Char and Xavier are the best scientists around. But when they need money, they accept help from a mysterious mare. They know nothing of her dark intentions.
Char Gen and Xavier Priston are Equestria's best scientists. Even though they live in a world where magic is a fact of life, they are still greatly admired for their studies. Their discoveries have benefitted Equestria, as well as other regions. Everything is looking up for them. Until she came to their lives.
Glisten Vial was a mysterious mare. She walked into their laboratory, offering them money for their future projects. And to make sure that they said yes, she offered them the things that they greatly desired. The only thing she asked in return was for them to conduct some experienments for her.
What seemed like a great partnership, soon turned into a nightmare. One failed experiment created terrifying monsters, released all of their test subjects, and destroyed their laboratory. To make things even worse, each test subject and monster want revenge.
========================================= Special thanks to everyone who donated their OC's. They shall be credited as the story progresses.
All was dark. Was it because it was night, or was it because the stallion's eyes weren't open? He tried to open them, but showed resistance. It was like a rickety old door being opened for the first time in centuries. They fought to stay closed. All they wanted was to stay closed for all eternity. As color and light flashed through the cracks in his eyelids, he fought harder. Sight was the best thing that he could imagine then. Fighting for it was absolutely necessary. The eyelids had fought a glorious battle to stay closed, but alas, they had lost. They gave into the stallion’s body actions, and they slowly opened.
The first thing he saw was a bright blue sky. Clouds floated across the sky, showing the slightest inconspicuous movement. He willed his body to stand, but he stopped when he felt a great surge of cold, stabbing pain throughout his body. It was as if there were ten swords in him. He tried to take a look around, but he found that his neck was also refusing to move. Despite the pain, he still moved it from left to right. There were small wooden walls on all four sides of him. The wood looked withered and aged, like it had just been left there to rot as the maggots fed on the wood and the stallion inside.
His body was still in great pain, but he still managed to sit up, despite the cold feeling that his body was giving him. His body cricked and creaked like an old rocking chair. He licked his lips, tasting nothing. He coughed while trying to breath. Mucus was forcing its way out of his throat. He coughed and coughed, clearing his throat and opening it up so he could breathe.
He seemed to be in a testing chamber. It looked and felt familiar to him, down to how the white tiles felt beneath his hooves. There were three frames staring at him from above. Behind it lied unknown things. The ceiling may have a hole through it, but it hid what could have been hiding in the shadows. The frames were missing the high explosion resistant glass. He didn't want to think about what must have happened to break those things.
How do I know this place? he thought.
As he examined the room around him, he looked upon the wall that told a thousand stories. Shadows of ponies burnt onto the wall like a child painted them on the wall. Six shadows of ponies. But eight more shadows of large, obscene monsters that looked like they were screaming in agony and fear stood out from the six regular pony shadows.
Suddenly, he heard voices were heard coming from another room. They sounded anxious, aggravated, and scared all at the same time. He couldn't make out much, but he could hear small bits of two ponies’ conversation. "Take him... it's not... we're gonna get..."
He climbed out of his own tomb, making quite a racket coming out of it. The clop of his hooves made most of the noise, but it was also his grunts of pain. They echoed around the decaying building around him. It was loud enough to stall the two ponies’ conversation.
They were clearly running towards the room he was in. Perhaps they were here looking for somepony, or something else that could be of equal importance. The hoofsteps were rapidly getting louder and louder, and the stallion began thinking to himself. 'What happened to me? Where am I? Who am I?'
The stallion took a look at himself. He saw that he was a greenish grey. He put a hoof up to his hair, feeling the matted and dusty thing on top of his head. He felt his forehead. No horn. He felt his back. Pegasus wings.
The two ponies he heard earlier had finally arrived. One of them looked much younger than the other. The pony appeared to be wearing a gas mask, marked with the symbol of a dragon on it. His body was red, and his jade colored mane was hanging behind him. The pony carried a bag at his/her side. The pony was possibly in his/her teenage years. The other was much taller than the other. She was clearly female, but she looked strong. Her coat was bright blue, and her mane was black. It was long and curly, and it didn't look all too good. The mare didn't look that good either.
"I thought you said the stallion was dead!" the mare shouted at her more than likely son/daughter.
"He is dead! I checked his pulse and I felt nothing." Her voice sounded female as well.
