. I mean, it’s only the post of Chief Communications Officer,” she said to the elevator in general.

“Oh, suck it up. If you ever go and get augmented, make sure it’s your sense of humour they fix,” Colgate replied. They both looked at each other for a second, then shared a good-natured giggle.

“C’mon. ‘My little minions’? They’re going to be taking you out of here in a straightjacket if you’re not careful,” Bon Bon scoffed.

“I like to keep them on their hooves. Seems to work on them! We’ve been getting more and more attacks recently from every little punk who thinks that Equestrinet access gives ‘em the right to start poking around in our data banks, and they’ve been seeing off every last one,” Colgate said triumphantly. “‘Sides, I’ve been trying to get those two together for ages. I was hoping one was going to jump into the other one’s forelegs or something.”

“You knew about them?” Bon Bon asked.

“Well, of course. You figured it out from a couple of minutes with them. I’ve been around them for six months. It was cute at first, but they’re still at the stage where they’re glancing at each other when they think the other’s not looking, and muggins here gets to read through all their sickly sweet messages to each other on the filters. Ugh.” She mimed sticking a hoof into her throat. “Hopefully she’ll wise up and ask her out with that ticket. I dunno. It’s either that, or I hack into her account and do it myself.” Bon Bon shot her a dirty look. “I’m kidding! I’m kidding! Anyway, on that subject, are the investors now in love with the aug harnesses?”

“Sort of. They’re still a bit jumpy, but I think anypony throwing those amounts of money around has every right to be. It’s just... I think all the advertising and hype for them might be a little too much for them.”

“I hear you. I can’t wait until we release these things and get them up and running. At least then we can start shoving our Next Big Thing in everypony’s face,” Colgate said. “And is Lyra OK? I’ve heard she’s been rushed off her hooves recently with organising that unveiling in Baltimare.”

“Yeah, she’s fine. I’m meeting her down in Deep Labs before she goes. At least we’ll finally have some time to ourselves this weekend. We’re heading off to the Celestial Hotel for a bit of R&R.” Bon Bon smiled.

“Oh. That makes sense.”

“What?”

“Well, I overheard Lyra telling somepony about how pleased she was about learning a soundproofing spell. I didn’t think much of it at the time, but if you two have the weekend off in a hotel...”

Bon Bon suddenly cottoned on to what exactly was being implied. “Colgate!” she snapped.

“What?! Come on, lighten up! I was just joking!”

“Yes, but joking about that, ugh...” Bon Bon shook her head, feeling the rising blush in her cheeks.

“Like I said. Sense of humour needs augmenting. I make jokes about everything, sister. Especially...” Colgate looked around conspiratorially. “That.”

“Sometimes I wonder if your mind has been permanently corrupted by those darker areas of the ‘Net, Colgate,” Bon Bon said.

“You mean those ones where you can find pictures of a griffon—”

“Enough!”

Colgate snickered, and turned to the doors, which were opening as the elevator reached the ground floor. They stepped out into the small lobby, where ponies went about their business, walking to and fro, chattering, reading from holoscrolls or admiring one another’s augmentations. Offices extended away through a large corridor leading to the centre of the building, where the elevators down to the high-security subterranean levels were located.

They walked in silence, Bon Bon simultaneously trying to ignore the smug look on Colgate’s face and the horrific mental images their conversation had conjured. As they reached the elevator, Colgate tapped her on the shoulder.

“Hey, sorry if I, uh, offended you. Call it quits?” She held out a hoof. Bon Bon took it and shook it primly.

“Of course. I’ll try to augment myself before I meet you again,” she said.

“Good. And, one more thing,” Colgate said, as Bon Bon stepped into the small elevator.

“Yeah?”

“If you’re looking to spend your time wisely with Lyra before she goes, there’s a janitor’s closet down on Level -4 that nopony walks past. Y’know, if you can’t wait until the weekend,” she said, grinning through the closing doors.

“COLGATE!”

-------

Bon Bon silently fumed as the small metal capsule descended beneath the ground. Of all the filthy-minded, uncouth layabouts in Communications, it had to be her, didn’t it? Not somepony responsible, oh no, let’s have Colgate take the lead! That’ll be a laugh—no, no, she was not going to let her thoughts on Colgate, no matter how low, ruin her mood now. Not now that Lyra had found some time for her before departing for Baltimare...

With a quiet ding, the doors opened to the Deep Labs, revealing to Bon Bon a world unlike any other. Most of the research labs, test centres and private medical facilities for Sparkle Industries in Canterlot were located in the smaller star-shaped towers that crowded around the main spire. However, the most important and most sensitive research, into augmentations that were too valuable or dangerous to have out on general display, was conducted safely beneath the ground, behind barricades of security that were rumoured to rival the wards placed on the sacred Elements of Harmony themselves.

