Our Legacy, Their Story.

by MerlosTheMad

The Maze and Minotaur

Twilight stared up at the twin to the machine...human mare from before. The pony's encyclopedic memory fought to recall something in response to that. The humans had another descriptor for their females... Woman? Women? It wasn't prevalent to the moment anyway. Regardless, to Twilight they were identical in every way, except for the face. She had to cut her thoughts short though, the human seemed to be waiting for Twilight to do something. And she was just hanging there from the ceiling above the misplaced librarian. The claws ending on the human's metal limbs hooked in and held onto the metal beams.

"I don't think I'll ever get over just how cute you things are." She almost crooned, and her head tilted at Twilight, regarding her with a thin smile.

The stunned unicorn slowly backed away from underneath the metal human, her gaze locked with Twilight's own. Without warning, the giant let loose her fierce appendage's grip of the ceiling, and created a loud crash of metal on metal as she landed.

Twilight shook with fear and surprise, along with the rest of the hallway. Her teeth chattered from the vibrations sent through the entire area after the alien assailant hit the ground. She leered forward at the unicorn, leaning on thick arms to bring herself down to eye level.

She hummed and seemed to inspect her. "It seems as though the good Dr. wasn't going to disappoint after a-" The other voice called out from the lab, interrupting its critique.

"Orulla!? Orulla, what was that, did your fat arse fall again?" The other one from before had cut her twin's speech off.

Rocketing upright the intimidating figure in front of Twilight whirled to face the doorway. "Oh, you're one to talk you cynical bitch, you scarf food like it was your job, if it weren't for inter-control I have NO doubts you'd be bi-"

"Orulla, I swear to God if you finish that sentence."

"You'll what? And oh, here we go with this religion nonsense again, are you still on about that?" The two seemed like they wished to come to blows from what Twilight could tell.

"I told you, Markov's unproven theories state-!"

"Just shut it, everything you say is complete tripe! ...Besides can't you see you're scaring my little friend? I just looked down and there it was, walking out of the Doctor's home."

The other machine human poked out of the doorway and stared at Twilight.

"OooOoh so it's one of those horse things after all... Those were expensive. Funny that they'd trust a psycho like Hels with one. Well, modded out though isn't she? Guess we're getting our money's worth." The human's laugh was an unsettling pitch of giddy.

The other one—Orulla she'd been called—looked back and forth between her and Twilight.

"Seems so, I scanned military grade power fluctuations way over safe levels though. That shouldn't be possible, not to mention it wasn't in the contract..." She paused to hum in thought again. "So, you think it's a she?"

The other human scratched her head deftly with its clawed limb. "Well, if it's a boy I feel sorry for that shade of fur it has..."

"I suppose but-"

Twilight tuned them out and started weighing her options. For starters, these humans sounded unfriendly, even towards each other, as well as scary. The one named Orulla had even frightened her on purpose. Frdpite that, she supposed she would try and get some information, at least. If worst came to worst, a hasty teleport was always an option.

From the way they talked about her, Twilight got the impression she was being regarded like property or an animal—as her research had suggested humans might. She didn't like the implications of either of those thoughts. It made sense that they were she supposed, having been an experiment to that other man—Dr. Helsreich they'd called him.

Twilight waited for a pause in their argument, and made... well second contact. She hoped these humans turned out to be reasonable in some respect at least.

"-o important anyway?"

"Uhm, excuse me." Both of their heads snapped to her, catching her off guard. Twilight drew in a breath and continued.

"Hello, I'm Twilight Sparkle, and I'm lost..." Twilight grasped for something to say... Should she act like everything was fine or come clean and ask blatantly for help or information?

"But could I perhaps get a hoof in gaining my bearings? I'm trying to find a 'gene-ward' to look for my friends and..." she face hoofed mentally, she probably shouldn't ask that directly. "Well I'm-"

"Wooow..." Orulla cut her off. "They really do talk, and English too, it never ceases to amaze me when that happens."

The other waved a clawed limb at her. Ppphhbttt "Don't tell me you believe that stupid rumor. Having precedent or not in other sentient aliens, this is a horse we're talking about. It must be a modification I mean look at her, oh! You are a her aren't you?"

Twilight blinked trying to keep up with the two and their conversation. "Uh y-"

"WAIT! Don’t answer yet! Orulla, 500 credits it's a her!" The machine's arm jabbed an imposing claw at her cohort.

"Jasmine I'm not betting money with you." Orulla stated flatly.

"Aw! Well never mind then..." They cued Twilight by looking at her again.