"Next time, feel free to stab him in the head if you're not sure. He's in a coffin for Celestia's sake! He should be dead." The filly said nothing to her mother. She instead grabbed a knife from her bag, and threw said knife at the stallion’s leg.
The impact of the knife made him scream in pain. He stumbled back, and fell into his coffin. Even though his screams were loud, he could hear something in the back of his mind. It was a single word that sounded so familiar. Though he couldn’t hear it, it shattered his ear drums.
‘Reset.’
The stallion saw two scenes. They were both blurry, and hard to make out. The stallion couldn't find out why, but this seemed... familiar. It was like he had seen it once before. Not knowing what he was doing, he decided to try and escape the situation. He didn't know what to call it, or what was even happening. He decided to take a better look at one of them. It didn't matter which. He directed his attention to the one on the left. He squinted, trying to make the image clearer.
The stallion found himself only a few seconds earlier. The mare was scolding the filly for not making sure he was dead. Then came the knife. As if the stallion had practiced this a million times, he skillfully caught the knife, and threw it back at the filly. It hit the eye socket of the gas mask. She fell over, and didn't make another move.
The mare's eyes grew to the size of dinner plates. She didn't do anything but stare at the lifeless body of the filly beside her.
"THAT WAS MY DAUGHTER YOU BUCKER!" She charged at the stallion, using her hind legs to kick him in the face. He fell backwards, and tripped over the casket. She jumped on top of him, and kicked his head.
She bashed his head over and over again, until the stallion blocked her kick, and bucked her off. Both ponies stood up, and faced each other. The mare threw another kick towards the stallion, and knocked out a few teeth. She uppercutted him, and made him fall to the ground.
‘Reset.’
He saw two more scenes, both of which weren't as blurry as last time. The one to his left showed him making the first move, which was kicking her in the face. The other was much worse. He jumped on top of her, and bashed her head with his fists, over and over until her skull was obliterated, pieces of brain matter left on his hooves.
The stallion chose the less violent option. He had already killed somepony, he didn't want to kill another.
Just as he had seen in the vision, the stallion kicked the mare straight in the face, leaving a bruise on her cheek. She fell backwards, not getting back up. She instead looked up at the stallion. "Who are you?" She asked.
The stallion felt something over him. He remembered exactly where he was. It was not a warehouse, it was a testing chamber, and he knew it. He just couldn't remember. He knew of all the evil he was capable of. His path was chosen, and he couldn't go back. He struck the mare in the face, knocking her head to the ground, and cracking her skull. Her last dying breaths were used to form the word "why."
Aegis Strap. No. That's not who he is anymore. Aegis was killed in the experiment. The stallion standing over the dying mare is not an ordinary pony. He's a monster. He is...
My regular schedule for the day had begun, once again. Only this time, I had awoken before my wake-up call. That was provided by my dog, Tailgate. Instead, I was awoken by the sound of running water. One of my helpers had come early.
Before I go any further, let me clarify just one thing. I'm blind. I have been for quite some time. Ever since I was a foal. I wasn't born with it, I just had a little accident. Some ponies blame my now deceased father, but it was my fault it happened. I was the one that was fooling around with his matches that he used for his cigarettes...
I slowly sat up, and took the first steps. After feeling around for any scattered objects, I took my first step towards the door. Rapid footsteps, and the jingle of a leash caught the attention from my ears. I heard the door squeak open, followed by panting from my dog. I felt him jump on my leg, begging me to pet him. Appeasing him, I put my hoof on his head, and began to slowly bring it towards his backside. I repeated this a couple times until he was finally pleased. I set my hoof down for him. I felt him put a leathery item next to my hoof. His leash. After locating the leash, I picked it up with my mouth, and he lead me to the stairs.
The sound of water stopped just as I had reached the stairs. "Char, you're up. I was just deciding what to make you for breakfast," came a female voice.
Her familiar voice was music to my ears. "Good morning, Marigold," I replied. Marigold was a very nice mare, who was more than happy to help me when I needed it. We met through her friend, Applejack. Applejack came to my house because she asked me if I had any tools that she could use. After explaining that I was blind, she apologized for bothering me. I insisted that she stay and chat, but she said she was busy. But she told me that a friend of hers could come down. That's when she volunteered to help me out. Ever since then we've been really good friends. Maybe even more than friends...
"You want scrambled eggs or pancakes?" Marigold asked.
"I'll take the eggs."
"Oh, but you always have eggs. Why not have something different?"