It was... an odd place to be sure. Just like any other research laboratory, the aesthetic was simple: clean white spaces, often with floor-to-ceiling glass plates serving as walls, allowing passers-by to see into the various sub-sections. Biologically sterile, and yet intellectually vibrant. Just the place for any lover of research and design to bring their dreams and visions into reality.

She idly looked into one such enclave as she passed by; the ponies inside were busily scurrying back and forth as they worked upon what looked like a full foreleg, complete with shoulder joint. Disregarding the traumatic amputation required to wield such a device, it was a beautiful thing: all sleek black joints and curves constructed from carbon fibre reinforced polymers, with not even a peek of the enchanted gemstones inside that contained the neuromantic spells required to interface the limb with the user’s nervous system and move the leg as intended. Evidently the limb was being put through some sort of test for functionality by the mechanical engineers; she noted a unicorn’s horn glow, and the hoof of the leg sprang apart into a four-fingered paw.

Bon Bon smiled at that; the Griffon Paw aug had been partially designed by Lyra four years ago. She’d always been fascinated with the abilities of species with opposable thumbs, as they were capable of manipulating objects in ways that even unicorns would find hard with telekinesis, and other ponies downright impossible with their hooves. A moment later, and the unicorn’s horn glowed once more; the paw folded away seamlessly to form a hoof again, as if it had never been there. Wonderful, she thought. It was such a useful aug, and she was pleased to see it being included as standard on augmented limbs these days—

SHING!

She recoiled as the limb reacted once more to the engineer’s magical prodding, only this time, a thin blade had extended from it! It was as long as lower half of the leg, evidently being secreted there normally, and had emerged from a near-invisible slot on the outside of the hoof, running parallel to the leg. It retracted, and then shot out again, only this time from the elbow, extending behind the foreleg.

Bon Bon blanched. What kind of pony would need such an aug?! Royal Guards? Security forces? Celestia forbid, a private user? There had been ugly rumours about Sparkle Industries accepting military-grade contracts, building weapons into augmentations, and of course she had been dimly aware of the more controversial developments going on down here. But to see scientists sworn to aid and enhance the equine race flaunt their lethal modifications so carelessly was a travesty! Augs were meant to improve, but not kill.

Shaking herself, Bon Bon moved further through the sub-level, to a place that was as much ‘home’ as the apartment she and Lyra shared on Harmony Row: the augmentation harness laboratory. In here resided both the bane of her life and her second lover: a device that had kept her attention for a whole eighteen months. She looked up at a specimen on display in the centre of the lab. Like the limb next door, it was constructed from the latest materials and thus a gleaming jet black. In contrast to the foreleg, it was a hulking exoskeleton with bulging artificial muscles that would have made the greatest bodybuilder in all of Equestria jealous.

Unlike previous generations of augs, which insisted on the removal of the natural body part for installation, the aug harnesses instead consisted of a large exoskeleton that fitted over all four legs of a pony, whilst the neural interface came from several ports attached to the pony themselves. Far less invasive than normal augmentations, and it allowed ponies to be given the strength of ten of their brethren without being permanently fused to impractically large limbs.

Not a solution for everything, Bon Bon had to admit, but at least workers on the Mare Cognitum facility could now be augmented for work without losing their legs. She noticed a young earth pony look up at her, recognition flashing across her face. She had a crimson-coloured mane, and a peach coat, which was punctuated in several places on her legs and spine by half-inch diameter silver spots, the ‘anchors’ that would attach her both physically and neurally to the harnesses. A very rare breed: a researcher willing to test her own prototype. A songbird framed by a rising sun was located on her flank.

“Oh, Miss Bon Bon! I hadn’t been informed you were visiting the labs this evening!” the mare exclaimed.

“You can relax, Dawn Chorus. I’m just here to meet Lyra before she heads off. You haven’t seen her around, have you?” Bon Bon replied.

“Oh! No, I haven’t. I imagine she won’t be long, though. She wished to personally oversee the sample harnesses being readied for transit to Baltimare.” Dawn Chorus smiled. “I was just getting ready to give a final demonstration. May I?” she said, indicating one of the harnesses.

“Of course. You can walk me through it now. Wouldn’t want you to get stage fright, eh?” Bon Bon nudged the mare, who blushed slightly.

“No, of course, that would be fine.” She walked over to the exoskeleton and clambered inside. A series of whirrs were emitted by the device, as a thin frame extended over her back, small lilac flashes appearing as each anchor on her body magically fused to its twin on the harness.

“OK... neural interface is stabilising... twenty percent stability... fifty... eighty... ninety-five... ninety-nine... ninety-nine point five... alright, it’s topping out at ninety-nine point eight. You’re good to go,” a unicorn stallion informed her, reading off measurements from a translucent screen in front of him. Dawn Chorus nodded, and gave a few experimental swings of her legs, the exoskeleton moving easily with her. She stood up, and stomped over to a nearby treadmill, which began to move at walking pace as she stepped on it. Bon Bon stood by the machine as Dawn walked forwards on the treadmill with seeming ease.

