Dream Delve and the Buttoning
"Rainbow!"
"What!?"
"Put that down, it's very unstable and delicate!"
"Pft, fffine."
"I mean it hasn't even been tested yet... Haven't you ever been told that you never want to be the first one to test a viscous material?"
Rainbow Dash gave me a condescending stare and rolled her eyes.
"Well excuuuse me Ms. Smartypants, last I checked you'd invited me down here to your musty old basement, aaand you hadn't told me why! So sorry I got bored from waiting."
"Rainbow it's been two minutes, literally. Two. Minutes. Could you please hold your... your..."
"Hooves?"
"No I... don't think the saying goes like that, weird... Anyway it's not musty or a basement it's my laboratory! Also, Smartypants is my-"
"Twilight come on, I'm dyiiiing here!"
"Alright, alright but it's not getting any more exciting so just sit still here, yes like that, and don't move."
"Uggh, what are all these things for?"
The sound of the front door thudding could just be heard from upstairs.
"They're magic sensors; I'm doing research on the levels of magic emitted by pegasi and earth ponies!"
Rainbow rolled her eyes at me again.
"Twi, pegasi and earth po-"
"I'm gonna stop you right there. I know you know that we all perform magic to some degree, I've shared that before. Likewise, the three races emit magic, which I can study. Pegasi and earth pony magic especially, whether it be the pegasi's skill with the weather or th-"
"Twilight! Twilight!" It was Spike.
"Spike? What is it?"
"It's Applejack, she, well I'll let her tell yo-"
The door shoved open behind him, interrupting his sentence.
"Twi' come quick you gotta see this!"
"What is it!? What's going on?"
"Sugar cube, you gotta see it to believe it, just hurry!"
"Hey, what about me!?" Rainbow was still held by the hoof restraints, why did I even have those?
"Err, Spike, get Rainbow! Lead the way, Applejack."
"Huzza- wha-...?"
The door is still open to the library, it's night out and the sun has set. We come outside and Applejack stops to stare up at the sky, around us other homes are open, some ponies staring up at the sky like her. I follow their gazes, and gasp loudly at what my own eyes see hanging in the sky.
Besides our moon is another, smaller moon. It looks so stra-...
I gasp and my head shoots up.
Twilight stared around the room dumbly, and slowly registered where she was. Her ears drooped slowly as it dawned on her. I'm getting sick of waking up in this place... She felt like she had been unconscious longer than the first time. Looking around the room revealed no immediately obvious changes, and so she unstably pushed herself up off the cold floor of the laboratory.
Only, she wasn't able to stand up.
"Hrrrng!!! What the?" Twilight gave her body a look of shock; her legs felt as heavy to her as a cart full of books. Why can't I lift myself? My legs look fine... certainly not normal anymore, but the same as before I'd passed out, at least. I'm not restrained or anything like that... She tried moving them again and they ground across the floor slowly; the slight movement made a rather unpleasant screech, but they still responded, sort of.
Twilight grunted in frustration at once again being as immobile as when she first awoke, if for clearly different reasons. She smacked her lips as well, noticing something else. Thirsty. Celestia, I need a drink, and not the kind Berry sells... She was incredibly thirsty, actually. Just how long had I been out? Looking at the time revealed it to be... 17:19.
Twilight scowled. Okay that clock is ridiculous, a 17th hour? She frowned back at her hooves, her thoughts raced as to what she could do. Let's see, the first thing to do should be the first I should figure out. Now, how had I been able to walk before? The only related occurrence to my mobility earlier had been...
Twilight tested the idea that sparked idly, then came to her in full. The purple aura indicative of her magic being used enveloped her flanks and body as it had before and she floated upwards. She held the simple unicorn ability for a minute, then released the telekinesis like spell; her legs easily caught her as though nothing had been wrong.
Twilight's eyes went wide at this development. "Ah hah!" she exclaimed, then cringed; her everything hurt. "Oh... That's not nice at all..." Sharp pains and needle like sensations filled her body and its surface slowly, it wasn't unbearable, but neither was it pleasant. Worst amongst these, her throat hurt. The discovery, whatever it meant, could wait.
The painful jolts were pushed aside by Twilight, she quickly moved onto her next series of problems rather than dwelling on the circumstances. Her mind raced once again, she had a mountain of issues that needed worked, and figured out.
Twilight began to slowly search the surroundings as she thought things over, but no where in this bizarre building had she found anything familiar or reassuring in the least. For starters, everything was much too big; sized for those creatures she assumed. Her head only came up to the edge of most counter tops she found.
A kitchen was easily identified by its telltale icebox and appliances, though they and it were unlike any she had ever seen. But then, the entire home was odd. It had a sterile feel to it actually, and none of the doors had knobs or handles and refused to open for her. But the majority of the house was connected by simple curved doorways, so regardless of the locked passages she could navigate the building well enough.
Twilight sighed and glanced down at the glass of water she'd fetched that sat before her; it was probably her 20th one. Strangely she hadn't felt like she'd drunk too much yet, but she stopped after it felt uncomfortable to her mind to drink twenty glasses of water... She shut her eyes, brow furrowed in anger.
