Sweat and Iron

by The Psychopath

Rosy's inner memories

The night reigned supreme here, and Luna was concentrated on her wards surrounding the complex. She couldn't concentrate on anything else or the wards would break. More than once did a citizen come and try to enter the housing complex to make off with a unicorn. In the halls illuminated by the moonlight, a rather thin pony was sneaking through. She had just gotten out of Pinkie Pie's clutches while sleeping on the floor in a large dormitory, and decided that now was the time to do as told. Through this darkened corridor with windows on both ends, the pony sneaked into a room on the right and gently closed the door to prevent any sounds to be made. This place had no lights, so this mysterious stranger searched the walls. A click was heard as the small area was illuminated, showing that it was a simple stall for the nightly emergencies.

Rosy was the sneaker. Her heart was pounding and her coat was wet with sweat. Even if she was caught, she would still be killed, so there was no reason to not convey to the orders of her mission. She tapped her collar and lowered the volume of the output. Right in front of her muzzle appeared the mask worn by Doctor.

"About time. I've only just made a breakthrough into a second changeling hive type. The new queen seems a bit too violent, however, although the red carvings on her skin might indicate that this is the warrior variant I was looking for." he put a hand to his 'chin'.

Rosy flinched back as half of a soldier was thrown against the window behind Doctor.

"Enough about that. What do you have to report for your location? Are the three alicorns there?"

"Yes. They're b-Three?"Rosy suddenly became confused.

"*sigh*YES! There are THREE of them. The third one demonstrated some forms of protective measures that will be quite useful for shielding ourselves when trouble arises. If she isn't with you, then she is still at the tundra. Where are you, if you even remember what direction you went in?"

"We went north, to a place called Secantor Island. It's heavily fortified and dangerous."

"...Is this a joke? They only use spars and--"

"Th-They have technology here! They even made some sort of robot invulnerable to magic!"

Rosy began to tremble with fear. She had been punished several times for interrupting Doctor.

"Hm. Really? Interesting. We'll need to assess the situation, then. A place where technology is used? I have seen some demonstrations presented by my colleagues, although they seem to have a bizarre level of it. Very well. Continue monitoring them and report any important information."

"Okay."

The display disappeared, and Rosy slowly inched her way outside. Nopony had noticed her. It was barely any form of relief for her, but she trucked on to return to her previous emplacement. She hoped nopony noticed anything about her no matter what it was.

---

The morning sun was being raised once more by Celestia who was straining herself to do so. It wasn't often she had to do such a thing in a remote area. The only one's up, besides her, were Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie, and a bloodshot Rosy. Her eyes looked awful. The four ponies were equally yawning in the main room, trying to fight their fatigue caused by the comfort the tan colored carpet floor was giving them, although Rosy seemed to be shaking like crazy and her eyes constantly jolted left and right.

"Rosy. Please. Calm yourself."Celestia beckoned.

"I can't. They'll geet me and stab me and impale me and--'

"No! they won't. I already told you!" Pinkie grabbed Rosy and looked at her straight in the eyes "We're here. I'm here. Nopony is gonna hurt my friends."

The mare stared at her assailant, silent for a moment, then heaved a heavy sigh and began to shake less, her tremors more related to cold than fear. Celestia looked at Twilight with a stern glare and spoke to the group.

"What I'm about to perform is ancient magic. It is also a dangerous one. Before you ask, let me explain. I will enter Rosy's mind and view everything from her point of view. I will see and feel what she went through."

"But that sounds just like any old memory reading spell, Princess." Twilight spoke.

"Twilight, this is more complicated than that. Have you ever wanted to break your point of memory and see at other angles what had happened at another point in time in another place at that specific moment?"

The unicorn nodded.

"That's what you are going to do. We must learn about our enemy. I will go through the pain that Rosy went through, and you will scope through the entirety of the base of those horrendous demons." the princess grit her teeth.

"Won't they notice me?"

"No. It is a memory. Nothing can notice you. It is like a contained time jump."