“So, everything alright? No abnormal behaviour, no movement lag?” she asked, as the pace of the treadmill began to increase.

“Nope. Everything’s working like a dream. I think we’ve finally ironed out those flaws in the foreleg interfaces. It actually feels like I’m moving my own limbs now, rather than fighting the exoskeleton just to walk. I’d say we’ve got a winner on our hooves.”

“Well, I’m glad to hear that.” Bon Bon observed the movements of the harness on the treadmill as it accelerated to jogging speed, Dawn keeping pace with minimal effort. She suspected that after maybe a minute or so, she’d be out of breath and slowing down, but the younger pony took the strain without even noticing it.

“All the tools on the harness are working as well, I take it?” she asked, as the belt came to a halt.

“Of course.” Dawn stepped off the treadmill to a cordoned-off area with several large crates inside, some bearing char marks. She walked up to one of the crates, her augmented hoof unfolding into a fearsome paw that moved forward and gripped the crate firmly. A slight heave, and the impossible happened; the little mare looked at her triumphantly, the heavy crate held up effortlessly in one unfolded hoof without her even breaking a sweat. She looked almost lost within the bulky frame, the vast exoskeleton making her closer to a griffon in stature than a pony, yet her confident movements suggested she had more than enough experience to manipulate the harness.

She concentrated again, and the harness reared back, hind legs folding and re-arranging to a bipedal mode. Dawn took a few steps forward, and a thin tube extended from her free leg, a painfully bright blue flame springing out from it. She brought it up to the crate, slicing through the thick steel with the blowtorch and sending a corner of it clattering to the floor. A smattering of polite applause filled the lab.

As Dawn returned to all fours, Bon Bon realised she was grinning. She’d spent an age complaining about the investors, the merciless marketing campaigns and the enormous time drain the project had been, but this... this was what she lived for. To see her dreams become reality, to see a pony transcend the limits placed on her by nature. This was playing God.

“Perfect.” The word escaped her lips before she could stop it. Dawn Chorus bobbed her head in gratitude. “It’s a shame Lyra wasn’t here to see that. That run was flawless!”

“I wouldn’t count on that,” Dawn said with a teasing smile.

“Huh—” The sentence Bon Bon was about to speak never left her mouth, as she was tackled to the ground by an unknown assailant.

“SURPRISE!” came a cry from above her.

“What’s going on?” She noticed a mint green hoof in front of her. She peered up into the dark gold eyes above her. “Lyra... really? In the middle of the lab?” She was acutely aware of the other researchers looking on in bemusement at them, and her cheeks were beginning to turn a deep red.

“Yep! You know me! The more public, the better!” She laughed as she helped Bon Bon up, nuzzling her affectionately as she did so. “You’re so easy to wind up.”

“Don’t I know it...” Bon Bon muttered.

“Anyway! That was excellent, Dawn! I’m glad you’ve got the routine nailed! I’ll be back for pack-up in about an hour, alright, everypony? I have some urgent business to attend to.” The researchers nodded, and went back to their tasks, Dawn stomping over to some other parts of the lab to continue her trial run.

“I guess I’m the urgent business, huh?” Bon Bon deadpanned as Lyra led her outside.

“Oh, something like that...” Lyra said, pecking her on the cheek. “But, like I said. I had something big to show you. Follow me.”

Taken aback by the business-like tone in her partner’s voice, Bon Bon followed her through the corridors of the facility. She wondered what could be keeping her so preoccupied as they walked, a number of possibilities flowing through her head. She said it’s classified, didn’t she? What’s with her? Is this a military aug? Something too dangerous to be let out of here? Anxiety burned within her; she had to say something.

“I see that we’re building blades into artificial limbs, then,” Bon Bon said. “This breakthrough wouldn’t have anything to do with that, would it?”

“Of course not!” Lyra replied.

“Really? I thought Sparkle Industries prided itself on not war profiteering. Yet here we are, quite happily testing weaponised augmentations in open labs.”

“We’ve never made war augs for the griffons, and we never will. You know that,” Lyra reassured her.

“Unless you count the thousands of pony mercenaries out there fighting alongside them,” Bon Bon said darkly.

Her partner sighed. “We’ve taken on contracts for the Royal Guards, and the Royal Guards only. After all, Twilight Sparkle is one of Princess Celestia’s closest confidants; if she starts making subtle noises about the Guards needing to update their armoury, Twilight’s gonna listen.”

“Still a bit of a shock to see it here, though,” Bon Bon admitted.