She hadn't given up hope her other eye was simply beneath that glass lens on her head, so she still thought 'eyes'.
The chair she sat in was comfortable, a strange felted and rubbery cushion made up its surface, the rest metal. It was rather tall though and like everything else unsettling. She glanced at the two creatures again; they still hadn't woken up even after she'd moved them to where she could keep watch over them in the kitchen.
They were her only source of information. She'd settled down after a while, earlier she had remembered the one with the funny helmet threaten her with security, guards ponies would have been disastrous... Or is it guard monsters? She consider darkly. It didn't matter she concluded, as they never came; it must have been a bluff she supposed.
Honestly, not a single book anywhere in the entire place...house? Laboratory, she decided. It didn't much feel like a home. How does he keep notes?
The laboratory may have had beds and a bathroom and other normal things one would find in a house. But it still didn't feel at all like a home. Twilight hoped those two would awaken soon, she needed answers. In fact, all they did was bring up more questions, such as how they functioned. The strange machinery itself yielded nothing that she could discern as useful.
Not for a lack of my trying though... Twilight munched on a salad she'd found in an odd, bendable bowl in the refrigerator. It wasn't made of metal or clay, whatever it was it wasn't anything she'd seen before. After removing its top it revealed writing on the inside, 'Do your part! Please recycle!'.
Did it mean don't throw away the dish itself? Twilight'd shaken her head in trying to figure that out as well. From what she could figure, it was a prepackaged food; like wrapped candy or glass bottled pop.
Yes answers are in short supply indeed... Twilight had poured over everything in those other rooms—there were a lot to look at in the building—trying to figure something out. They were almost all filled with strange machinery—inventions and projects she'd guessed—of a strange nature; others with menacing pieces, of a dubious one.
A great number of the non-stationary ones had looked like weapons... A frown grew on Twilight's face at the very thought of it. I'm not a fan of violence by any means, but tools used expressly for the purpose of hurting others, maybe even for killing? Such things are the epitome of wrongness. I can't even fathom how black the hearts of these creatures are if they possess such things... She knew fighting itself was just wrong and disharmonious, defending those you cared for notwithstanding. It did have to be done sometimes, after all. But peaceful solutions were best. Even Rainbow Dash and her volatile personality knows that. There was almost always a better solution than such a last resort as fighting.
Not that it always stopped that pegasus. Twilight managed a weak giggle at the thought of her friend, but her thoughts stayed on the sights in this place. There had been so many weapons in there... Just the thought of what she'd seen made her feel uneasy again.
There wasn't much else that had disturbed her further about the two creatures, making the place was remarkably boring as a whole. The presence of meat, in the fridge is disconcerting, though. Almost as much as my discovery that nothing in this place RUNS ON MAGIC! NOT to mention the lack of even a single, WINDOW! Twilight's thoughts burst with frustration at recalling the discovery, she huffed and shook her head to clear it. She couldn't feel Magic or any shred of Equestria nearby. True, this place was probably shielded if it were still her home, but she doubted it if they used no magic inside the place, either.
Twilight had begun pacing in a circle around the small table in the kitchen while simultaneously trying to make sense of everything. She again considered merely teleporting outside to see where she was...
I suppose I'm afraid of what I might find out. What if I'm not even in Equestria anymore? Where could a place like this even exist? Who even were these aliens? As she mulled the thoughts over, Twilight left her pacing room, carrying the two sleeping bodies behind her as she went. It had been clear it wouldn't be wise to leave them alone, not to mention she wasn't sure they they were capable of.
Tiredly, Twilight checked the clock in the lab again; it was her only link to any sanity at this point despite the fact the way it told time was beyond strange. It read 18:03; apparently it simply went to twenty four instead of recounting the second twelve hours of a day. She'd cleaned her mess earlier so the room would be bearable to explore, too. Vomit wasn't the nicest decoration no matter the room or what it looked like...
The unicorn dropped the two creatures she had in tow unceremoniously, hoping it would wake them. Annoyingly, they still didn't stir.
Just what was in that syringe...? Never mind, they can stay asleep forever after what they've done for all I care.
Twilight poked at the room again, the glass containers lining the walls she couldn't open. Though, one had been large enough that she had teleported inside to inspect its contents. The devices inside included several long tubes and bulky containers of metal squares. Each was a smaller container filled with small, glowing vials. Each vile was similarly filled with a liquid. It was all very peculiar and interesting to look at, but they yielded no answers or purpose.
Twilight had begun to pace around the room, frustration building steadily within her. I could at least read and research—fruitless or not—at a library, but here, I'm was helpless! Nothing makes any sense! Maybe if... No, that wouldn't help. I suppose I could?...No...rrrRRR! Shutting her eyes, she let out an infuriated growl and stomped the ground with all her pent up anger with both hooves, shaking the room.
CRRRNNK!
Around her the shelves vibrated, and a piercing metal sound ricocheted through the air. Twilight tried to cover her ears and let out a yelp. It wasn't just out of surprise; that had hurt her ears, too. As quickly as it had come though, it stopped, and she slowly lowered her forelegs from her head to look around the room. Her gaze stopped first at the floor, which had two deep indents pressed into it. Hoof shapes centered at the deep impressions. She gazed wonderingly at her legs, which seemed unscathed.