"Because it's easier sticking to a regular schedule." She didn't say anything else, but I could hear her open the fridge and take out some items. After finishing my descent down the staircase, I was directed towards the kitchen table.
I could hear her shuffle around my house. The door opened, and some hoofsteps were heard. "Morning everypony."
"Hey Maggy." I could hear the pegasus mare enter my abode, sitting in the chair across from me.
Maggy's full name is Magnolia, but she likes us to call her Maggy. Like I said before, she's a pegasus. I don't know too much about her, other than the fact that she's really nice. She and Mari are good friends, and they enjoy each others company.
"Looks like it's the girls day," Maggy stated.
"Eeyup!" Marigold said ecstaticly.
I have two other helpers who are stallions. There's an earth pony named White Out. The other helpers call him Tibbles, but I’m not sure why. Tibbles usually comes on Tuesdays. He tells me stories about adventures he’s had, along with plenty of others. He’s told me that he wears a blue... (Celestia, I hate it when they use colors in their sentences.) hat at all times, even when he’s asleep. Apparently, he’ll panic if he loses it.
Then there was Blaze. He's a rather strange stallion. He likes to describes himself as an emotional, smart, and passionate pony. He certainly lives up to those words. Just last week, he started telling me about this math symbol that he learned about. He really got into it, and started speaking like he was in a play. If it was a play, I would have given him a standing ovation. Science was my subject of choice, never a big fan of math, but I still listened to Blaze's lecture about it.
"Breakfast is ready," Marigold said.
"Do you think you can make me some pancakes?" asked Maggy.
"This isn't a restaurant. If you want some, go make them yourself." Maggy didn't say anything in return.
"Could you at least hand me the paper?"
"Sure thing." More hoofsteps. "You make the news again?"
"No, I just want to check out this work section," I could hear the paper crinkling while she opened it.
While they were busy, I tapped on the ground. I captured Tailgate's attention, and he came to me. He nuzzled up to me, which was telling me that he was by my side. Tailgate was given to me a few years back from one of those companies who gave seeing-eye dogs to ponies like me. He's really smart, and he does exactly what I tell him to do.
"Tailgate, go get the box under my bed." After licking me, I heard him run up the stairs, and down the stairs moments later. Tailgate set the box on my lap. "Good boy." I gave him a pat on his head. I could hear his tail hitting the ground repeatedly.
"What'cha got there?" Marigold asked me. "Is that the thing you've been working on?" You could just hear the annoyance in her voice. She thinks that what I've been working on is a waste of time, and I spend all my time on it. But when it's complete, I'll be walking up the steps to claim my Nobel Prize. And when I get it, my speech shall be four words, and four words only. I told you so!
"When that thing doesn't work, don't come crying to me," she scoffed.
Ignoring her, I continued working on it. Though I don't know what it looks like, I know what it's supposed to be and what it's supposed to do. I don't feel like telling you about it just yet.
"Hey Char, there's a job opening," Maggy said, sounding unreasonably excited. "And it's at a science place."
"Really? Read it to me," I asked of her.
Before beginning, she cleared her throat. "Accepting individuals who are willing to be tested on by trustworthy scientists. If interested, please visit the Science Center located ten miles west of Ponyville. No, sorry, read that wrong. Canterlot. Silly me."
I received mixed emotions from the silence that occupied the house. I sensed that Marigold doubted the idea, but felt different. "I think this is a good idea for you," Maggy said.
"How can you possibly think that's a good idea? What if something goes wrong?"
"You don't need to worry about that Mari, I'll be fine. Besides, I'm blind. What's the worst that they could do?" I chuckled at my own little joke. At least to my standards it was. Nopony thought it was funny.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" she asked, showing fear in her tone.
"Of course I'm sure. It'll liven up my boring life!"
Once again, she didn't say anything. "I can't tell you what you can and can't do. If you want this job, then you go ahead and take it."
I smiled. "Why don't we get a move on then?"
"I'll get a taxi cart," Maggi said, getting up from her sitting position.
"Char." I heard Marigold step closer to me. I felt her hoof on my shoulder. "I'm worried about you. I don't like this."
"You've got nothing to worry about. What's the worst that could happen?"
The ride to the Science Center was pleasant to me. It was nice to finally get out of the house after so long. My caretakers came with me, as well as Tailgate. I discovered that I could cancel out any noise, no matter how loud. It proved useful when we arrived.