“I know. But look at it this way: the griffons have been at war with one another for over a decade. Thirteen clans, sub-divided into Celestia-knows-how-many-tribes. The whole point of the structure was to keep disputes at a local level and stop them from growing into full-blown war. Now? Most of the tribes have vanished or merged, and the clans have all melted together into one of two factions. When one finally wins, and crowns a new High Chieftain, do you think they’re gonna simply stop fighting and go back to the way things were?”

“When you put it like that...”

“I’m not saying that we’ll ever be at war with the griffons. But as it stands, the Royal Guards would be hopelessly outmatched by even one of the bigger mercenary companies. It pays to be safe, rather than sorry. I don’t like it any more than you do, but we need to do this,” Lyra said quietly. “But we’re not basing our business model on wartime augs, unlike some companies out there. Unethical and unsustainable. I was hoping what I’m going to show you might help our image as one of the more benevolent forces for change out there.” She nuzzled Bon Bon, and they continued their journey through the Deep Labs, until they came to an imposing black wall, starkly contrasting the white aesthetic around them.

“Lyra, this is Ultraviolet Level Security. I don’t have clearance,” Bon Bon objected.

“You do for today! I convinced them you needed to see this. You’re going to love it, I guarantee!” her partner said.

Reassured by the return of the playfulness to Lyra’s voice, Bon Bon waited patiently as her partner stepped up to a small panel in the wall, which contained a small enchanted device imbued with a retinal scanning spell. Faint green lines played over her dark gold eyes for a few seconds, before a soft voice stated, “Identity confirmed: Lyra Heartstrings. Entry permitted.” A door slid out from the wall, revealing a small decontamination chamber beyond.

“Awaiting secondary confirmation,” the device continued.

“That’s your cue, sweetie.” Bon Bon stepped up to the panel, an odd feeling coming over her eye as the arcane lines traced out her retina.

“Secondary identity confirmed: Bon Bon Candycane. Entry permitted.” She rushed inside the chamber, where Lyra was standing, her face scrunched up with the effort of not laughing.

“What? Oh, for Celestia’s sake...”

“Bwah ha ha! I’m sorry! I’m sorry! It’s just... Candycane... hee hee... still can’t get used to it,” Lyra said with a giggle as the door shut and the decontamination spray began.

“Shut up shut up shut up!”

Once the spray had finished, the chamber opened into a corridor not unlike the one on the other side. However, with this side of the labs, there were no windows or glass walls. Instead, every room was enclosed behind a thick steel door, with similar devices to the retinal scanner attached to them. The entire laboratory gave off an oppressive air, as if daring infiltrators to try and make off with plundered valuables.

“Welcome to my world,” Lyra breathed.

-------

Having taken a winding path through the labyrinthine corridors of the high-security facility, Bon Bon found herself ushered into a room not unlike the ones she worked in on her own aug harnesses. However, the atmosphere inside couldn’t have been more different; the reverent silence of the researchers inside was in stark contrast to the bustling around her own laboratory. Also, without a specimen of the augmentation being worked on taking prime position in the centre of the lab, Bon Bon was at a loss as to what the researchers were actually working on. She looked quizzically to Lyra for guidance.

“You understand what I’m about to show you doesn’t go outside the walls of this lab, right?” Lyra asked. Bon Bon nodded vehemently. Security breaches of this magnitude could be a literal matter of life or death. “OK, then... bring it out, ponies.”

A small trapdoor on the lab floor opened, and a white pillar rose out of it, with a thick glass cylinder on top. Within the cylinder was the main attraction: a thin black cone with a spiral winding around it, maybe five inches in length. Delicate filaments of gemstone fibres emanated from the base of the cone, sending a rainbow of refracted light across the laboratory. Bon Bon stared at it for a moment, not truly comprehending the object in front of her. Then, something clicked inside her mind, and her jaw dropped open.

“Is that- is that what I think it is?” she whispered.

“Indeed it is. That is the world’s first prototype of a unicorn horn augmentation, developed by yours truly,” Lyra said. “You would think it would look a bit more impressive, wouldn’t you?”

“Well, yes, but, but how? Everypony worth listening to said it was impossible!”

“And twenty years ago a certain purple unicorn came to town claiming the Mare in the Moon was about to escape, and bring about eternal night. Look what happened there,” Lyra retorted. “Never assume a majority consensus is the same as the truth. Because that little device there will give you the powers of a unicorn, no matter how many scientists say it can’t be done.”

“So, this is where you’ve been hiding all this time, then?”

“Yes. We’ve toiled away for a long time. We were building on some research made way back when augs were little more than wooden legs enchanted to move by toymakers. Stuff about biological integration, connecting flesh, or more accurately nerves, with steel. Of course, it was all abandoned after neuromancy was discovered. Why go through more intrusion and infection risk when a neuromancer can just top up the enchantments in your augs every so often?” Lyra began to circle the pillar, her gaze fixed upon the horn.