"Okay."

"W...Will I have to sleep? Will it h-hurt?" Rosy stuttered.

"No. Do not worry. it will be like you have blinked your eyes. Are you ready?"

There was a moment of silence, but Pinkie Pie gave the mare a boost in confidence with a faint smile and a shoulder tap.

"Alright. Let's get this over with."

Celestia nodded in return while Rosy squeezed her eyes shut and prepared for whatever moment was to come. Placing her horn against the trembling pony's head, Celestia's horn glowed brightly and searched through this mare's memories.

"I have to find the beginning of this all...Almost there...What the? Perfect! TWILIGHT; press your horn against her head and use your magic. Quickly!"

"Okay!"

Twilight did just as told, and suddenly, she found herself plummeting through a dark chasm.

"What in Equestria just happened?! OOMF!"

Twilight's fall ended with a hard landing on a solid surface. Groaning in pain and rubbing her head, the unicorn readjusted herself and looked around. This place wasn't anything like Ponyville. The buildings seemed bigger than they should have, and the streets weren't made of stone. No. They were made of some strange black substance covered in white paintings. Markings of some sort. Several houses lined the area, but the one Twilight was concentrated on was the one in front of her.

It was a simple building with a single window for a small second floor, three steps to reach the entrance. A roof lined with black shingles, a window jutting forward near the entrance door, a driveway to place one's wagon...Twilight wasn't exactly sure how she knew that word. However, in front of this house was a strange black wagon with nothing pulling it. It seemed to bend downwards near the middle, but push back up towards the front. The rear was the biggest portion, allowing the stocking of many things, and the wheels looked like that were divided into two with yellow lights glowing from in-between.

Looking closer, twilight saw the same armored guards from before pulling what looked a hairless ape in a pink dress getting out to talk to the armored creatures. She couldn't hear what they were saying, but it sounded convincing enough to lure her near the wagon, then suddenly pull her towards the rear. She began to protest, but there was no point. Once the doors opened, some strange claws lashed out and dragged her in, slamming the doors shut as they did so. Before the mare could do anything, the memory became black again, and she was now in what looked like a surgery room. The same moveable lamp as in any surgeon's operating table, the same table, and the same stand to place the patient. However, this one was struggling, and the surgeons around all wore masks and goggles that covered up their faces and heads, yet they also had green-ish surgeon's outfits. On the table that held the tools sat many a strange device, and along the counters lining the walls, several containers with strange substances in them. Many that made Twilight quake.

Several strange metallic arms extended from the ceiling, several of them being pointed or having saw-like instruments. One of them was being lowered at the moment by one of the surgeons. The patient was that same women from before, and she was crying with fear. That creature was calmly lowering the arm and telling her to shush, as he wouldn't be able to concentrate on his work. Looking more closely, the end of the arm burst open into miniature saws and clamps meant to hold whatever apart. The unicorn could only watch as the refusals of the creature became louder and louder until they turned into blood-curdling screams of pain and death. Twilight ran out of the room right after the first gushes of red came forth. This was partly due to what Celestia told her, but mostly due to her sudden sickness...and her need to vomit, which she did, rightly so.

Looking up from her "rainbow vomit", Twilight saw that the corridors in the place were absolutely gigantic, yet they were exclusively made of a black metal, and the many lights above did very little to illuminate these areas. However, they did help Twilight get a view at a directional sign.

"I can't believe the princess is going through all that just to let me see more about these...things. I don't even know here I am. I can't even read this sign. It's too dark. Umm...How about left?"

Twilight quickly scampered to the chosen direction and pushed through the door, revealing where all the guards and scientists were. They all had every segment of their bodies covered, and there were bizarre creatures in cages trying to get out. More than once were they zapped or beaten. Some even looked like misshapen dogs. The unicorn quickly realized that this was a place of transit, indicated by the receptionist counter and the many elevators of various sizes scattered around.