"YOU ARE THE LOUSIEST TAXI CART DRIVER EVER! You couldn't even pull the cart straight!" Magnolia shouted at our puller.
"It's my first day, gimme a break!" the stallion pulling the cart shouted back. The two continued their little argument, while me and Marigold continued to wander around.
While we were walking, I heard voices coming from several different locations. I soon realized that it was coming from about twenty different foals.
"Did we have fun class?" a feminine voice asked.
"Yes, Miss Cheerilee," came the reply.
I've always loved foals, and I often dreamed of having my own. That would be the day...
"Excuse me, ma'am." Apparently, Marigold had stopped to talk to the mare. "Do you know where they're holding the test subject job interviews?"
"That I do. It's over there, at the stallion holding a sign."
"Why thank you."
"You volunteering?"
"No, it's this stallon I know."
"Ah, your coltfriend?" The silence from that question made my teeth grind. I didn't know what she was about to say, and I kind of didn’t want to know. And what made her come to the conclusion that I was her coltfriend?
“I... uh... we’re...” she stammered.
I heard the mare let out a chuckle, then I heard her walk off. I sensed a little sway in her step, but I couldn't possibly see why she did that.
The noise in the building clouded the sounds of her hoofsteps. It startled me when I realized that she was only an ear away from me. After recovering from my initial shock, we just kept walking. Neither of us said anything. From my perspective, the way to the interview felt like twelve miles.
I felt like an idiot, not saying anything. What I would give to just say something, anything at all. But my voice box just wouldn’t work. I wanted to tell her what a great help she's been, what a good friend she'd been. What she really meant to me...
"W-we're here," she said. "I think."
"What do you see?"
"I see a jittery pegasus."
I waited for her to direct me, but I couldn't hear her move. She may have been just gawking at the pegasus. "Well?"
"Well what?"
"Are we going or not?"
"I'm not going over to her."
"Why not?"
"I don't know what, but I sense something odd about her," she cuddled up to me. "She's looking all over the place and talking to absolutely nopony. She also looks dangerous. She's wearing what looks like a weapon around her hoof."
"You should never be quick to judge. Now let's go." I gave her a little shove, and she started to walk.
"Excuse m-" Marigold was interrupted by a little scream of terror.
"Do not touch me, I have a-a bomb and I intend on using it!" It seemed like the entire building went quiet after that. "Heh heh. I'm just messing around, no need to get worried or anything!"
A minute or two passed before the dust had settled, and everypony went back to their business. "Nopony is going to check me?" the pegasus mare announced. "Okay then."
Marigold took her time before talking to the mare once again. "Do you know where they're holding the interviews for the test subjects?"
I heard nothing but silence for a few seconds. It led me to believe that she was studying Marigold. Maybe it was some kind of security thing, or it was her first day on the job.
"Yeah, that's why I'm out here. I'm supposed to guide them to the waiting room. The other scientists are busy handling some paperwork,” she said. "I think we can go back in there now."
"Great!" I exclaimed. "Let's go."
"Allonsy!"
"I'll see you later, Char," Marigold said.
And so began the rise of Char Gen, and the fall of Equestria’s peace.
The last thing that I wanted was to be woken up early. It was merely a thump on my window, but it was enough to wake me up. It may have been me being startled by the sound, or it could have been the fact that it was loud enough to gain my attention. But even so, my eyes fluttered open.
"Just... one day," I hopped out of bed and rushed to the window where the sound came from. "I WOULD LIKE JUST ONE DAY WHERE I'M NOT AWAKENED EARLY!"
"I'm just doing my job," she said. That “she” was Derpy, the mail pony. Why did it have to be her? You can't just yell at a... what's another word for retard?
"S-sorry, Derpy. Just woke up and all... you know how it is."
"I know that feeling Xavier. Have a good day," And with that, she flew off. She's got a sweet heart. That's something I would look for in a mare.
Looking down, I saw the items that hit my window. Todays mail. It is so disgusting to be awoken by the little things. I decided to shrug it off and get an early start on the morning.
I went from a simple descent down a flight of stairs, to scarfing down some food. While eating, I remembered the mail outside. I didn't really forget about the mail, I just pushed the matter away from my mind until it actually mattered. I was still cognizant of it, but I paid no mind to it.
I opened the front door, and looked down on the pitiful white items. It once saddened me that the ponies who sent me those letters actually put some effort into those letters. They cared enough to go to the trouble of writing the letter, and sending it my way. And the sad part is that I just didn't care.