“But, there was a certain passage on semi-living augs that caught my eye. Obviously, simply welding a horn to your head won’t let you cast magic, but if you integrate it with the parts of a horn that allow you to tap into your innate magical ability, well, then you get somewhere.”

She waved her hoof a nearby bench. “So, we began growing biological structures like those found in unicorn horns, but to no avail. They simply wouldn’t stay alive outside of extremely well-controlled conditions. Eventually, we tried paring the structures down, to the point where it wasn’t strictly alive any more, just an organic compound. And if you stimulate it, it will cast magic!” Lyra grinned. “Don’t you see? This is more than just a breakthrough. This is pushing the very boundaries of what we know about our own bodies. The aug doesn’t discriminate between sub-species of pony; theoretically, we could plug it into an earth pony or pegasus and make them a unicorn. But why should we be able to? Why do earth ponies and pegasi have magical areas in their brains that are naturally useless due to their lack of a horn? Perhaps our understanding of neurology is completely wrong.”

Bon Bon waved a hoof to try and stop herself being overwhelmed by the flood of information. “So you have a miracle on your hooves? How are you even going to begin explaining this to the public? Lyra, it’s wonderful you’ve achieved this, but...”

“I know it’s a lot to take in. But just think! Neuromantic enchantments last longer on unicorns than other ponies, but nopony really knows why. We can study that, perhaps even do away with neuromancy altogether! Imagine a world where anypony can get augmented, and their implants run forever. As it is, there’s nearly a million ponies out there relying on a relative hoofful of unicorns who can cast those enchantments. We can give them back their lives, with no fear of implant rejection, and neuromancers can stop being prisoners inside their own clinics because nopony would need or want to ponynap them! This is what’s at stake. Not just an aug. Not just this company’s fortunes. The entire future of our species. Evolution held in our hooves.”

“And how do I factor into this?”

“Well firstly, I want to apologise,” Lyra said, her gaze dropping to the floor. “I know you’ve been working long and hard on the harnesses, and they’re an incredible breakthrough in their own right. It’s just... Twilight wants us to announce this at the conference tomorrow night. Every little bit of hype around the harnesses is being used to divert unwanted attention away from this. We’re using your development as a smokescreen, just so we can say ‘Oh, hey-o! We have an augmented unicorn here!’, when everypony’s expecting us to be telling them what they already know about the exoskeletons. I feel a bit guilty, that’s all.”

Bon Bon put a hoof on her partner’s shoulder. “It’s okay, Lyra. I understand if we’re going to be overshadowed. To be honest, I’m kind of sick of hearing about all the hype as well.” She smiled, putting on a brave face.

“Thank you. For being so understanding. I know it won’t console the others, but I do have a way of making it up to you, if you so wish.”

“How so?” Bon Bon asked.

“A side effect of the semi-living structure of the horn is that it only matches certain magical patterns. Some ponies have hypothesised that aug enchantments wear off because they’re fighting their user’s own magical aura. That’s another branch of research this development could spark! Not to mention—”

“Lyra! Focus. You’re babbling again.”

“I know! Isn’t this exciting?!” Lyra’s trademark ‘mad scientist’ look was beginning to show, and Bon Bon found herself taking an involuntary step back. “I’ve been through the biological samples on the company records. I’ve looked high and low, and there is one pony in this company who is a perfect match for that horn over there.” She walked over to the cream earth pony, and lowered her head so that the tip of her horn rested on her partner’s forehead. “You.”

Bon Bon blinked once, and then again. Her gaze rose again to the innocent-looking cone on the pedestal. You. The device that could upheave every segment of augmentation technology as they knew it. You. A scientific marvel, and all it needed to unlock its potential was a volunteer, a host. You.

“Me...” she breathed. The normally enthusiastic unicorn nodded, adopting a mournful look as her eyes dropped to the floor.

“Yeah. Just my luck, huh? Look, Bon Bon... I got carried away. Don’t feel obliged—I mean, the next horn we produce will fit somepony else, and, well, I know you would only ever get augmented if you absolutely needed to, not to mention I’m asking you to change your entire sub-species, become something else entirely, it’s just too much to—”

“Shhhh.” She placed her hoof under Lyra’s chin, tilting her head up to meet her eyes. “You don’t need to apologise for anything. This research is your life’s work, right?” The unicorn hesitated, then nodded. “So why would I ever stand in the way of it?”

For a moment, the pair gazed at one another in silence, before understanding ignited in Lyra’s eyes. “You’d... you’d really do that?!” she said excitedly.

“I... I... yes.” She couldn’t think why. She didn’t know why her aversion to unnecessary augmentation had suddenly vanished. All that mattered was the overjoyed look on her partner’s face, and the feeling that maybe, just maybe, she could be a boon to all ponies. “But where do we go from here?”