"What the hay?" Okay, so they have given me super strength... But why? Twilight asked herself. That, she couldn't answer. The thought of the noise waking them up made her glanced behind herself at the two creatures. Sure enough, they were still asleep. She briefly frowned at them, then began inspecting some of the debris she'd apparently knocked to the ground from the tables.
Ahead of her, something caught her eye on one screen, the image it showed had changed. Before, it had held strange fish floating on it along with bubbles. The sea floor had disappeared though, and now revealed strange lettering that read 'Search Engine'.
Twilight frowned, again, at the odd screen. It wasn't immediately helpful but she thought on it for a moment, it wasn't like any of the others in the room. No bizarre charts and unending statistics or measurements in systems she'd never seen before. She stared at the instrument she'd encountered at nearly every screen. It had several hard metallic and plastic buttons. It was the same as before with the other panels. Pressing them there had only begun placing equestrian characters at random on the charts, or produced a screech from the speakers at one side of the room.
It was bizarre; so much seemed so similar, and yet so alien and otherworldly. The speakers weren't unlike the ones that had begun being produced throughout Equestria utilizing sound stones and magic. But nowhere in this entire place could she detect or find a trace of its use. All of this ran off some other element; the lights, the refrigerator, everything.
She sighed, and turned back to the screen. 'Search engine'... She illuminated the button filled instrument with her horn again, her hooves had been far too large to easily press the small buttons; they'd been made for the creatures and their strange digits.
Slowly but steadily she began... pressing... buttoning? No, that wasn't a word. She began pressing the buttons in succession spelling out the word she'd thought of. She hadn't been sure what to look for but she formed an idea where to start.
e...q...u...e...s..t..r..i..a...
Twilight waited.
The glass panel did not change though.
Twilight yelled at it as a last resort. "Go!" It remained defiantly the same. "Activate! On! Uggh, hayseeds..." She frowned at the glass and started grinding her teeth. Is this really what replaced books for these creatures?! Her gaze drifted to one button that was far larger than the rest and read 'enter'. As in enter the information? Her shoulders shrugged as she poked it with one hoof.
The glass panel changed and information scrolled across the screen; little foot notes and topics most having to do with something familiar to her stretched down the small panel. The pictures that appeared also surprised her.
At the top were several images of what seemed like large circular...
Is that what Equestria looks like? Twilight was awestruck. They were pictures of planets, no, just of one planet, hers. Equestria. Well Equestria was a country not the entire planet but...
"It's beautiful." It was no starry sky, but Twilight had never imagined she'd ever see the land she'd been born upon from such a height. She wondered, could you say "such a height" after one had entered the space outside of your world? Twilight felt like a new foal back in magic kindergarten, she realized there was so much that she knew about magic, its ins and outs and little nuances... But there was much, much more about the world itself even simple things she hadn't looked into or learned... yet.
Twilight had always loved stars, she had been fascinated to learn they were mostly in fact, distant suns beyond even Princess Celestia's control all those years ago. She frowned trying to move forward in her search, trying different buttons she was unable to do anymore but reenter characters into the 'search box'.
"Oh that's something!" Her voice felt immensely better by now.
Furthermore, she'd tried an arrow looking character not of the Equestrian alphabet, it probably wasn't a character just a button with a different purpose she guessed. It made the screen go down, and another above it made it go back up, on the side a bar moved through a blank channel. She held the button and the screen sped past her eyes as the bar accelerated blindingly fast to the bottom of the... What is this called, a page? It wasn't a book but it was kind of like a really big page.
There was so much. Still scanning with her eyes, through it none of the blurbs and topics were big enough to be of any real help.
Twilight studied the apparatus and buttons again. There was a strange pad different from the rest of the metal which made up the small desk, and the 'button board' which she had decided to call it. She studied the pad a moment longer and tried directing magic towards it, much to her surprise something happened on the screen. A small purple arrow had appeared on the panel. She poked again at the pad and again the arrow shifted across the screen. She frowned, mostly the arrow just jittered and rotated on the panel, it didn't seem to move with any discernible order or sense. Twilight stopped channeling her magic and sighed.
Behind her the two sat, backs to each other as they had been. She angrily approached them.
"WAKE UP!" Her brow was creased; she glared at them shifting her stare from one to the other looking for signs of response.
"Wake up right now, you two owe me an explanation for Celestia's sake!" Her glare turned into a frown after a minute of waiting.
"At least explain this stupid machine to me..." Twilight sighed again after another minute of waiting, her frown turning to a look of sad and loneliness. The mare went back to the screen. Maybe Celestia would find her and explain everything? Everyone had to be looking for her.
I miss my friends... Twilight thought solemnly. She decided also to keep at it with the machine, however. A hoof reached out and tried pressing the pad, to her surprise the purple arrow moved easily with her direction.
She let out a gasp and smiled.
"Progress!" Twilight rounded on the two unmoving shapes. "Stay like that, I can figure this out on my own."