Nowadays, getting mail made my week.
I picked them up, using my magic. "Bills, hate mail, my mothers house burnt down, test subjects, something about a Glisten Vial, bla bla bla bla," I said out loud, and to nopony in particular. "Why can't I get something that actually matters?"
I discarded the letters where I left the countless others. In the trash can. (I also have to remember to empty that out.) After I did that, I raced over to my closet and grabbed my lab jacket. I would surprise my co-workers by actually showing up early to work.
Oh yeah, I may have forgotten to tell you that I'm a scientist. A pretty good one at that! It's the one thing that I truly love. Just about the greatest thing that's ever happened to me, is what I'd call it!
I couldn't just stand there and wait any longer, I decided to get a move on.
An hour later
I walked through the doors of the science expo and breathed in the familiar smell of test tube contents coming from the laboratory. My home away from home. I felt like dancing.
And just when I was about to take a step into my familiar environment, I was interrupted by... the newbie.
"Xavier!" the pegasus screamed. While doing so, she managed to grasp the attention of everypony within a twenty foot radius. "I need to tell you something impossibly important!"
"What is it Thesis?" Thesis was a new scientist. Well, new to the facility. She told us that she was a scientist back in her previous location. She won't give us any more detail than that. And since we're pretty lazy when it comes to background checks, we hired her without a second thought.
It explains how easy it was to take us down.
"Oh, nothing. I just felt like saying hi." Thesis was a white pegasus mare with a sickly green mane. I always imagined her mother once threw up on her when he was a baby, and Thesis just kept that color as she grew up. Some would call her pretty. I'd call her crazy.
She looked at me with her big blue eyes. Among the many things I noticed about her, I saw that she was wearing a cannon on her top right hoof. The only difference was that this cannon looked more mechanical. More... advanced. I didn't really care about it, it was just something worth mentioning.
I tried to walk pass her, but that's when I noticed something odd about her eyes. It was subtle, but it was definitely something strange. Her eyes went from a normal pony eye to... a completely blue orb. It was so captivating, I didn't even notice that I was ogling at her eyes.
"Uh..." I casually uttered. My vast vocabulary, and that came out of my mouth?
"Yes. Yes. Stare into the endless labyrinth of destruction that is my EYES!" She pressed her face forward, causing me to fall back and sit down on the ground. "Do you hear it?"
"Do I hear what?" I asked.
"The drums."
"Drums?" I don't know why, but I felt... afraid. Terrified. Her unbreaking gaze shattered my soul, breaking it apart, piece by piece.
She didn't speak for a while. She kept staring at me, making feel inferior. I never felt this way before. I never felt... afraid. Not even when my parents disappeared. "There are no drums, stupid. I’m just messing around."
I stared awestruck at her. "What? What?!"
"I was playing a joke!"
"You were fooling with me? That's it?"
Thesis turned to look at me. "That's what I said. Didn't you hear me?" She didn't even lose the smile from her face.
"What? That was just... what?" Nopony was capable of making me feel afraid. The ponies around here have a tendency to try to scare me. They've tried so many times, but I was undeterred. Just when they give up, here comes Thesis, saying a few words that managed to get to me. And mere psychological fear? How?
"Stop talking! We have science that we must attend to!" Thesis shouted. She ran towards the laboratories. She turned around before she disappears into the crowd of coming and going ponies. "Are you just going to sit there all day?"
I called myself insane to follow her. What she did to me was not possible. This was otherworldly. This was... wait.
"Wait!" I called out to her. She had just turned around to go towards the lab when I shouted. Only her head looked back when I called. Her smile still didn't leave her face.
I reached her, and we started to walk together. "Why are you wearing that on your leg?" I asked her.
"For science... you monster." She said the phrase in the manner of a machine.
"What?"
"I'm not going to say it again if you're gonna say 'what' every time I speak."
"Just answer the question," I demanded.
Thesis chuckled. "The other scientists told me to wear it because they wanted to test it out on you."
Yet another attempt to try and scare me. And they've finally done it. Looked like heads were going to roll today. "How! How did they manage to do that?"
"With this." Thesis rose her hoof to show off her cannon-esque boot. "They call this The Fear. Plain and simple. The way this works is that they have to get a DNA sample from the pony that they want to use it on. They insert the sample into this little slot"- Thesis pointed at a little pull out slot at the bottom of the invention- "where you put said sample into it. We managed to get some hair-"
"Where the buck did you get my-" Thesis shoved her hoof in my face.