Lyra suddenly wrapped her forelegs around Bon Bon, squeezing her in a tight hug. “Thank you. Thank you so much. Don’t worry. I’ve got everything planned out. You’ll see. As soon as I get back from Baltimare, and as soon as we’re done at the Celestial, we’ll get underway. We’ve got simulations, all the coding... hopefully we may even be able to show it in use at AugCon. Just think! All the world’s eyes on you —the first augmented unicorn!”

The earth pony said nothing, instead opting to close her eyes and return the embrace, a warm smile spreading across her face.

“Not meaning to intrude, Ma’am, but we’re under strict instructions to tell the subject what she needs to know and then escort her out. Sorry,” a security guard near the entrance informed them.

“Oh, yes. Of course,” Lyra said. She turned her head back to Bon Bon, a mischievous smile chasing across her lips. Then, without warning, she pulled her forwards and kissed her. Right in the middle of the lab. In front of everypony... only Lyra, she thought. After a minute or so, they pulled apart, Bon Bon brushing her curly blue-and-pink mane out of her eyes and blushing slightly. She looked up to notice that the guard had suddenly decided to study the ceiling in detail, his own cheeks flushed. “Well, I think that concludes everything. I’ll see the subject out myself, shall I?” The guard nodded vigorously, wordlessly opening the door without making eye contact.

As they walked back down the corridor, the earth pony researcher knew she should have felt irritated at her partner for such a public and embarrassing show of affection, yet she found herself faintly amused, not least by the guard’s reaction. It seemed like the unicorn’s bouncy nature was beginning to rub off on her. “You’re an unholy terror, you know that?” she said.

“Oh, I know how to push all their buttons in that lab! It gets kinda boring without winding up at least one pony a day.” They came to the imposing wall that marked the boundary of the high-security area. Lyra gave a wistful sigh and pecked her on the cheek. “I suppose this is goodbye, then. I need to tie up a few loose ends back there before I can start packing up the harnesses.”

“Yeah. I’ll... I’ll see you on Friday, then,” she said.

“C’mon! Don’t sound so down! You’re going to love that penthouse, I guarantee it! And I’ve left your favourite alfalfa stew in the fridge back home. Try not to eat take-outs for the rest of the time I’m away, will you?”

“OK, then. See you on the other side.” They embraced one final time, and Bon Bon stepped into the decontamination chamber, exiting the inner sanctum.

-------

Having said goodbye to the researchers in her own lab, with a pang of guilt for the way their work was about to be usurped, Bon Bon walked into the elevator, a portly brown unicorn joining her for the trip back to the surface.

“Exciting times, huh?” he said as the doors slid shut.

“I’m sorry?” Bon Bon jerked out of her own thoughts to address him.

“What with the aug harnesses and such. SI’s really onto a winner here. I’m glad to see
the next generation of researchers are doing things I’ve only ever dreamed of,” he replied, nudging her, eliciting a blush from her.

“Well, I’m just one of a team, you know...” she said, trying to be modest.

“Oh, nonsense! I’ve been working on prosthetics long before they were called augmentations. Those were the days. Construction worker’d lose a leg, and I’d be there to whip up an enchantment on a wooden replacement. Beautiful things, they were; had a carpenter on hospital staff, if you can believe that!” He chuckled. “But now you’re making them so good ponies will happily lop their legs off to get hold of them! Good show!”

“I guess so...” Her gaze dropped to the floor guiltily. Was that all she was good for? Finding new ways to coax ponies into desecrating their bodies? Ugh, I need to stop thinking like this. I’ll be joining the Apple Corps if I’m not careful... Her thoughts were disrupted as the elevator jerked to a halt, an alarm wailing in the background. She felt a dagger of ice stab into her stomach. No... it can’t be. There must have been an accident... The elevator shook, and distant screams could be heard. Smoke began to creep through the vents. “L-Lyra...” she whimpered.

“What in blazes?! Come on, answer the damn phone!” The unicorn buck had picked up the emergency telephone with his telekinesis and was shouting into it, to no avail. He flung it down in exasperation. “We need to get—koff—out of here!” he exclaimed, smoke causing his eyes to stream with tears. The earth pony stared at him dumbfounded, too wrapped up in her own fears to answer. “Come on.” He opened a hatch in the elevator’s roof, horn glowing as he did so, and sat on his haunches beneath it. Bon Bon clambered on his shoulders and pulled herself through the opening.

“Wait for me!” he said. He reared up, and she took hold of his forehooves in hers, pulling him up. They both sat on the metal roof, struggling to breathe in the increasingly smoke-filled shaft. She looked around wildly, before seeing a ventilation duct cover on the wall. She trotted over and pulled it open. “Are you mad? That leads further down into the labs! We need to get out!” he gasped.