The next several hours progressed slowly, Twilight read and read and clicked and clicked. She had familiarized herself with a few other elements of the button board and the, err, hoof pad. The pad had two buttons, both of which had a few different uses.
So, Twilight had picked up what she needed to in order to learn, which was at first not much. Again she'd been met with alien charts and statistics at most turns, the topics and headers fascinated her when they made sense, but she still didn't understand the purpose of knowing such arbitrary things about Equestria. Oxygen levels and atmospheric makeup, core density and mineral content of the surface and sub surfaces.
It became clear from the Geo studies she'd first found randomly that her home had been thoroughly surveyed.
The creatures had an interest in it; were they looking for something? She had searched on for some clue about what they could have been searching for but nothing obvious came up.
She'd found little else about Equestria aside from a very brief study like summary of the planets fauna and animals. It had little to say other than that they were 'Galactic standard creatures'; whatever that meant.
Twilight cracked her neck which made a painful crunchy sound, she sat on her haunches and stared back up at the screen frowning, it was well out of sitting reach.
"Why do these things have to be so tall?" She kept her frown on for a moment, resting.
Afterwards she searched for a chair to sit on; her neck had begun to hurt from craning it up to look at the glass search panel for so long. She trotted to the kitchen; briefly pausing to study the unconscious shapes of the two bipedal creatures.
Next she would find out what they were, and what they wanted with her. She hoped the panel would hold what she sought. Whatever type of magic or energy these creatures used was impressive, and undetectable to her horn. Twilight cast the telekinesis spell which was second nature to her on the comfy kitchen chair and brought it back.
Settling into the comfortable seat and now somewhat eye level with the machine she searched for what they could be from her new throne of knowledge. She had no idea what they were so she started with what might tell where the creatures might come from.
...o...u...r...w...o...r...l...d...
She hoped using 'our' would work. Twilight stared at the image of the large blue and white planet. "Earth..." So they weren't native to her world. She hoped they were still on her world as well, but she doubted it now.
What had that been in my dream...?
Odd the image had others beside it of different colors. Which one was 'Earth' exactly?
Twilight back tracked from this “earth” and searched for indigenous species. She then found them, Humans.
Twilight finished retching into the toilet and leaned to the side gasping for breath.
This is becoming a really gross habit around here for me...
She hovered over the porcelain bowl still in shock at what she'd read, what she'd seen.
At first her searching had begun to look like the most fascinating study subject she'd ever had the honor of stumbling upon, ancient Pegasi and Griffin cultures didn't even hold a candle to the sheer amount of diversity the Human race possessed in both their history and society.
It hadn't taken Twilight long to stumble upon a few dark facts about them however.
Humans could be beyond cruel; they were simply horrible, evil in some ways. Twilight had found all sorts of fascinating facts about them, but they quickly turned to facts of horror. Wars, genocide, and selfishness, littered all throughout their history and by every civilization and country, of which they had so many.
She wiped her muzzle off with some toilet paper and walked back to the kitchen for a glass of water.
Something referred to as 'World War III' had pushed her nausea over the edge just a moment before. She wasn't thirsty but she needed a drink after all that. The pictures she'd found of those exploits had left her in shock, and her stomach seized control from there.
In some ways that hadn't been the worst of what she'd found though. After stumbling upon a timeline she'd found that the better majority of their history was very much lacking in wars fought amongst one another. What had brought this change, to make them so much more docile towards each other?
They're... they're thieves, they go from world to world taking whatever they want... No... only three things.
She stopped to look at her prisoners walking past the room with the 'search engine'.
"Water, minerals or resources; including living creatures." Twilight breathed out in horror.
Her shudder and look of disgust lasted until she reached the kitchen. It was time she got some sleep, her eyes were bagged and her thoughts were getting clouded.
My eye had better still be there. She thought dejectedly, considering sleep more seriously.
What if they wake up while I'm sleeping though?
She sighed "I gotta risk it; I need to sleep eventually..."
Twilight had yet to formulate a plan; she'd taken stock of her situation several times to try as well.
Okay so I've been hideously experimented upon and turned into some kind of metal monstrosity, I have no idea where I am, and I'm trapped in this... Place! Where ever it is. Perfect!
Twilight found a bed she presumed wasn't used by the other two, it seemed cleaner in addition to still being made. She was more uncomfortable here than ever after learning what she had about them. She laid her head down staring at the doorway. She thought about home and her friends, she hoped she'd see them again, she hoped those two didn't wake up; she hoped that everything would be okay. In the back of her mind as she drifted to sleep she knew she was alone, and nothing would happen unless she MADE it happen.
Something was there.
Something chased her throughout her nightmares. She fled it at every turn; it felt familiar, but dangerous. It twisted and writhed behind her always searching. It felt angry, angrier than anything Twilight had ever before felt. She fled and ran and tore away from the miasma tirelessly.
Twilight awoke with a gasp crying. Her skull felt like it was splitting open over her right eye. It was unbearable. She clutched a hoof to it and crawled out of the bed. The sheets were drenched with sweat; her night had been full of nightmares.
How long have I been asleep? Ooo ow, owow. Her brain refused to let her figure it out.