She pawed the ground nervously causing her to wilt under their scrutiny. "Uhm, yes I'm a her... Look I'm really kind of in a hurry here. Are you two going to help me?" Twilight began to arrive at the conclusion that holding out hope for a better reception had been a mistake.

"Hah I knew it!" The chaotic woman grinned with glee metal hands clasped, then let the face she'd sprung into fade slowly. She continued to pause and Twilight twitched at the change of atmosphere.

"Hm... help huh?" 'Jasmine' returned to Twilight sullenly.

The look they passed between each other was cool; the humans seemed to speak just by looking at each other. It made Twilight all the more uneasy.

"Well I've had the pleasure of it before Jasmine if you'd like you may." Twilight raised a fearful eyebrow, what did that mean?

"Hm... No I don't really think I'd care for it, likely as not the way things have been going lately I'll get another chance to play along anyway right? Haha." Orulla laughed too, it was more of a cackle though really.

Twilight was getting scared as they continued to ignore her and laugh. Should she run, now?

"We-well, if you're not going to help I'll just be on m- EEP!" Twilight ducked as an enormous metal arm shot through the air above her head, she'd hit the deck just in time to avoid it. Orulla cast a wicked grin down at her. "Fight back sweetie and I'll go easy on ya I promise, give us some fun won't you?" Twilight's breathing had never accelerated into sheer panic so fast in her life before.

"500 credits I catch her first!" The first human lunged at Twilight from the door.

"I already said- Hey! Wa-watch it!" The two crowded the hallway—large as it was—with the show of noncooperation between them.

Twilight seized the brief moment spawned by them and pushed herself off the ground. She used her opening to buck and kicked out behind her at the second attacker then ran. Behind her shouts from a tangled mess of machine echoed out. She thought she'd felt something crunch, her legs felt fine though.

Horse apples! Why had I thought to try and act reasonably with them? They'd practically screamed "I'm crazy!" from the start! They were acting worse than Discord! Not to mention more confusing... That was really saying something. Twilight rounded a corner; behind her she could hear her pursuers giving chase.

I have to get away and start finding the other ponies that are held here, but first... I need... something...

"GAH!" Twilight flinched as she ran. Something had hit her rump! Twice! She glanced back; the humans giving chase were at least a hundred yards behind her, but somehow... they were shooting something at her. It was too far to see how or what. Still, in spite of this, she could hear little pings all around her now.

Okay time to add some more turns... I don't want to find out what it is they're trying to do. She took corner after corner instead of straight hallways. Behind her she could hear them shouting.

Twilight didn't notice right away, but she felt her breathing wasn't labored at all now that she'd calmed down. She knew she wasn't much of a runner; she should be sweating and panting like no tomorrow given the level of adrenaline she felt in her veins.

I hope this all can be reversed better stamina or no. Okay focus Twilight. Escape, then whimsies. Escape... ahah! There was a small vent at the side of a large cylinder like room to her left. It seemed to be an intersection.

Twilight glanced up as she ran through it towards the far vent, and up and up and UP...

She couldn't see the ceiling it went for miles above her, the tube kept stretching upwards, halls and doors everywhere along its sides, and it went on forever. Above her thousands of shapes flitted across her vision. She almost stopped gaping up at it.

The sound of echoing clangs from behind her kept her moving though, and she carefully used her magic to wrench the grating free. She didn't want to leave a trace of where she went if she could. Twilight tossed her bag in and dove after it, then replaced the metal covering. She began to crawl through the tight space, sighing relief. At the very least they wouldn't be able to follow her now.

Somewhere behind her she could hear an angry voice growl "...You owe me 500 blood fuming credits."

Twilight crawled for what might have been an hour, at times the vent felt like a hundred degrees too hot; then, in an instant it was cool again. THAT was disturbing enough on its own. Several times she tried to teleport out at random points without losing her bearings too much. Twice she thought she changed levels in doing so, but too many of her attempts to teleport simply didn't work. The framework of all this metal around her was too close in with too few places to go. At least three times she had ended up inside an enclosed space with no exits.

She was getting tired of only her own magic for a light source.

"AAARG! I hate this place! IhateitIhateit! This is a thousand times worse than a hedge maze... It's all... it's so frustrating. RRRGG! I knew I should have looked closer at those areas parallel to the hallways."

She let out a sigh. "Keep it together Twilight, you can do this." Twilight fumed on and off throughout the metal tunnel system. Whatever their purpose was she wasn't sure, they seemed deserted and unnecessarily cramped.

Perhaps there were smaller creatures she'd yet to encounter that frequented them? She pushed the thought away and briefly in the cool purple light from her horn inspected her rump to see if it had escaped unscathed. The metal that now made up her rear didn't seem to have a scratch despite the pain she'd felt during her getaway.

