The Machine

by ADRNEL

Chapter XXVIII~The Creature~

Chapter XXVIII

---

Drowning, that's all Adam could feel as his head was plunged into the ice cold water by his captures. "WHERE ARE THOSE MARES MISTER GRAY!" yelled his torturer as he used his magic to hold the human's head down into the ice water filled tub.

The torturer pulled the human's head out. "Where are they?" he snarled. Adam just looked at his caribou torturer with disdain.

"I've told you countless times!" Adam yelled. "I DON'T KNOW!"

"You're trying my patience Mister Gray...you know you could be put to death for helping those stupid mares with their cause by purposely withholding information!"

"You caribou are nothing but sexist monsters!" Adam spat some water at his torturer's face. "BUCK YOU!"

The caribou pushed the human to the caribou guards. "Take him back to his cell and keep him in there until I give the word."

"Yes, sir." they saluted as they dragged the human out the door.

---

Adam was thrown back to his cell and locked in. The human had no idea how long he had been a captive of the caribou, but judging from his hair and full beard, it has been over a month. He was worried about his friends, especially Fluttershy, he worried about their status is this strange new alternate universe he was sent here to. A place were mares are nothing but low status sex slaves in the eyes of the male caribou. It sickened him.

"How are you enjoying your stay here Adam?" asked a very familiar yet unwanted voice.

"Leave me alone Discord!" snarled the human, he wanted him to go away and leave his head.

"Why? You look like you could use the company." he stepped out of the darkness.

"What kind of sick twisted universe is this Discord? Why do such creatures exist?"

"Because they can and they do...that's how the universe works Adam, if it can exist...it will exist."

"I don't care how crappy this world is...I refuse to do what you want and end my life...I refuse to let you break me!" the human exclaimed in anger.

"Oh please, you'll be broken LONG before I get to break you." Discord gave a sinister laugh.

"Then why did you protect me from the brainwashing?" asked the human.

"Because...I wanted to see you resist a little while longer...still having fun seeing you struggle." he smirked.

"Remind me Discord, what will ending my life accomplish?"

"All of your friends will be sent back to their regular universe...free from slavery and mutilation, and no longer living their lives as sex toilets." Discord chuckled a bit from the last word.

"And me?" the human raised an eyebrow.

"Dead." he answered bluntly.

Adam gave a loud frustrated groan. "Why can't I kill myself! Why am I afraid to self-murder!"

"Because you are a coward, that's why."

Suddenly, the cell door opened and a caribou guard walked in. "Time for you re-education Mister Gray."

Adam looked around to see Discord gone, he just sighed, got up, and quietly followed the guard out the door.

---

Adam was forcibly sat down on a metal chair in front of a metal table, in front of him was the head guard of the prison the human was held in.

"You have been a very tough nut to crack Adam...you managed to resist our torture, you resisted our brainwashing...twice...and you repeatedly refused to treat the mares and cum dumpsters as they should be." related the head guard.

Adam refused to speak.

"Well...all of that doesn't matter because we WILL figure out where those six mares are hiding along with the rest of the resistance...we WILL find them...with or without your co-operation Adam." he snarled. "Why are you sticking up for them? Treating them as equals, they're no good for anything but sex, it's the biological purpose to be sub-servant slaves to the males...you're a male...this should be your fantasy!"

"Not if it involves mutilation and lobotomies." mumbled Adam under his breath.

"You are seriously trying our patience you know...but no matter, we no longer need you." he turns to his fellow guards. "Take him outside...he's going to go on a little trip with us."

"Yes sir." the caribou guards dragged Adam out of the room.

---

Adam found himself dragged outside, he hasn't seen the sun in almost a month since his imprisonment began. He was roughly pushed into a mare pulled windowless prison wagon. They slammed the door behind him and he was in darkness again.

Adam was afraid for his life, he had no idea what was planned for him next. All he could do was contemplate how his life got to this point. "Do it for her..." he mumbled to himself.

Suddenly, the door opens and two guards dragged him out of the wagon. The human suddenly found himself in front of a large palace and quickly taken to the front plaza of it. The guards pushed him to the concrete floor of the plaza as they drew their weapons and surrounded him.