"Silence your face, I'm not done." She put her hoof back on the ground. "Anyway, once you do that, the pony has to look at this. I mean, take a gander at it. Your mind can't help but look at it.”
“How does it attract attention?”
“I don’t know, some kind of magic mumbo jumbo.” Magic and science together? Two things in life that have become so important to me working together to bring a product that could either benefit Equestria, or bring it down to its knees.
“Now, let’s go. We must science.”
At last, I can do what I do best. My true purpose in life. Science, you beautiful-
"Hey, get in here!" somepony shouted. The voice was gruff at first, but he let out a cough. "We got work to do." His voice morphed into a more... understandable voice.
I realize why he was yelling at me. I was stuck in my trance, and I was heading towards the restrooms instead of the science quarters.
"If he needs to go, I guess he'll go." A female voice said. She rolled her eyes, and leaned up against the wall.
Recovering from my... let's call it my "minds leave of absence", I take some steps back, and walk towards my colleagues.
They all took a little gander at me. "Is it something you ate?" The stallion named 'Deep Injection' asked. Deep Injection was a bit of a snarky pony. He has constant emotional outbursts. He didn't really like to talk to ponies, so he liked to keep to himself. He often thinks by spouting everything
"Alright, that's enough. We better get going," Sweet Leaf, a yellow earth pony with a curly green mare. She's noticeably skinny. There's something about her that seems mysterious. "What are you staring at?" I was ogling again.
I shake my head. "Sorry. Let's just go."
The first thing I did when I arrived at my science quarters was bound around the room with incomprehensible glee bottled up inside of me.
"I think you're a little *too* happy to be here." Deep said.
"Cavort among yourselves! I have a lot of time that I have to make up for," I said as I affectionately stroked the counter tops. I admit that I was being a tad over obsessive about something that didn't matter all that much. This place wouldn't even survive in the future.
I heard Sweet Leaf whisper something to Thesis. "I think we need to call a psychiatrist."
"I have the number."
Sweet Leaf chuckled. "I like you."
"No, really. We meet every Monday at four." She reached inside her lab coat, pulling out a piece of paper and waving it in front of Sweet's face. "See, I am crazy."
Sweet backed up a bit, caught off guard by Thesis's response.
Something crosses my mind. It was something so... unimportant that I didn't manage to pick up when I first got here. "Where's Gaze?"
Gaze was another scientist who I worked with. He was an orange unicorn with a mop for hair. He's also an irresponsible jerk who screws up a lot of my experiments. But I had to put up with him or else I'd be out of a job.
"Somewhere else. Duh," said a new voice.
"Speak of the devil and he doth appear," Sweet Leaf said.
"So... what I miss?
"Not much. Just Xavier trying to make a move on his science facility." Thesis joked. She got the reaction she wanted when everypony started to laugh. I just rolled my eyes. Again, I admit that I was being silly.
"Well... I guess... this is it," Gaze said. Nopony said anything. I had no clue what he was talking about.
"What do you mean 'this is it'?" I asked.
Sweet gave me a confused look. "We're separating today. The Highers are giving us test subjects and are having us work alone for two years."
"What? Since when did they decide to do this?"
"Two weeks ago. We told you, by mail, that this was happening. Don't you read your mail?" Deep asked.
"Of course I don't! You know this."
"Well you should start. We're all getting pretty tired of you coming unprepared," Deep said.
Sweet stepped forward. She reached inside her lab coat pocket and brought out a slip of paper. Handing it to me, she said, "This is the last time we will save your flank. From now on, you're on your own."
I took the paper and put it in my own pocket. Sweet put a hoof on my shoulder. An awkward silence passed between the four of us, until Thesis spoke up.
“Well let’s go, it’s getting quiet and boring!”
I reluctantly walked along with my mates to a testing facility where we tested the explosive experiments, appropriately dubbed, the explosive room. This is the first place we go when we feel like experimenting. The room has a door that only opens by the press of a button behind the blast-proof shield covering the control room.
“How should we go about doing this?” Deep Injection asked. He punched in the code to open the door that lead to the hallway.
“OOH, how about we turn the lights off back here and make ourselves look all dark and mysterious?” Thesis flashed a great big smile. We all began to walk down the hallway that lead to yet another door in which we had to punch in a whole new combination to open a door that lead us to the control room.