Satisfied, Twilight yawned her jaw cracking. "Ow..." Part of her metal... skin, she shuddered at the thought as it still unnerved her to think of it as such, hurt her cheek when she'd yawned like that.

She was tired, it had been a long time since her last sleep before she had left the lab and been interrupted from her studying. Twilight shut her eyes there in the little metal tunnel, after some rest she'd continue...

Rushing air. A torrent of it all around her, she could feel her cheek flapping comically from the pressure. What had she awoken to!?

Panicked Twilight tried to get her bearings and hold onto the tunnel at the same time. Her own metal hooves crumpled the thin metal of the vent as she held the walls in a death grip.

"What's going on!?" Her voice was drowned out by the sound of rushing air. She tried to wait for it to stop but after a minute it was unbearable.

PAFF!

"Phew, glad that's over." It had worked; she'd managed to teleport away to another area. She hoped she hadn't gotten too much farther off course. Twilight felt she'd done well keeping her direction from memory.

The stranger in an even stranger place looked around herself, brushing her uncut forelock out of her eyes.

Her mouth dropped at what she saw. Huge machines, all the size of... small dragons surrounded her and extended down what could only be described as a cavernous grand hallway. She edged towards a wall and hunched down trying to make herself smaller. They all looked dangerous to her, maybe even staring at her with their small beady eyes.

None of them moved though, she glanced around her, everything was quiet.

"What are these things...?" They weren't like the human machines or humans in machines or whatever those humans that had tried to hurt her had been. Nor were they like her. She saw wheels at their bases, perhaps they were vehicles of some kind? Could the wings mean that they flew?

"Impossible they're entirely made of metal, there's no way such a thing could generate enough lift to become airborne!" Twilight gasped and ducked behind a crate as she realized she'd begun pacing around the bizarre contraption.

Darnit Twilight focus, intricacies and applications of advanced mechanics in coordination with basic physics are hardly a priority right now.

She moved through the rows of machines deciding not to stop, she couldn't guess how long she'd slept for a moment ago back in that tunnel but she didn't think it had been for long...

Twilight looked around for something that would catch her memory from the floor plans she'd studied; she needed to regain her bearings.

"Bingo." She thanked the Princesses for such timely luck, or perhaps she thought to herself, I should thank Pinkie Pie?

It wasn't a familiar sign or section marker as she'd hoped; no, it was better. On the wall was a map. She trotted up to the wall it hung off. Better yet it was paper! Oh glorious paper! Twilight couldn't help but let out a squeal and rap her hooves against each other. She stopped though when they let out that ghastly metal ringing so unnatural to her, it almost spoiled her mood.

Still, she'd never been so happy to see the fibrous tree wrought substance in all her days of studying.

The massive thing floated off the wall in a purple aura and began to fold up in on itself and in it was tucked into her bag.

Twilight shot glances around the huge room then trotted back to a corner with some boxes. She gathered the larger ones around her and sat sighing relief. Unfolding the map she inspected her treasure.

Now if only I had a quill and some ink I could take notes on the back of this... Twilight thought to herself placated.

The map was of a strange area she'd only come across once, it hadn't had anything to do with where her friends were so she'd only glanced over it. From what she'd read it was for launching or unloading or something alien like that. The floor did somewhat resemble a Pegasus runway, perhaps they really were airships?

The map told her that she was on a higher level now, the paper claimed it was a part of Block: London

How had that happened? She shook her head. That was another thing, these "Blocks" as she'd continually discovered at the lab seemed to have no sense to their location or names. They were all randomly placed about within the moon as far as she'd found. That just made things more confusing...

If the map was correct she'd almost gone in the entirely wrong direction towards the human's surface.

Still she knew where she was now and which direction to go, the gene-ward was simply deeper into the moon if she remembered correctly, she needed to go down. Four blocks down as well she thought.

Okay so I have to go to this... level 3 D and then cross over to-

She paused. Twilight could hear a rumbling nearby, it sounded distinctly metal, a sound she was coming to very much take dislike to. She instinctively shut her eyes (eye) and whimpered.

Ohpleasedontbemeanpleasedontbemean. She poked her head over the box.

Oh sugar, mistake. A grating voice that didn't sound... well, real, blared at her.

"Intruder, halt and identify yourself immediately you have entered a restricted area and are under lawful order t-"

Twilight didn't wait this time for it finish, she jammed the map into her bag roughly and galloped down the hall dodging under and around the small legs and wheels of the strange airships. That thing had been as big as Orulla and... whatever the other one was named put together!