"MEN! ATTENTION!" yelled a soldier. All of the guards did as told with several still watching over the human. Adam was confused as he tried to stand up. A caribou guard quickly kicked him hard on the knees forcing Adam back to the floor. "You will remain on your knees for our glorious leader human!"

Then, another group of guards run in with another prisoner, a pony with a black bag on its head and wings strapped against its body. The pony then got thrown to the floor like a sandbag before the guards that brought the pony in got into attention. Another guard walked in and roughly removed the bag off the prisoner.

Adam was stunned on who it was. "F-Fluttershy?" the guard quickly kicked the human on the stomach. "No talking human!" Adam bend over in pain.

Fluttershy looked worse for wear, bags under her eyes, mane and tail a frazzled mess and bruises on her body. She said nothing as she quickly accepted what was in store for her and to avoid being beaten, but she was more concerned with Adam, she hasn't saw him in over a month.

"ALL HAIL OUR GLORIOUS LEADER!" yelled a soldier as the palace entrance opened and a small entourage marched in along with a dour looking caribou who wore a simple guard uniform yet still the center of attention. He and his entourage marched towards Adam and Fluttershy. They both stayed quiet.

"So, this is the human I have heard so much about." stated the caribou leader. "He'll come in use for our cause. He must be very strong to resist the brainwashing." he turned to Fluttershy. "What is the mare doing here?"

"Sir, that's one of the leaders of the resistance, the element of kindness." explained a guard to his boss. "She was the one that recommended you give the human better treatment as your chief scientist in exchange for her being one of your concubines."

"Did you give her the full physical exam as required?"

"She's 100% disease free and extremely fertile."

"Excellent." said the leader in a dry monotone voice.

"She even brought you this gift of gems." another guard brought in a box filled with gemstones.

Adam was stunned, why would Fluttershy do this? To save him? He had no idea what was going on.

"What information did you get out of her?" asked the leader.

"She'll be willing to share with you all information about the resistance, but only if you accept Adam was your chief scientist and accept the box of gems."

"Hmmm..." he thought about it.

As the leader was in deep thought, the human turned to Fluttershy, her sights fixed on the box of gems, she looks like she had something else planned.

"Take the mare to the pedestal over there and pluck out all of her feathers, she's becoming my new concubine."

"Yes sir." saluted a guard as he took the box, two other guards dragged Fluttershy to a nearby cement pedestal at the other end of the plaza, she didn't put up a fight at all.

"Wait! Shy!"

Fluttershy said nothing as she was dragged away. The human was escorted with the leader and box of gems. The guards dragged the mare to the pedestal and forcibly pinned her down on it. "Commence the plucking!"

They forcibly spread her wings but one of the guard notices something hidden in the wing. "Wait...what's this?" he pulled out a small metal probe that blinked yellow but quickly flashed red. "Huh?!"

"You shouldn't have removed that." explained Fluttershy with a smirk. "Compliments of the resistance."

The probe suddenly pulsated red. The leader and Adam saw this, but the human suddenly realized something. "The box of gems!"

A loud explosion rock the plaza as a pressure wave caused Adam to be pushed across the floor. The box of gems actually hid a bomb that immediately killed the guard who held it and caused severe injury to the leader who stood next to him.

The whole crowd of soldiers panicked not knowing if their leader was alive or not. Adam used the opportunity to get up and run to Fluttershy. "Shy!"

"Adam! Let's go!" Fluttershy ran to the corner of the plaza that held several vehicles. The human ran after her, he saw the mare climb on to what appeared to be a vehicle with a bag attached across the bottom. Fluttershy quickly got the engine started just as the guards started to fire at them with matchlock rifles. The machine started to move just as Adam climbed on. "Hold on!" she warned to Adam as they crashed through the main gate that was about to close.

Several caribou guards got on their motorized bicycles and hovering craft behind them. "You planned this whole thing out?!" yelled a stunned human. Fluttershy quickly grabbed him and kisses him deeply on the lips in response.

"Yup, now keep them busy while I try to loose them." she ordered as she focused on the drive across the muddy pine forest landscape.

Adam looked around the craft and found a cache of matchlock rifles behind them. "That'll do." he said to himself.

---

"Sir, are you okay?" said one caribou to his leader. The leader slowly got back up, half of his face bloody from the shards of gems embedded in his face.