“Do you have any better ideas?!” Bon Bon growled. “I’m not gonna die in here... I’m not gonna let her die in here...” She dived through the shaft opening, not waiting for a response. The metallic tunnel was claustrophobia-inducing enough as it was, and it was beginning to become uncomfortably hot and smoky thanks to the fires she presumed were raging below. Coming to another vent cover beneath her, she pushed it open, and dropped down into hell.

She was outside her lab, the glass facade of the section shattered. She scrabbled back from what she saw, cringing at the sight of it. The unicorn who had co-ordinated Dawn’s neural interface earlier was draped over the broken glass, the fragments having gashed his body, his neck bent at an unnatural angle. Inside the lab were the rest of her team, strewn about with horrific injuries to their bodies.

In the centre of it all, amidst an inferno that was consuming the laboratory, a monster cowered.

“HELP ME!” it shrieked, barrelling forward to meet her. Dawn Chorus was still sealed into the exoskeleton, half her mane scorched off, her face splattered with blood. A pegasus was still held in one of her paws. She sobbed hysterically as the machine bore down on Bon Bon. “I can’t control it! I’m sorry! I’M SORRY!” she howled.

She dived to one side, Dawn screaming as the harness slammed her into the wall. It pulled away and swung around to regain its bearings, its unwilling passenger begging for mercy as it did so. She looked up to see a security guard with two saddle-mounted combat rifles round the corner, his eyes bulging as he took in the scene. He glared at the aug harness, and reached forward to bite on his bridle. Bon Bon went cold as she realised what was about to happen. “No! Don’t! She’s not in control—”

The sharp report of the twin rifles rang out, crimson craters appearing on Dawn’s head and chest. She gurgled as her life’s blood drained out of her. With the rider dead, the rogue harness seemed to gain an even greater fluidity to its motions, flinging a piece of debris from the floor at the guard, knocking him down. Bon Bon turned and ran as it stomped over to its helpless assailant, trying to block out the terrible sounds behind her.

With the guard gone, and her companion from the elevator nowhere to be found, Bon Bon galloped desperately towards the high security area. She ducked into a burning laboratory as another harness, this one mercifully empty of a user, stepped into the corridor, hunting for more victims. A gasp escaped her lips as flames burst from the wall, obliterating another bank of priceless research.

Framed against the incandescent nightmare were four char black limbs, poking out of the wreckage, pointing at her as if accusing her for abandoning her partners and her friends. She stepped back from them, whispering “No, no...” over and over. Not here. Not now. This wasn’t meant to be! Shaking herself out of her terror, Bon Bon peeked out into the corridor. It was clear... for now.

Hunkered down low to avoid detection, she navigated her way to the high security zone, counting herself blessed that she attracted no notice from the harnesses. Her mind blotted out the images of death and destruction. Worry about that later. For now, she had to find the laboratory containing the horn. A chill ran through her suddenly. What if the clearance was no longer active? What if she couldn’t get in? What if... she died out here?

As the cream earth pony rounded the final corner, her worries were both assuaged and amplified. The clearance didn’t matter any more. That was the good news. The bad news was that this was rendered moot by the black wall no longer being there.

-------

The path was a blur. Her entire body burned with exertion, smoke stinging and lashing at her lungs. She didn’t remember the path to the lab, her mind simply let her body take control. There was no more time for thinking.

Bon Bon came to, conscious thought finally flooding back into her mind. She was standing in the middle of the lab she had been in earlier, chest heaving as she took in great gulps of clean air. Parts of her coat were singed off, and her body was adorned with cuts and bruises. It didn’t matter, though.

In front of her, standing amongst a small crowd of terrified ponies, was a mint green unicorn. Her mint green unicorn. Lyra stared at her as if she’d become a monster from the Everfree Forest.

“B-Bon Bon? What are you doing here?” Lyra asked distantly. “Aren’t you... aren’t you... Oh!” Her stupor wore off, and she ran forward, embracing her partner, throwing her to the floor with the force of the impact. “Why are you here?! Why didn’t you go to someplace safe?” she demanded through sobs. Bon Bon shook her head.

“I c-couldn’t leave you here! Haven’t you seen what’s out there? Dawn—all of them—they’re all gone! They... they... I saw them just an hour ago...” The two mares held one another, weeping in sorrow for those who’d already perished, and in relief for having found one another. After a few minutes, Lyra leaned back slightly, a reassuring look on her face.

“It’s alright. You’ve found me. We’ll be safe in here, at least. Nothing can get through these walls. We’ll just... have to wait for help,” she murmured. From the way the other researchers in the lab kept their gaze on the unicorn, Bon Bon could only assume that Lyra had been keeping the calm in the lab before she’d arrived as well. Only, the sounds of the prowling harnesses and their victims could still be heard faintly through the walls. Still out there. Still hunting. But they were safe, surely?