Ooooh sweet Celestia, why can't I get a breeeak? Twilight began panting out of sheer panic, she didn't think she'd have trouble outrunning the automaton. There's no WAY that had been a human! It had been huge, perhaps the size of a manticore.

A loud noise crackled from behind her and erupted in a clap of thunder. It reminded her of Rainbow Dash's Sonic Rainboom.

Air rushed around her, Twilight blinked from a flash of bright white that blotted her vision. She managed to clear her sight before she had to screech to a halt.

"Huh?" In front of her was now a molten dripping wreck of metal. 'But- How!?' She turned around in horror at the machine giving chase to her. It rode on massive wheels wrapped in metal resembling an assembly line towards Twilight. It was going faster than it had any right to.

In a voice bare of emotion it blared at her. "-lack of cooperation you will be terminated. Terminated. Terminated."

Twilight had only a split second; she saw light and energy begin to billow out from a strange tube on the machine's arm, pointed right at her. It looked like the devices from the lab.

The unicorn shut her eye, and erected a thick purple shield in front of herself. The magic wrought shield formed just in time. As a result, Twilight felt the most intense horn splitting ache since she'd miscast her first teleport spell. Her head spun and she was thrown to the ground from the weight and pressure of the spell shield shattering. Motes of lavender light and magic spun away and poofed out of existence around her, lightly sprinkling the ground around the pony escapee.

Twilight couldn't even feel her legs at all while she tried to stand and recover from the attack. At first she thought something horrible had happened to her. Quickly though she regained her bearings and was faced again with her assailant. The machine had stopped, and seemed to just watch her, a strange ocular sphere swinging back and forth over her form, she tried to get up and run, but only managed to stand, stumble, and fall a couple steps onto her side.

Again, light and energy crackled from the machine and that strange tube. Again, Twilight tried to run, this time managing to sit up and lean on her forelegs. Again, she attempted to form another shield, panic nearly causing her to lose concentration. The accomplished unicorn magician was however able to maintain concentration on her goal.

Still, the spell failed. Twilight gasped out her held breath. "No! Come onnn..."

Gritting her teeth she cast her panicked gaze around, she was trapped with her back to the hot molten airship. The librarian's front legs trembled under her as she turned to again look in the direction of the machine. This time she was readying her teleport spell.

She concentrated desperately on weaving the spell, glowing twinkles and violet aura orbiting her horn.

It... fizzled out as well. She sweated from the strain and tried again.

Nothing. Her magic had been over taxed from the effort she'd exerted and she knew it. Twilight couldn't cast either spell!

She was doomed.

The machine had rolled closer clearing the last bit of distance between them and stopped short of her by mere hoof lengths. It pointed it's unbelievably destructive weapon down at her, all the while eliciting its mantra.

"Terminated, Terminated."

Twilight tried to keep her eye fixed on the machine but couldn't. She was so miserably frightened her legs had even stopped shaking. Twilight shut her eye unable to keep looking, she had to think! Think! She could dodge out of the way? Or run, or... But she couldn't move! Oh Celestia, and she had not even seconds before...!

"Terminated."

Click

vvvvrr

PHOOM

Energy whipped around and engulfed the Unicorn.

Twilight stood frozen for what felt like an eternity. A tremor ran through the ground and air surrounding her. She'd thought it had been the end. But she could feel sweat trickle down her legs and brow, the cold brought her back enough to open her eyes.

"eEEP!... huh?" She slowly slid her foreleg down from where it was shielding her face.

The machine still stood there, its weapon of mass destruction still leveled down at her merely hooves away from her body. Behind it though, the machine had... a gaping hole in its chest revealing all kinds of metal pieces and sparks of lightning. Above that... its head was gone.

"What?" Twilight asked. She looked all around her, who had rescued her?

There was the melted airship; its metal skin already had cooled to its former shade of gray. There was the deadly machine, but there was nopony else.

"...Hello?"

Vrrrrrr

A strange hum vibrated behind Twilight.

Her tail went rigid at the strange mechanical noise, in response she whipped around to face it. Nothing.

She scratched her brow with a hoof confused. The same noise hummed again at her jostling motion.

Again Twilight turns around to catch it in the act! Nothing.

"AUGH! Show yourself!" Looking all around and growing more suspicious, Twilight begins to slowly look behind her. Oh if this was Trixie she'd be getting a piece of her... mind...

Twilight was stunned to say the least. She hadn't really been expecting the prideful pony antagonist herself but neither had she expected this. She let out a gasp, but furrowed her brow immediately and began walking again to a new safe haven.

"No, you know what? I refuse to continually be scared, surprised, caught off guard and confused by every little thing I come across. Enough is enough."