Trying her luck, Twilight pushed through the crowd and jumped into a very large elevator. She had to wait, but two guards in armored suits walked into the transport and pushed one of the many buttons. Up the box went, to the unknown resources of this place. The unicorn's stress was reaching its maximum between these two gigantic creatures. Yet, judging from what she had seen so far with the reception, these things were well organized and had some strange technology at their disposal. They even had a complex transport system within this place, and judging by the number of floors available for the elevator, numbering in the hundreds, Twilight wasn't going to easily find what she was looking for...or was she?

As the doors slid open, the two armored behemoths thundered out of their emplacement and walked down some stairs to the immediate right of the elevator. This place smelled...strange. It was filled to the brim with disease and sickness. Something was not right about this place. Many black corridors led to other doors, yet there was too much randomness to be had with the choosing of paths.

"Come on, Twilight. Think! Where could you go to learn more about them? Hm?"

There were sounds of whining as well as a deep laughter heard from somewhere in a corridor to the left. Using this as a sign, Twilight galloped as fast as she could to the source. Three hallways later, she had found the source. It was a large, silver-plated wall and doors at the end of a smaller path. Knowing that she risked nothing, and that her influencing objects here meant that nothing would cause changes in the "acting scene", the unicorn quickly walked to this gigantic armored portal.

"How do I get in? Oh! This is so scary. I just hope I find the solution soon so we can get out of here quickly. Let's see...wait. I don't affect anything here...which means I'm like a ghost! If I'm right, then I can walk through this door. If I'm wrong...well...I'm going to have an awful headache. I hope I don't get the headache." the unicorn took a deep breath. "Here goes nothing." she spoke with more uncertainty than conviction.

Closing her eyes, the unicorn charged horn fist into the door, and, surprisingly, she passed through, only stopping after she felt some form of wind pass along her body. Tapping her body, Twilight gave a silent cheer, although that joy was lost the second she looked around. Several guards were tossing what looked like ponies into chutes against the walls. This place had millions of jars and vials with labels showing "DNA #" followed by initials. So many different colors along with schematics and charts depicting body analysis and some showing those of strange bipedal creatures. Several operating tables were strewn about the room, but what shocked Twilight the most, was that there were three more scientists of various heights, hands behind their backs, staring down at what looked like a combination between Celestia and a dragon. Twilight's mouthed gaped open and only small gasps came out.

This creature was staring at its hooves in shock and crying ever so silently, much to the disregard of the three scientists around. This Celesti-ragon's rear became dragon-esque with scales and a reptilian tail of a red color. A whole side of her face took on draco-like attributes, what with the fanged teeth and slitted pupil, as well as larges patches of fur swapped for red scales. Looking closer, Twilight could see that this creature's voice box had been torn out, proof of this being a gaping dent in her throat along with several stitch lines.

"Remove yourselves from my passage." a strangely deep, yet echoing, voice ordered.

The three scientists stepped aside, and six mechanical arms ending in quad-claws slammed into the floor. Attached to them was a shortened creature who seemed to have some sort of breathing apparatus on its whole body.

"This experiment has been deemed a failure, sir." one of the scientists reported.

"In what way?" the newcomer asked.

"She has not been showing any advantages of both sides of genealogy. No increased telekinetic capabilities, no kinesis of any kind, in-fact, and no durability or stamina of a dragon." another added.

"*sigh* Then our final attempt to make dragons viable was a failure. We were so close to it too! I was hoping to atleast find the only successful experiment and bring him back, but he's gone forever in whatever dimension we left him, along with the mutated dogs we experimented on."

"I still don't understand why we dumped them on an abandoned playground in the middle of a forest."

"Early days calls for early methods. Now then, what to do with you? So many things to test, yet we cannot anymore with you. I haven't relived the old days. Might as well do it now!"

The dragon-lestia tried to scream "no", but only air came out. With no vocal cords to resonate, the air coming out produced no sounds. She tried to flee towards Twilight, and the unicorn would be forever marked by the face of pure fear that was shown to her, followed by the dragging. The horrible dragging. The three other scientists simply looked at the scene with the same position of disinterest, yet Twilight's heart was about to give out. She cried and teared as she saw the poor creature get torn apart and ripped to shreds by the mechanical arms. When it was finally over, the room was painted in a vivid red.