“What’s up with you and being mysterious?” Gaze asked.
“How about we line up the test subjects by having them stand on a piece of tape that’ll be down there. Then we’ll-” Deep got interrupted.
“Or, we’ll have them go over a tight-rope! They’ll have to walk over it to prove that they’re compatible!”
“Okay, I think we’ve had enough ideas from you.” Deep said.
“How about-” Sweet shoved a hoof in her mouth.
“How about... you go and direct the test subjects here, while we handle some paperwork.” Sweet suggested.
“We do paperwork?”
“Just go.”
“... ALRIGHT!” she happily trotted off.
Nopony said anything until Gaze spoke up. “So when are we gonna tell security that she’s a changeling?”
“What? Thesis is a changeling?”
“Yeah. You didn’t know that?” Deep asked.
“But... what evidence has led you to believe that she’s-”
“She is a very lousy spy. She keeps changing from a pony to a changeling every time she thinks she’s alone,” Sweet said.
“And she keeps saying “Long live the hive” every now again,” Deep added.
“Plus, she up and told me that she’s a changeling.” Gaze added as well.
“How come nopony told me?”
“We thought you knew. Besides, she spends the most time with you.”
I thought about it, and I realized that I had been spending an unhealthy amount of time with her I don’t know how I didn't notice.
"How come no one has turned her in yet?"
"She makes me laugh," Sweet said. That was the only reason to why she didn't report a changeling? Really? She poses a threat to Equestrian security, could possibly bring down the downfall of this great realm, and Sweet Leaf didn't tell a soul about it because Thesis's sense of humor amused her?
"Is that the reason nopony else has reported her?" I angrily interrogated.
"She has been a good help around the facility," Deep Injection answered.
"And she's... pretty good looking..." Gaze chuckled.
I stared, disapprovingly. I didn't do that because I didn't do that because I liked her, I actually don't in the slightest form, but because that wasn't a very good reason to keep her here. Something had to be done about it, and it apparantly had to be done by me.
But... I was an idiot. I didn't even bother to think twice about it, I just decided to let her stay. “You know what, let’s just call them in here once they’re all in the waiting room,” I suggested. The others agreed.
(Char's POV)
Thesis brought me to what she told was a waiting room. There were other voices in here. Some male and some female. They all seemed like they’re having a good time.
“Make yourself at home, we’re gonna get things all nice a tidy before we-” the pegasus mare that guided me here is interrupted by a loud voice.
“Would the volunteers please follow Thesis, the pegasus, to the explosive room.”
Thesis kind of chuckled. “Gee, Char, I bring you here, and now I have to take you away.” I said nothing, but I nodded my head. "Hey, you want a walking stick or something? Maybe some sunglasses?"
"I'll be fine. All I really need are my four hooves. Which are working just fine." She didn't say anything back to me.
"Alright, come with me everypony, please make sure you've put your name on the sheet by the door before you leave." The sound of speech was replaced by the sound of rustling and hoofsteps. "Hey you, could you come and help out Char."
"Can't he walk by himself?" the stallion asked.
"He's, uh... blind."
"Oh... sure."
Thesis's presence left me and a new one came to take her place. "Hey there... guy. How are you doin'?" he asked. "I'm Aegis. Aegis Strap."
They brought us to the door of a room which they dubbed "The Explosives Room."
"Okay, so what we're going to do is call you in individually and have you stand on the piece of tape that stretches from one end of the room to another," a male voice instructed.
"What happened to the tight-rope idea?" Thesis interjected.
"Anyways... we will call you in alphabetical order by last name. So once you're called, please stand on the tape."
"And if possible, could one or two of you do a flip?"
"Thesis!"
"What? Wouldn't that be cool?"
A growl was what I heard next.
(Xavier POV)
Deep read the names off the list that he had picked up at the waiting room. He put them all in alphabetical order. "Alright... Blaze?"
I watched as an earth stallion walked into the room. He was followed by another earth stallion, whose movements could only be described as animal. Deep was about to say something, but Blaze sent him back in the hall. That stallion had his tongue sticking out and seemed to be panting. That stallion tried to follow Blaze to the line, but Blaze gave him a command to stay put. Strange.
"Coy, Thunder?" the stallion that was with Blaze entered the room and started to wander around trying to find the voice that he just heard.
Blaze tapped a hoof on the ground Thunder went to his side and nuzzled against Blaze. Cute.