Behind her sat what had elicited the gasp from her. Two strange articulated and jointed appendages which seemingly sprouted from her back like a pair of Pegasus wings, except inverted. Both of them looked to her somewhat like smaller versions of what the machine had had. They bobbed along with her hurried canter and she tried to ignore them. It produced a strange feeling as their weight shifted with her stride.

Grrrr, why can't all this metal junk just, Leave! Me! Alone! She clenched her eye shut.

SNAP

It opened again at hearing the noise and she inspected her flanks. As she'd thought she had felt, the contraptions were once again seamless on her back.

At least they listen I guess. Twilight rolled her eye and sighed to herself exhaustedly.

Armed with her new map of the 'Block: London' which she found herself within; Twilight left the gargantuan warehouse like hallway and re-entered another vent. She crawled and walked for maybe an hour, her light flickered dimly. Maintaining even the simple spell was proving to be difficult. Her breath became labored soon and her head swam.

"I... need... to rest, phew." Twilight was still panting but not from physical exertion. If running had not exhausted her before why did her magic? Why couldn't it all have helped her resist fatigue from spell casting too? In a way it made sense; the humans didn't use magic after all. The unicorn let out a yawn.

She hadn't been awake long but she desperately needed a break. She trudged onward through the small metal tunnel, every now and then it boomed from her weight shifting the thin floor or ceiling. Eventually she found an adjoining concrete room. Twilight laid down to rest in the chamber adjoining her hidden highway, a large fan slowly circling overhead.

Sleep overtook her quickly now that she'd stopped.

Hungry.

Twilight was starved when she awoke. Yawning she unbuckled the improvised saddlebag and brought out some bread, fruit and vegetables. Some of it was familiar some, alien, but she guessed that was to be expected. There hadn't been much she could bring; the container had its limits. Twilight suspected it was maybe enough for a week, a bit longer were she careful with it.

But once I find other ponies... this won't be enough for more than a day. I'll have to figure something out before then or soon after.

She wouldn't let herself think if, she WAS going to find her fellow ponies.

Twilight held the strange apple and turned it with a hoof absently, she'd been hesitant to try it back at the lab, but curiosity had gotten the best of her. For starters, it was blue. It also was crisper and harder than an apple should be she noted after tasting it. Besides that though it was normal, pale white inside, juicy sweet flavor, small brown stem poking out the top, and seeds.

They were, in fact, nowhere near as good as Sweet Apple Acres’ apples though. Just the thought of apples from Sweet Apple Acres nearly made her hungry again. Instead what it did succeed in doing was creating a pang of home sickness she did not easily push away.

Sighing dejectedly, Twilight tossed the apple core in a far corner of the small metal and concrete room. Afterwards she nosed the flap of the impromptu saddle bag open once again, fetching out a piece of bread which she bent in half over some lettuce. She absently munched on her dessert wishing that she had someone else to keep her company besides her regretful thoughts.

So far everything, at least as far as she could tell, has wanted her dead. But why, what reason was there to kill her. These creatures, these humans weren't looking for a meal like a hungry Hydra or Timber Wolf. What affront was she to them.

Twilight had only been thirsty once since awakening, she couldn't explain that. She had still drank since then of course but only brought a small thermos she'd found. Twilight had decided to save it as long as she could. It simplified things at least despite adding more worry to her thoughts about her present condition and her body.

The unicorn unfolded the now very crumpled map of the area before her once more. If her educated guess was correct she was already in the right section of the Block, section D. Thankfully the Blocks had been alphabetized and were strangely like most everything else, written in Equestrian.

How in the name of Celestia do they know and use our language and alphabet. Maybe the humans adapted it after they arrived?

Twilight had so many questions about that which the panel had not answered, and she couldn't remember a thing to do with them from before finding herself here either.

Anyway,

If she teleported or found a way to move down inside this block she could get to level 3, it had what looked like the only passage between this block and the next. It was a stairway or some kind of vertical shaft, she wasn't entirely sure, the map called it a "lift". That must be something like the elevators she'd looked at. It made sense. The lift led through the next 3 blocks beneath this one towards her goal as she recalled the areas lay out from memory.

Perhaps it's something like that vertical tunnel I'd passed running from the lab? She pondered the possibilities as she finished her meal.

The only trouble was the map didn't have these small tunnels, her accidentally-found safe method of travel on it at all, just the hallways and rooms that, she had no doubt, were frequented by the aliens. Twilight sighed and flipped what was left of her mane. She didn't mind it short, it meant not having to deal with bed head yet, but the change still irked at her. It was irritating though that they hadn't cut her forelock whatsoever, leaving it dangling in her face most of the time.