She went to the humans' bathroom and looked into the huge mirror above the sink. She'd avoided looking at herself too much; it had been clear after doing so just how extensive what they'd done to her really was. It probably wasn't just armor she had concluded after a spell of denial because... She could FEEL everything she'd realized, through the metal.
Not to mention her efforts to remove it had done nothing but caused her pain...
She didn't know how that was possible but it was. Could she be normal again after this? It made her angry, she'd never been so angry; this pain was certainly doing its share contributing too.
The area around her glass covered eye was the same, rivets and plating coming out from under her very skin at the bridge of her snout and extending around the side of her head to join the rest of her freakish changes.
"Even if I get out of here... What will everypony think of me? I'll become an outcast." She shook her head, which was a mistake as her head reignited in agony.
She couldn't think like that. No matter what her friends would believe in her and remain just that: her friends. She looked for and found some medicine for headaches; she hoped that it wouldn't be poisonous for ponies. The research she'd done the night before had revealed that humans were similar at least in biological make up.
"If I were here on better terms this would be the opportunity of a life time. Honestly, a race so advanced, so intelligent, so amazing; and they use it all for things like war and destruction... and worse." She downed the pills and drank water from the faucet, her hooves clicked with a metallic ring against the tiled floor when she dropped.
Even dragons were not so greedy, Diamond Dogs and Gryphons paled in terms of violence and hatred.
!
A panicked thought crossed her mind.
Oh please still be there please still be there! Twilight rounded the lab's corner and sighed in relief.
The two humans were still there, slumped and back to back.
The distraught and on edge unicorn smiled, but furrowed her brow.
"How long will you two be out? Honestly you've been asleep a long time." It had been at least a day by this point. She glanced at the digital clock that had practically become her friend, it read 09:57.
It had been what? Three in the morning when I'd finally tired out enough to sleep? So it's almost been a full day since waking up to my foal napping.
Nervously she approached and studied them close up for the first time since tying them up. Her eyes shot wide, slowly she backed away.
They weren't breathing.
Twilight started to hyper-ventilate.
"No... nonono. Oh what in the name of Celestia have I done?" Twilight felt a pinching in her throat and her eyes were watering uncontrollably.
She re-approached the two limp shapes, prodded them with a hoof, listened again and checked for a pulse. There wasn't anything to be found from either.
"WhathaveIdone!?" she shrieked.
She felt tears stream down for the first time since waking up here. All the stress and depression came crashing in on her.
It had been an accident, the two humans; the two 'men' had been going to use that needle on her.
Twilight's thoughts raced.
They were going to kill me? But why? It makes no sense. Ihadonlybeentryingtoprotectmyself! It wasn't my fault... I needed to get away and keep them from following! I had only done what I had to; I didn't know what was in that needle! Oh goodness I administered a drug I had no familiarity with! What would Celestia do to me for this? Is there any justifying killing...? She stopped her panicking short; that last thought lingered with Twilight.
I need to get out of here.
"I can never face my friends now, can I? Not after doing this. I could be a misshapen beast of shadows like Nightmare Moon as long as I was me underneath it all and my friends wouldn't care; but a killer?" Her voice had escalated in pitch and desperation as she went on.
Twilight paced through the house and again tried to open the doors that surrounded the entirety of the lab, her thoughts echoing through her head unhindered. The doors had a hoof pad much like the panel, but this one had numbers and an enter like the button board. It needed a password to be opened, whatever that password might be she had no idea.
Twilight growled in frustration, she couldn't stay here!
PAFF
She opened her eyes expecting, hoping to see a warm Equestrian sun looking down on her. It was instead a concrete floored and metal walled hallway, stark and filled with metal pipes and dim magic-less lights.
Twilight breathed in and out, she had to calm down. She had to think... She'd killed them, the humans... Nothing could change that. But she was still alive, and in danger. Others might be too. Leaving now would do no good anyway she had no idea where she was!
"I hope everypony else is alright." The floor received a dejected look from Twilight. She stopped at a thought considering time travel.
No, it never worked to begin with...
She settled her thoughts and continued pondering about ideas, escape methods and what she could do.
I can't just run out there blindly and without answers here. At least I have the search engine inside.
She considered what would happen if she found more humans; it was in her best interests to avoid them at all costs she decided. She knew they couldn't be all evil, she'd read of some great things they'd done for good as well. But she couldn't risk it.
For now she needed more information before setting out on her own. She had no idea how much time she had to look either, what if those two had friends or were missed? For starters, Twilight decided to discover where she was, and if she were even still on Equestria.
PAFF
She was again inside the Laboratory. She inhaled solemnly then climbed up to sit back in her chair at the panel.
"Okay let’s... well, let’s just ask." She buttoned 'Where am I'.
What she saw next, she hadn't expected. Another planet blipped onto the screen, except... It wasn't... Well it looked odd to her.
Encircling it was clearly buildings, but made entirely of metal. The picture slowly rotated showing off the planet's entirety. It was covered in glass domes, strange holes and what appeared to be several massive doors. But if this was a planet those had to be... several hundred miles long.