"I'm fine." he was greatly annoyed and getting angry. "Now be a good sniper Sasha and go after them, I'll meet you there." he ordered to his most competent and most loyal guard.

"They will pay for what the resistance has done to you." Sasha saluted and marched off with his modified rifle.

"That human will pay for what he has done to my face and for denying me a new toy!" the leader growled.

---

The chase continued across the forest landscape. Adam and Fluttershy getting fired upon by a group of twenty guards on motorized bicycles and hover crafts chasing after them.

Adam got his matchlock loaded and started to aim. "Try to hold still Shy, I never used these weapons before so I don't know how accurate they are."

Fluttershy tried to drive as steady as she could as the caribou guards started to catch up. Adam fired but was blown back by the recoil, but managed to hit a motorized bicycle with two guards on it, knocking them out.

"Woah..." exclaimed a stunned human from the recoil. "What a kick."

At the same time, Sasha raced along in the hills above on his all-terrain motorized bicycle, and the leader was far behind the group on his own vehicle trying to catch up.

Fluttershy saw a large fork in the road. "Oh my...which one is north again?!" she had no idea, she was instructed to go north, but forgot which path lead to there. "Adam! Do you know which way is north?!"

Adam was trying to load. "I'm a bit busy at the moment." he dodged another shot.

"There's a fork in the road!"

The human turned to see that the mare was right. "Get out to the mountains, we might loose them in the terrain!" he quickly instructed. Fluttershy quickly did as told and turned hard to the left. It caused the human to fall over and off the side of the hovercraft along with his matchlock.

"Adam!" exclaimed Fluttershy with shock.

Luckily, Adam held on tight along the side as he tried to not touch the ground that sped by beneath him. Soon, a pair of guards on their bike came at the human with a long javelin. "Oh shit!" he dodged the javelin as it poked the airbag he was holding on to instead. Adam quickly grabbed the pole and pushed it at them, which resulted in the pair loosing control of their bike and falling off.

Another pair reached the hovercraft and climbed on-board from their bike. They sneaked up behind Fluttershy with their swords at the ready. One was about to swing but was quickly tackled by Adam who jumped on his back. "Hey! Get off!" yelled the guard. His partner tried to stab at the human, but Fluttershy jerked the steering to cause him to loose his balance and his sword. "Oof!"

The leader reached the chase, his face really determined to catch the fugitives, he rode along his guard's hovercraft. "Everyone stand down! Leave them to me!" he ordered his remaining guards still on the chase.

"But sir?"

"Leave them to me!" he growled as he jumped on board the hovercraft. The large bloody wound on the right side of his face made him look even more menacing. He forcibly took the wheel. "Now get off, this is my fight!" he pointed his sword at the guards on the vehicle. All the guards reluctantly did as told and jumped off into the muddy ground.

The terrain got steeper as light snow started to fall, they were defiantly in the mountains. Adam was still fighting off the two guards, he used everything he learned from his bare-knuckle fighting days at university to get the upper hand. He managed to use a jab and an uppercut on one of them.

Fluttershy at wheel looked at the rear-view mirror to see another hovercraft gaining on them. "We have company Adam!"

"Who?" he asked as he hit a guard on the chin.

"The big bad!"

One of the guards laughed. "You're in trouble now!" he and his partner quickly jumped off to let their leader take care of them himself.

"We need to loose him!" yelled Adam as he saw the other hovercraft reach them.

"I'm going as fast as I can!"

Little did they knew, but they passed a sign that read "Dead end ahead at monastery."

Suddenly, the leader's craft forcibly bumped into the fugitive's craft from behind. He got out of his seat and jumped on the other craft without care. "Here is Dainn!"

Fluttershy quickly saw a wooden gate ahead. "Adam! Gate!"

"Floor it!" the human ordered.

"But-"

"FLOOR IT!"

The pegasus mare did as told and floored the gas knocking Adam and Dainn over from the sudden force. The human got up only to be met by a punch from Dainn. "That was for my face!"

Adam regained his footing and tried to punch back, but Dainn kept dodging and punching back. "That was for depriving me of my new toy!"

Dainn was about to punch again but was interrupted when the hovercraft he was in crashed through a large wooden gate and into the grounds of a monastery. Many caribou dressed in robes and ran in different directions to dodge the run away craft as it headed straight to a cliff-side bell tower.