"I just gotta get to the bottom level then for now, the only question is should I risk getting lost again in here? Or risk traveling the halls and actually know where I'm going..." Twilight tapped her hoof to her chin thoughtfully.

Twilight decided to risk the more public routes, she may not have time to navigate the metal maze again.

She repacked her map folding it carefully this time.

Twilight poked her head around the corner, looked left, and right tentatively down the long stretches of miniaturized corridor. Hesitantly she set out once again, leaving her temporary bedroom behind her. "Ok Twilight... You can do this, just keep your wits about you and if any more terrifying aliens or crazy contraptions show up... you can do this Twilight." Despite her pep talk she gulped.

It only took a little searching to find what she was looking for, the mare easily spotted a light poking through a grate. She hoped it did indeed lead to the hallway she sought after, and that her educated guessing was successful. Sure enough, upon peeking through the metal bars she found a hallway below her.

This should be it! Grinning, Twilight set about leaving the cramped space. Purple light encircled the metal cover and flickered, a dull pain poked through her horn and she almost slipped, he grip faltering. But she was able to pop out the metal grate out, then pull it into her hiding place before dropping it.

Nrrrg, oh sweet Celestia that hurt, I... Oh, yes this is it...

Twilight thought about levitating down to the floor but it wasn't far, she didn't want to risk passing out from her own weight. She remembered with a huff that all this metal made her unbelievably heavy for a pony. Surely her body had to weigh at least as much as Big Macintosh now.

I suppose I have an excuse to not diet anytime soon then... Heck, if Rarity's here and suffered my fate she might thank them for that.

The metal floor thunked as she fell to meet it.

Twilight dropped to the floor and she giggled at her thoughts, they were welcome given the general drudgery and depression that seemed to overtake most of this week’s events. She looked around though to make sure no one had heard either her landing or the laughter. Satisfied she started to canter down the hallway.

No, there wouldn't be a force in Equestria that could save these creatures if they messed with Rarity or a hair on her head... From me or her.

Glancing around as she jogged Twilight found what she wanted, on the hallway wall read Level 1: Section D. She was where she thought she should be at least, now if she could just find some stairs and get to Level 3 then she'd be good...

At least that far.

This hall was lined with doors, they weren't very far apart either. She walked down their length into an intersection and took a new hall without pausing. The crossroad certainly wasn't a place to linger.

Strange devices lining the ceiling turned to regard her on occasion, she had the nagging feeling that she was being watched when they did. But they made no action against her...

Twilight paused somewhere away from the devices in a hallway at least three from where she started and took out her map, her telekinesis still coming with a great deal more strain on her part than is usual. The feeling threw Twilight off her focus, she was always very careful with her spell casting even during her occasional risky experiment. She wasn't used to having difficulty with casting any spell.

"Ah, stairs... stairs..." She looked while massaging her head.

The map had nothing to mark the routes it showed except the letters and level number. She wasn't sure which hallway she was in... Twilight recalled an old trick though, in which in a maze if you continually turned right or left eventually you would find the end.

Thank goodness for that first trial with Discord or I wouldn't have looked into simpler means of figuring out mazes. That Mysteries of Mazes for Beginners Vol. 1 was useful after all. If I just stay in section D and keep looking I'll find these stairs eventually.

Twilight refolded her map, grinning to herself.

There was a rumble in the distance.

Twilight snapped her head in that direction; she could hear and feel the air ringing around her. Her ears twitched at the high pitched sensation.

"That can't be good." She put away the map more hurriedly and carefully continued wondering what that had been, and how far away...

Well, this isn't exactly a huge area so hopefully I can find the stairs before whatever that was finds me...

thumpthump, Thump, THUMP

There were loud hoof steps coming from down the hallway, whatever it was it sounded fast and huge.

Oh, of course. Me and my big thoughts. Her face quickly emulated her thoughts and she became wide eyed immediately.

Twilight began prancing in place looking for somewhere to go, she spotted a door further down the hall rimmed with red and gold paint. But that wasn't the interesting part, there was a pipe lodged in the strange metal door keeping it from being shut all the way.

The noises were getting closer, and Twilight didn't want to risk a teleport spell which she knew she couldn't pull off at the moment. Dashing to the door she hurriedly looked over the panel. It wasn't red, which she'd assumed meant locked back in the lab.

Here goes nothing.

She stood up on her hind legs and rested her front hooves against the wall for balance. Next, she tapped the part of the small panel that looked to share the purpose of the enter buttons from the lab doors.