Twilight gulped, it wasn't a planet. 'This must be what I'd read about, the humans' big spaceship which they used to… to move their entire civilization from Earth?'
Twilight had never before so much as imagined anything so extraordinary.
It clicked and the information she'd read the night before suddenly made perfect sense to her. She'd read about the humans’ exploits and been so engrossed in those that she'd overlooked the how. This was it. She wasn't on her planet, Equestria. She wasn't even on *a* planet.
"This is their moon. Oh Celestia, their entire moon takes them to other worlds just to..."
She held a hoof to her mouth in shock.
"I-I have no idea how to get home" she squeaked out.
Twilight sat stunned as she was for several hours, her dark suspicion confirmed. She flitted between staring at the panel unable to look for more hints and pacing the confines of her prison.
Eventually she'd found a corner and lay simply her hooves tucked under her facing the wall. She didn't want to be reminded of where she was, her situation, and least of all what she'd done to those humans. None of what was happening.
What can I do? Twilight regrouped her senses, slowly. Sitting idly forever was a luxury the unicorn knew she couldn't afford.
But this is worse than anything I've ever had to overcome... I've always had my friends. I've always had their support, their love, their companionship, their presence. She tried picturing them; her friends' strength was something she needed more than ever.
"Heya Sugar cube, how's it goin'?" Applejack smirked at her, but even such a slight smile radiated a confidence and strength from the farmer that anypony could find reassurance in it.
"Oh Twilight, you simply must relax darling; you look dreadful when you’re so stressed." Rarity's concerned face and tone spoke volumes of the mare's depth of character which would always be there for another no matter the plight.
"Heya egghead, how about you lay down the books and join us?" Rainbow Dash's surface and heart always clashed, but her image came last when the chips were down. She could always be depended upon.
"Oh, Twilight, it's so good to see you out and about." Fluttershy always had others’ interests in mind; her consideration for them was boundless.
"Twilight!" Pinkie Pie smiled at her; her face the picture of innocence and glee. At times it seemed nothing could phase Pinkie. That itself could always hold up her friends alone.
"SNAP OUT OF IT!"
Twilight blinked mouth agape. Her friends weren't here, but they were still there for her.
Twilight couldn't say what forced her to seek out more information. She knew she didn't want to know anything more about the horrid creatures known as mankind. But numbly she pressed on, more and more she felt as though she were in a race against time. Her fears aside her feelings were right, and what's more she knew that her friends could be in dire trouble too, everypony could be, and she was free. Free to fight back however and in whatever way she could.
Twilight stood at the precipice of discovery, she took to her throne and buttoned like she was sure nopony had buttoned before. She had her priority. Find. Her. Friends.
She didn't have to look long, at first she found nothing. Words like Equestrian, pony and other obvious searches came up empty except for some similar extinct Earthling races of mammals. She tried searching for “specimen” however, what the human had called her; and this... This opened a can of worms on the information panel.
The bar on the right hand side of the screen stretched forever it seemed, races she couldn't have imagined in her wildest dreams of every shape and walk of life ran down the screen. Twilight couldn't believe her eyes. She scanned over a few, some were intelligent it stated, some possessed amazing abilities, some were noted to be useful sources of material... Others were stated to be excellent for experimentation.
Twilight didn't read too far into the profiles, they disgusted her for the most part simply from the way the humans spoke of them. How could they be so cruel? She discovered quickly after a thought that they were all linked to one archive in particular, and were dated. The search was instead done according to date, and looked to the end of the vast library of races and creatures.
Immediately, she recognized several races familiar to her. She noticed why she hadn't found Equestrian ponies right away; they had had an odd label after their name which made little sense. Manticore. Buffalo. Dragon... Pony.
She clicked on the profile that held the unmistakable likeness of an Equestrian Pony. Like the other 'profiles' it gave they all contained vast amounts of information about their species, habitat, traits and what's more, specimen taken.
Twenty Three.
Twilight sighed and looked at the floor, then massaged her head.
Twenty two other innocent ponies are here, aside from me; somewhere in this place.
Twilight shut her eyes and let it sink in. Had she been alone maybe she could have escaped somehow stealthily. No... even if she were here alone she needed to rescue any other prisoners surely. She couldn't leave any living creature to such torturous fates.
Oh what in Celestia am I supposed to... No, Twilight you can do this.
She breathed in deep, SHE WAS TWILIGHT SPARKLE! Celestia's most faithful student! She'd freed a goddess, defeated the living embodiment of chaos, defended and then rescued two nations! And that was only to name a few exploits!
Twilight steeled herself, and began to study with renewed vigor like she'd never studied before! Her focus was unparalleled, hoof cramp after hoof cramp she read on, studying with efficiency far longer than any lesser student could ever dream to. Days bled into a week.
Grooooan
bonk
bonk
thud
clank
Twilight looked up from her cranial assault on the desk. Her thoughts hurt. A week of staring at that screen had taken a toll on her.
She'd found schematics and floor plans, she'd delved into the humans' research, and she scoured every scrap of information for the ultimate test. She had to be ready, information may not be so easily found after she left, and this was all she had.