"JUMP!" yelled Fluttershy as she bailed. She flew to the air as she saw the craft plunge down the cliff below, the bell in the tower tolled.

"Oh no...Adam!" the pegasus was shocked, she didn't see Adam jump off or on the ground. She landed on the edge of the cliff in front of the tolling bell. "ADAM!"

"Uh...help!" her ears perked up when she heard Adam's voice. She quickly began to look around. "ADAM!"

"Up here!" he yelled again. "Get me down!"

Fluttershy looked up at the bell to see Adam holding on to the bell's clapper. His body hitting against the mouth. "Loud!"

The pegasus mare flew up and got Adam back down on the ground. They both looked at each other with awe. "Y-you okay Adam?" she asked as she nervously stuttered.

Adam quickly grabbed Fluttershy and passionately kissed her on the lips. To Fluttershy, the kiss felt magical as her body felt like it was melting in his arms, her eyes went to the back of her head.

Adam broke the kiss only to get an "Eep." from the mare.

"I thought I would never see you again." he admitted to her. "I'm sorry I ever cheated on you."

"It's okay Adam." she hugged back. "I'm just glad you're safe now."

Adam smiled. "Come on Shy, we have a long walk to your base." he got up to stand. Fluttershy nodded in agreement.

"OH NO YOU DON'T!" they heard someone scream to them. The couple turned around to see a muddy and bloody Dainn with his sword. "DIE!" he quickly charged at them.

Adam quickly looked around and saw another sword on the ground. He grabbed it and charged full course at Dainn. Fluttershy shielded her eyes in fear as both foes got ready to strike.

But the human did something different, he instead got on his back and slid down on the muddy slick ground, and pointed his sword up at the caribou. But by the time Dainn found out what the human was about to do, it was too late to stop as his own forward moment failed as he felt piercing metal stab through his chest and heart.

Both Dainn and Adam stayed frozen in their positions as Dainn's blood dripped down along the sword. Dainn opened his mouth, stunned, and dropping his sword on to the muddy ground.

"No...fair..." was all Dainn said before he finally collapsed in stunned silence, dead.

Adam got up from the ground, muddy, bruised and bloody, he breathed hard. "Come on Shy, we're done here." was all the human said before he turned around to walk to what's left of the gate. "At least it's over now."

"Oh...I wouldn't say that." said a new voice in Adam's mind. He stopped in his tracks, he knows that voice all to well.

Suddenly, a shot rang followed by the sound of something dropping to the floor. Adam stood there stunned.

Some distance away, Sasha looked down the barrel of his weapon with smug satisfaction.

Adam slowly turned around to see the worst sight of his life...

Fluttershy was dead.

Adam's screams echoed across the mountains and valley as the human cradled the mare's lifeless body in his arms. Light snow fell as the caribou monks looked on in silence.

Sasha packed his weapon up and calmly walked back to base, he planned on snipping Adam next, but from what he saw, he would be doing him a favor instead, he hates doing his potential victims favors, so he thought it would cause more damage by keeping the human alive to suffer his recent loss.

Adam was catatonic as the entire world faded away into darkness around him.

Suddenly, he felt a burning sensation on his arms. Adam screamed in pain. The burning grew more intense. "DISCORD!"

---

"Adam? Adam?" yelled an old Scottish voice. "Adam?"

The human slowly opened his eyes to see an unexpected sight. "Mmm...Mrs. Tuppence?" his voice weakly croaked.

"Oh thank God he's alive!" she exclaimed really relieved. Adam weakly looked down to see his left arm and torso bandaged.

"What...happened...?" he asked the old housekeeper, confused.

"The machine you were using almost killed you!" she said to Adam.

"Killed me?"

"It malfunctioned and caught fire, but luckily I saw the smoke and saved you." she explained.

Adam was even more confused. Was his trip on the machine nothing but a dream? Was he back to reality? What about Discord?

"Mmmm...what is...the...date...?" he asked.

"If you must know, it is August the twenty-second."

"Of what year...?"

"Eighteen hundred and ninety-nine."

Adam was in complete shock. "I'm...home...?"

Sunday, August 22, 1899

Comments

[Gizmo Hibiki]

Got balls putting Fall of Equestria content in you're story. I salute your courage.