The door groaned a little and elicited a strange hiss, then clunked once it came to rest inside the wall.

Psssch, clunk

Twilight gaped a moment at the bizarre spectacle. Amazing, even things as simple as their doors continue to prove fascinating. With the door now opened the pipe had fallen to the floor with a clatter.

Twilight again noticed the oncoming hoof steps and dashed into the doorway grabbing the pipe to allow it to shut fully. She quickly reared up to the panel to close it, hoping the same button and panel would be on this side. The door closed with the same hiss and metal thump as before.

Psssched, clunk

"Pheeeew..." Outside she thought she heard whoever had been running pass by the door.

"I'm glad that's over with... Oh." The room was small, it contained only a chair and a strange metal box; it looked somewhat like the humans strange magic-less refrigerators. Aside from that however was several dozen of the glass panels like those from Dr. Helsreich's lab, except much larger.

Twilight jumps into the chair in a blur.

"Oh what luck! I-IIIEEEEEEE!"

The chair skidded from her momentum and bent and wobbled under Twilight's weight. It began to spin and sent her crashing into the far wall in a heap.

"Auuugh... wha-?" Twilight gasped, then relaxed realizing she wasn't hurt or in danger. Her eyes locked on a series of small wheels she'd missed on the bottom of the chair.

Why in Celestia's name would the chair have wheels? These humans are going to make it really difficult to stay unsurprised until I get out of here. She clamped her eyes shut ready to receive whatever bruise she might have obtained. None revealed itself. That didn't surprise her now that she thought about it.

"Okay... let's not use you for now." Twilight instead reared up and leaned on the metal counter, the entire thing was a giant button board!

This room wasn't anything like the one at the lab. Twilight's head spun as she tried to get a grasp on what she was looking at exactly... She looked at the panels again, many of them slowly moved across what looked like the hallways she'd been in.

"Oh, those- those are the stairs!" In one of the panels the view panned across her goal. She could see the stairs, and marked clearly near them was a sign numbering the level one and moving on to two.

"Now where is that..." Twilight investigated her surroundings closer trying to figure it out.

There was a hiss and clunk from the door's telltale opening and then closing again.

"I'm going to need the map for this." Twilight opened her pack and reached-.

"What the fracking hell?" Twilight's ears shot up and turned about in a practically 180 degree mid air jump. Behind her was another human.

Oh no! Oh no this is bad!

"Uhm, hello I'm uhm..." Twilight should have considered how to make a peaceful meeting with a human better, if that was even possible... This human in question seemed dumb founded though; he, it had sounded like a stallion, was holding a small white box and a cup of something steamy. Around his girth of which there was quite a bit, was a slung tubed weapon that looked all too familiar.

"Well I-I... come in peace?"

"Hands up! Or...whatever. Don't move an inch." The human hastily but gingerly tried to set down the possessions he held. Twilight began to back up creating space between them, already trying to think of a way to escape. I could try to run past him, or attempt to cast a teleport spell...

"Gaah! Dangit-" The slope of the button board slipped his drink and box onto the floor. He seemed to have trouble deciding which of the two, her or them, was more important. Twilight jumped forward thinking to take this chance to get away... But stopped, she'd had a better idea. She acted quickly, the human was already grasping for his strange weapon.

Twilight grunted from the strain of casting even this simple spell, but she managed it. Her horn was engulfed in violet energy and a ray shot forth at the man producing a scream from him, he fell backwards tripping over himself in the process.

"AAAAAAAaaaaaaaahh?" He was now covered in a massive mustache trailing from his face and laying across his body.

"What the hell?" Twilight smiled and continued on, taking advantage of the distraction caused by the spell. She grabbed the weapon from the human with her magic and flung it to the side of the room with a burst of telekinesis. He tried scrabbling after it but couldn't manage more than a bit of flailing around his new facial hair.

"Now just hold still, I don't want to hurt you but I really don't have time to deal with you, come on now be good." Lifting the man up with her telekinesis was difficult, he wasn't light. Twilight had lifted far heavier before but the backlash from earlier wasn't abating, causing her head to thump in protest.

Quickly, she looped the black strands of hair around his limbs; she'd seen Applejack do it a thousand times how hard could it be?

Not too hard as it turned out, she soon had the man effectively tied up and restrained, arms and legs held behind him. After some of what sounded like very very profane language to Twilight. It really was interesting that they did not share all of Equestria's vocabulary... She approached him.

He'd stopped yelling and just looked aghast at his predicament, he flinched as Twilight approached him. Why would he be afraid? Surely mustaches aren't scary to humans. Oooh maybe humans cannot grow them, yep that would give the man a fright alright...