Twilight had pondered why it was so readily available here. She'd decided at the start the humans she'd woken up to may have been important, which made haste all the more crucial. They had access to vast information after all or at least as far as she could determine. It seemed, after all, that what she found should be secret she thought.
Her eyes drooped and she stifled another yawn, she only stopped to eat, sleep and recharge as she'd come to call it. She had looked into the changes that had been committed upon her body without permission. They were robotic and cybernetic in nature, methods of engineering. To what purpose she still didn't know. Her magic seemed to make it all work to some degree, in addition to food and water. Those ideas were just theory though, based off scientific process carried out by her throughout the week.
Trying to answer questions about the experiments and changes that had been conducted on her with the other panels after learning more had proven fruitless, they now all asked for access codes or passwords.
Still, she'd learned more then she felt she'd ever learned before in her life in such a short time. But she needed more and she continued.
Her ear twitched. She recalled briefly on the third day when she'd come to realize her cutie mark had been engulfed, or worse; replaced by this horrid metal. That had been a bad day.
She sighed regrettably. 'Of all the things they could take...' Twilight stopped there with that thought train. She didn't want to consider all of what they could take.
She spared a thought for them though, coping with the two... bodies had not been easy. She'd moved them to a closet, in the room farthest from the search engine. It was all she felt she could do really.
Celestia and Luna forgive me. She sighed at the heavy thoughts.
Twilight went through her mental checklist again to see if she'd missed any of her daily objectives. She'd taken to mentally tasking herself with what she thought important periodically. She'd planned an escape route, sort of... She'd located where the ponies were held, vaguely... She had also determined where exactly the moon ship was in relation to Equestria! On the other side of the *galaxy* it was a part of, apparently.
Twilight groaned in frustration and slammed the desk again with her head. It didn't even hurt a little.
The text the panel gave up to her studious eye was unending, and her quest was slowed drastically from having to define every other term or strange word she read. Without paper though, she had no real way to keep the information straight... only her memory.
"Dr. Helsreich?"
PAFF!
Twilight gritted her teeth and hung from a light fixture in the lab. Below her she could hear them now, a faint clanking sound getting closer. When had someone come in? Her time was up! Wait, something she hadn't thought about; maybe she could take this human hostage with her telekinesis. She might actually- her train of thought cut off.
Below her a huge multi-legged thing clinked and swayed its way into the room below her. Twilight gaped at the huge intruder from her vantage point... on the ceiling.
"Hello doctor, where are you? It's been chaos this week you know? If you got out more anyway you would. You're in a lot of trouble not sending a report by the way... Not to mention ignoring your summons for an explanation!"
It was human, or at least the head was, the rest was machine. It... Or she Twilight guessed, had four legs, a torso the size of a small book case and massive arms with claws like a dragon’s at the end of each limb. That rules out capture she decided. She had too much at stake to risk a fight already.
"Is he not home? They said the kook never leaves. Why couldn't this be an easy retrieval I don't have time to go hunting some old crack pot! He should have a bio drone around here somewhere, where is it?"
Twilight weighed her options, she had thought long and hard what to do when the time to escape came. As the machine... lady left earshot she reacted on instinct, prior planning and trusting to luck.
PAFF!
A bag she'd readied earlier disappeared from the lab.
PAFF!
And then she did.
Teleported she now floated before the door using her telekinesis, she didn't want to risk a sound. The door, it was still open! This saved her the trouble of a risky teleport into the unknown through the wall, one she'd been ready to make again too. She silently thanked Celestia for her luck.
Exhaling outside the door she didn't look back, it was the same hallway, stark, damp and big. The lights were dim as well and provided almost no light, the floor was concrete. This, all together, made it feel like a sewer.
Twilight wished the schematics and level descriptions she'd scanned had been more detailed. All she really knew to do was to get lower to a place called the Gene Ward where supposedly several sharing her specimen number were. It was roughly twelve miles away.
Not a welcomed prospect going that far, but I have to, for everyone. Twilight started down the corridor towards something that had been on the floor plan she'd memorized, called an elevator.
"Well aren't you just the most precious looking thing?" She stopped mid trot, Twilight's eye bulged at the voice which came from directly, above her.
Well the two dislikes have pushed me to releasing another chapter only two days after my debut, hopefully I can turn this around and plow ahead. ^^
Also I know what it's starting to look like. 'Humans are bastards' or what not, Don't worry that's not the case, she's just having bad luck. ^^ Humans are really more (well-written) scenery anyway in this story for the most part, my little ponies have all the big roles!
So if you find this chapter interesting and a good read, there's more where that came from! If you have been less than thrilled? Well stick around because the best has yet to come.
-Edit Also as a side note folks try not to over speculate or perceive flaws in things like the sociological or technological aspects of the story, right now I'm TRYING to make it a little confusing, and back @$$wards. There's a reason, you'll see I swear! Put down those axes and other assorted rusty garden implements, I'm looking at you, yes you with the lazy eye. :P
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*About to rant how we are not evil*
Oh okay
DAMNIT...
I will still follow this story.
I have to.
However one day, I will sneakyli stop following this story.