Her vision clouded with unshed tears, Bon Bon met the gaze of her lover. She was beautiful: her head ringed with a halo of light, eyes of burnished gold still holding a spark of joy, even in this darkest of hours. Her mouth opened, to thank her, to reassure her, to just say something, but the words intended for the unicorn were left unspoken.

The wall behind Lyra burst open in a white flash, debris tumbling forth. She felt herself tumbling backwards, screaming as she was ripped out of the embrace. Her left foreleg hit the ground, snapping from the sudden impact. Agony flashed through her. She looked up—one of her eyes was clouded from something, and refused to clear—to see three harnesses standing in the middle of the lab, amongst their previously safe haven. Each was... occupied? No, that couldn’t be right! Two walked around the lab, callously picking off the researchers as they tried to escape. These weren’t the same as Dawn; they were compliant in the murder of other ponies! And the third... the third held the most precious object in the world in one of its unfolded hooves, as she screamed and twisted, her horn glowing in a futile effort to eject herself from the grip.

Pure, unbridled fury coursed through the earth pony. She picked up a fallen rod of steel that had cascaded forward from the collapsing wall in her mouth, a scream of defiance working its way around the metal. She charged forward awkwardly on three legs, towards it. A single, futile strike against its foreleg was the only reward, the shock of the blow jarring her teeth. It was unable to retaliate, standing on three legs itself, but its companions were not as burdened. Bon Bon yelled as a vicious blow cracked her ribs down one side, the bar falling from her mouth as she was thrown across the chamber by the force of it.

Vision blurred yet further from the ferocity of the counter-attack, Bon Bon groaned as she tried to regain her bearings. She was near the entrance to the lab, the security guard there already dead, his neck broken by the force of the explosion. And there—right next to him—a pistol. It was her last chance. She crawled forward on three legs towards the pistol, jaws hanging open in anticipation. Not until it was too late did she see the augmented pony walking calmly towards her, whisking the pistol away with a casual flick.

The third cruelly stomped down on her exposed hind legs, and she swore it laughed as it did so. These... things... were monsters! She couldn’t... couldn’t function. No more. Three of her legs were nothing more than incandescent pools of agony, unmoving, useless. One of her eyes was gone, she was sure of it. She raised her head, one last time, to see the harness walking away. Lyra was still held in its grip, now limp and lifeless. NO! NO!

“LYRA!” The other two harnesses turned back to her. “LYRA!” She inched forward, dragging herself forward on her last good leg one... bit... at a time... No good. The exoskeleton vanished into the smoke with the last of her hope. She resigned and rolled over, panting from exertion, and felt something pull at her tail, yanking her backwards. A weak cry of pain escaped her lips, the broken glass adorning the floors of the facility lacerating her back as she was dragged into the centre of the room. Above her, framed by a spotlight, was a monstrous artificial leg. This was it. The killing blow.

“Lyra... f-forgive me...” The leg came down. The pain ended.

-------

Many thanks to RavensDagger and Burraku_Pansa from SALT for pre-reading, and to KibugamiKenzo for the incredible cover art.

Questions, comments, critiques? Get in touch at [e-mail]

Comments

[TundraStanza]

Obvious sex jokes are... not quite that obvious. They sort of just slipped themselves in between lines. I think I like that better than the "in-your-face" approach other stories take.

[PsychoticDoc]

fun to read so far

[shadowher]

Great chapter melon. I love the way it's narrated and I must congratulate your pre-reader SALT, he did a great job since I couldn't find any mistakes.

[Paladin Redflare]

Chose Bon-bon cuz of the voice? I can hear the resemblance.

OH dear Celestia.... it's not just Ponyville anymore, every mare in Canterlot is gay too!

[Nethaufer]

Canterlot is no Detroit, that's for sure.

[Steel Accord]

I must say I love how you've blended even the subtle attitudes of each setting.

The corruption and conspiracy is there, but in the place of callousness and sarcasm is sincerity and lightheartedness.

The scene with the conspirators, the elevator ride with Colgate, and Bon Bon's lab tour particularly show this.

[Runcible Spoon]

I finished the song I had been listening to before the Psycho-Harness scene.
I kept scrolling, trying to find one that would fit the atrocities being committed.
I found none.

[Asheram]

Anypony made aware of Ultraviolet clearance, please report to the nearest incineration bay. A troublebucker has been dispatched to guide you to the nearest incineration bay if you are not aware of the way. Please do not mention the reason to why you are being guided to the incineration bay as any divulgence of Ultraviolet clearance is treason.
Friend computer wishes you all to have another wonderful day here in Alpha Complex and remember to have Fun. Fun is mandatory.