She guessed she'd find out later if there was time. Twilight spoke first, at least now maybe she could get some good answers.

"That wasn't so bad was it? I don't mean you any harm; just answer my questions, please." Strangely, the human visibly relaxed at this. A little common courtesy and manners go a long way!

He looked up and down at her.

"Heh, so you do talk, weird." Harry was confused and startled to say the least, he hadn't expected or thought the rumor about English speaking aliens was true. He'd heard of it happening before, but it seemed like a stupid notion to him personally.

Yes he recognized the small horse now. It was one of the inhabitants that was on all the news channels and auction sites from the last world they had harvested at, tricky business that had been he recalled. Harry expected he'd see them on the sports channels eventually too. Meh, he didn't really follow it too closely. Harry didn't have nearly enough money for little stuff like that to concern him.

In this predicament, money is going to be the least of my problems... Frellit, and he could have made a mint returning this thing too no doubt. The funny looking horse alien was glaring at him.

"Yes I can talk, and so can you, so talk. What is going on!?" Twilight couldn't keep the frustration out of her voice, she had a headache and then there was everything that she'd been put through... The man would be on the receiving end of all her frustration. She realized that in her outburst her question had been rather vague.

Harry took stock of what to say... He knew what he could and couldn't say. He'd just landed this job too, but he wasn't necessarily an idiot. So he just acted casually spoke frankly and decided to try and play it cool and according to regulation. He doubted he could pull off confident tied up with his own mustache anyway...

How the heck had it done that? He'd have scratched his head were he able over that one.

"I'm going to be up front about this, horse, I'm not allowed to tell you anything. So I'm not going to tell you anything, but every security mech and drone for a dozen sections knows you're here and are likely barreling down the hallway as we speak. Untie me, and I'll make sure you aren't huRRRGG-! mmmff!"

Twilight sighed as she gagged the human with his own ‘stache. She remembered Dr. Helsreich all too well trying to say the same thing to her, so she didn't believe him. "Now look I've been shot at, experimented on and kidnapped against my will. I want some answers and you're going to give them to me, now or later." She heard the man make a muffled noise; she realized irritably that she or he was laughing at her. What the hay is so darn funny about me to these horrible creatures?

A flicker from one of the panels catches Twilight's attention.

Comments

[FastShadow78]

So...when will Twilight be assimilated/terminated? Also stop making us look like idiots.
Unless they are on some strange mental asylum.

[MerlosTheMad]

I won't anything, some characters act certain ways because that. is. their character. Suspension of disbelief is a funny thing, but I've never considered personality traits to be SoD breaking.

I could have had Twilight simply evade them but that wouldn't have been fun to write at all.

[bryan5593]

You know one of the biggest problems with this story, and this is just my opinion, is that you treat humans as scenery. At the risk being called captain obvious, Humans are not trees. We do not just sit still until someone moves us. This would be like treating Spock as though he were part of the wall. I'm not asking for a dynamic human character the likes rarely seen outside of epics, but I would ask that you at least have some dimension.

[MerlosTheMad]

1922093

Excellent, everything is going according to plan then. ^^ Honestly that's exactly what I stated in the author's note and intended. It will change as the story progresses. (I mean, wait, no it won't *shifty eyes* But the feeling of detachment from the humans as an alien influence in the story is precisely the feeling I wanted to evoke. You aren't supposed to like it, or them.

Also pay no attention to FS he's a heckler. As for dynamic so far we've encounter a fat security guard a madman, a mad woman, a mad scientist and two mercenaries, are these really the upstanding examples of humanity you'd want me to flesh out? The entire point again is that Twilight isn't getting lucky with who she's run into. Now stp trying to tease spoilers out of me and read darn you.

[John Tannius]

What I find most amusing about the Neighsayers is that if you had made the humans bug eyed greys, or cold blooded lizard men, they probably wouldn't have batted an eye.

Being new to this genre, I'm not sure how the whole 'humans are evil' thing started but I've been seeing it in other genres going back as far as I can remember. Heck even in Lord of the Rings, one of the earliest examples of modern 'high' fantasy. The Humans were bad because they were driving off the elves etc.

If it makes some of you feel better just think of them as human shaped but they're from another planet called Dirt.

EDIT:

Also, this story doesn't seem to be about humans. It's a story about Twilight Sparkle.

[John Tannius]

I do worry about Twilight's magic. Hopefully she'll recover and it's not damaged in some way. I understand limiting her in some way makes good story sense. You don't want an overpowered protagonist, at least not right away.

Also, poor Fluttershy. I can't think of a worse fate for a nature oriented character than to be cyborgized.