"Ahhhh. It brings me back to when it was extremely difficult to experiment. We had so few successes. Oh well. Toss these pieces into incinerator. I'm closing the dragon project indefinitely."

"Yes, sir." a scientist answered.

"Now bring in the next subject. I wish to try a new dna sample sent by Doctor. He has been making breakthroughs, or so he says."

"Right."

"HOLD ON!"

Everyone in the room stopped their actions, even the guards who only stood in place, and stared at the "disabled" scientist. His goggles seemed to be frantically changing color, from everyone's viewpoint. Twilight began to worry. Her instinct was telling her to run, yet her fear ordered her to stay put. Suddenly, this monster locked onto Twilight's position and continued to follow her even when she moved slightly in any direction.

"There's a spatial anomaly...there." he pointed with one of the claws.

"What? But how? How can he know? This is a memory! Is Rosy doing this?"

Twilight hopped out of the way of an arm jolting towards her and slamming into the ground, followed by another strike, and yet another.

"I'll catch it. I'll even experiment on the shields of its brethren if I have to."

Twilight was confused by what the creature meant, but she was sure there was something it was seeing as well as her, yet she couldn't ponder more as she was send back into the real world, where Celestia screamed so loud the windows around broke, calling everypony to the main room. The princess looked horrified, as demonstrated by her demented face and shrunken pupils, as well as the erratic jolts coming from her body.

"PRINCESS!" everypony but Rosy shouted.

The mare fled from fear of what would happen, yet Pinkie didn't notice as she was too concentrated on the princess to pay attention to the actions. Luna urged everypony to move as she held her sister's head in her forelegs.

"What happened? Speak, sister."

"So...much...pain and torment...so many...innocents...they have no purpose? Why...why do they do such things...why?! They...they made us...by using others...they experimented with...our dna and...mutated others into...into us. They...they tortured us...them...an tossed the...the failures out like...like they were garbage...trash...useless and disposable...anypony captured is...is disposable to further their inexistent goals!"

"Twilight!"

"Y-YES?!"

"What happened? Tell me!"

"..."

Twilight's eyes watered as she remembered the scene. She couldn't bear to hold it in, so she had to speak. It was in everypony's best interest.

"I..."

Comments

[The Psychopath]

2279340 It's a "point of view" because Twilight saw everything from her memory. Also, she didn't die. She was just experimented on. That thing torn apart wasn't her.

[The Psychopath]

2279361 Did you not recall what was told before? Twilight was allowed to break apart from her own memory and roam about in the "expanded" memory. Thus, she was not seen.

[Kill this account]

You know. I hope that fat fuck of a scientist gets cancer, has a knife shoved up his ass, while getting fishing hooks through his goggles into his eye sockets. Then has to sit through the pain of cancer while being starved and forced to do actual manual labor like a real person should. And slowly dies an old man with no family, friends or great life accomplishments. He just gets left in a pile of dog shit.

[The Psychopath]

2283831 The new guy or Doctor?

[Paladin Redflare]

I just knew that they were somehow going to find Twilight EVEN THOUGH IT'S A MEMORY... or something. They experiment, just to experiment? They're all crazy then. Uhhh, more of this, it's getting better with each chapter although it seems pretty wierd... they should be preparing for war, not trying to determine why it's happening.

[The Psychopath]

2294406 One cannot attack a wall with a sword. They also have to convince Scilian to help them. Even if he does, they don't know the technological level of the invaders.

[Paladin Redflare]

2297283 Their tech level is 1 million.

[The Psychopath]

2298245 Only two percent power level?

[Paladin Redflare]

2298257 One million seems like a big number to me.

[The Psychopath]

2298262 You didn't get the joke then.

[Paladin Redflare]

2302192 Ya think? Lololololol