And nobody will notice. So brilliant.
The reason I still follow this is because as a critic, I have to give everything a chance to surprise me.
Well, as much as I enjoy the 'power' of the humans in this story I feel like we would be above experimenting on humans if we've gone this far as a civilization. Not to mention I doubt we would still be using primitive technology like a touch pad. Thumb'd up
1898160
I'll spoiler a little bit here for your astuteness. (A little worried that the touchpad stuck out but not the windows 95 screensaver honestly) It's not so much primitive as the type of technology in tandem with the society. Maybe we have the tech but well it's high maintenance, or expensive? We are advanced beyond measure in some ways, maybe? But perhaps aren't capable of making thought powered doom engines and time travel. In fact outside Twilight's magic you'll find a lot of cool things to do with energy aren't considered even possible.
As for experimenting, you'll see where it's going, hopefully it'll make sense more later on. The idea as of now is to leave you all wondering, and to learn with Twilight and the others. in fact I'm going to put that into the author's note right now maybe that'll stave off any hate I might generate from being confusing on purpose....
1898127
I think you'll be surprised man, I don't want a story about some cool OC humans, believe me I could do it all too easily, but most people here, want to read about ponies? go figure right? Don't worry though this story's going to turn into fun for the whole family (cast) pretty quick. And then it'll just be an unstoppable fireball falling down a fun filled party pony powered steam stomping star run wrecking ball of awesome careening down the ephemeral mountainside of your LIFE.... SON!
Also Doctor Whooves is your favorite character, what? And Venom is your favorite too!? Dang you're in luck with my story. I'm kidding of course had you goin' there didn't I? haha
Great story so far. Poor Twilight.
And yes Human are Bastards. Read any books on sociology or psychology and it becomes apparent. Your average person's view is, Look out for self, look out for immediate family, look out for friends, look out for community, then on-wards towards town/city, state, government, planet, etc. The order of the lower tier interests may vary somewhat, and you get exceptional people who put the whole before themselves, but most people just want to feel safe and secure in their little communities. That is what allows the real Bastards to take over with promises or threats to personal safety and environment. A civilization like above wouldn't happen unless the common people allowed it. It has happened before in human history several times and it is on the verge of happening again. We let people in positions of "power" tell us that we need to give up certain things to keep us safe.
Is it any wonder why so many of us like ponies? They're better than us.
1898630
John my friend so good to see you! AND YES, you my sir, 'get it' and by 'it' I mean cake, or boose whatever's your cup of tea, heck you can have the tea too. Really though the comment about them not being bastards is to fend off the trope seekers. I feel they'll still enjoy it anyway so a white lie never hurts, anyway they just don't know it.
1898630 They're better than us? My nukes disagree...
1899491
You don't have any nukes, Celestia has a sun though.
1898630
This is the reasons why humans aren't bastards:
img.gawkerassets.com/img/181iyknddanu4jpg/xlarge.jpg
n-tv.de/img/incoming/origs3133601/6402733028-w1000-h960/nutella.jpg
static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Politics/Pix/pictures/2012/11/12/1352735696924/Nutella-on-bread-010.jpg
Do you see ponies eating Nutella? Hm? HMMMM?!?!?!?!?
1900698
I wonder... is chocolate bad for horses? And yes, I see Pinkie eating many things that she probably shouldn't.
1900698
I don't like Nutella. I like this mocha spread, though, that tastes nothing of the hazelnut it uses.
1898630
Except that a civilization like the ponies can't actually exist if it wasn't for their magic, abundant resources and cartoony environment. They never had to struggle like mankind did because of it. They got all the right cards played to them from the start, Its like comparing someone raised from money with the best of everything from the getgo with someone from a third world country.
Its our environment that shapes us to be what we are. Blame nature, we are nothing but animals. Sorry if some of us cant afford to look after everyone else, we are busy trying to make life easier for ourself's and our children, its not like animals do any better.
Either way, conditions are improving even with the shitty state the world is in, this proves mankinds strive to make the world a better place.
1900292 Correction. WE create suns :3
Also I know what it's starting to look like. 'Humans are bastards' or what not, Don't worry that's not the case, she's just having bad luck. ^^ Humans are really more (well-written) scenery anyway in this story for the most part, my little ponies have all the big roles!
Good on all points. I was just about to post about that.
Guess nobody uses cameras in the future. Or checks to see if people are dead or not. Or has security posted to watch after a potentially dangerous animal. Or have any viable protection from those dangerous animals(they kidnapped her and didn't know she could use magic). In fact they don't even lock people's computers and everyone has access to a moon sized complex's blueprints with all the secret stuff labeled and ready for anyone to use. The computer's are also all using the Equestrian written language. And since we're going with 'Pony magic beats everything' route here why hasn't Celestia teleported into the complex, located Twilight with some spell, taken her back to Equestria, and just crushed the whole thing because magic beats everything.
Might want to redo that sentence.
And that...
And that.....
Merlos, do you have an editor/prereader? Good story but littered with errors. It earns a favorite nonetheless.
Hrmm, will she try to retrieve all displaced beings from her world or just specifically ponies? Who knows?