"Darkness, Deep?"
"Deep." Thesis said in her deepest voice. Deep Darkness walked onto the tape, not doing anything special that would catch my eye. Bland.
"Drop, Lemon?" she stepped out of line, a bullying swagger in her step and a large smile on her face. Boring.
"Gen, Char."
"That guys blind." Thesis whispered to Deep.
"Oh, hey Glory, do you mind?" Morning trotted to Char and directed him to his place on the tape. This particular one, I had nothing to say about. I don't know why, I just didn't.
"Glory, Morning?" she barely got back to where she was, and now she had to go back. She flashed an awkward smile. Bland.
"Kainsman, Itake." Itake stepped onto the tape, stepping lightly on his right foreleg, but not on his left foreleg. Interesting.
"Latet, Ferrum?" he did what everypony else before him did. Eh.
"Strap, Aegis." he proudly stepped onto the tape, giving us a smile. I don't like this guy.
"Sprinkles, Sugar." Thesis threw a hoof in his mouth.
"What did you just say?" she wore a serious face.
"Uhh... Sugar Sprinkles." Deep turned to me, uncertain of what was going on.
Thesis took the microphone from Deep, still sporting that serious look of hers. She pressed the microphone to her lips and uttered, "... SUGAR SPRINKLES, GET IN HERE NOW!" Thesis ran up to the glass and pressed her face against.
Sugar walked inside slowly, looking just as confused as we were. Thesis began flapping her wings as she started to float up. Her face was still pressed up to the glass, so it smeared her saliva on the glass. She waved to Sugar Sprinkles, and Sugar awkwardly waved back.
Deep grabbed the microphone from Thesis. "Okay, now please-"
Thesis grabbed the microphone again. "I really like your name," she whispered. Sugar began laughing to herself.
"Please, give th-" Before he could finish, three unexpected others entered the room. One was navy blue with old, gray hair. The other two were wearing dark clothing that matched each other's.
They dragged him inside as he was struggling to break loose.
"That was years ago!" the navy blue one yelled.
"Hey, you're the one who volunteered!"
"I was drunk, how was I supposed to know what I was doing? And plus, why now?"
"Don't ask me, ask the Highers.
The dark clothing ones pushed him to the ground and left, shutting the door behind them. The blue one got up and brushed himself off. He looked around.
It was my turn to grab the microphone. "Who are you?"
"Percival. I was doing something important when these two maniacs burst through the door and said that I needed to go with them. I asked them why and they said that I volunteered to be a test subject at some "fancy-shmancy" science facility," Percival began pacing back and forth from one end of the room to the other. "And to prove that I did, they brought out a parchment that said "I agree to being a test subject" written in my hand-writing."
"I think I read about you in this folder about past test subjects. You are indeed in there." Deep said.
"No. I shouldn't be here. I need to-"
"Yeah yeah yeah, just stand on the tape please." he angrily stepped onto it. The other test subjects stared at him. Thunder Coy tried to walk over to him, but Blaze held him back. Thunder sat his flank down and stamped his hooves on the ground, all the while panting.
"Does anypony have anything else to say before we distribute the nine of you with the four us?" Deep annoyingly asked. Nopony said anything.
"'Bout time."
"Okay, NOW we will divide the ten of you." The test subjects to be were lying down on the ground. It had been a long wait for them.
Sweet Leaf stepped up to the microphone. "Thunder Coy and Blaze please follow me."
Drat! I wanted Thunder. But at least there's still Itake.
The four ponies walked out of the room. Then Deep Injection stepped up. "Ferrum Latet and Su-" Thesis gave him the scariest look that any of us had ever seen. "And... Itake Kainsman, can you please follow me."
Are you bucking kidding me? Now there's nopony desirable.
Gaze stepped up. "Morning Glory and Lemon Drop, you know what to do." they as well walked out.
Thesis, of course, couldn't hold her enthusiasm in any longer, so she just yelled it out without the microphone. "Sugar Sprinkles, you, me... and I guess Deep Darkness. Okay, you need to get a little more color. You're kind of depressing." Deep looked at himself and looked back at Thesis, making an angry face.
And only two stallions left. Whoopie.
"It's pretty obvious who you're going with, so just meet me outside."
I watched as Aegis led Char out the door. Perhaps it won't be so bad. Maybe this ccan work out quite well. What's the worst that could happen?
Half a minute ago, I realized that I murdered two ponies. I keep telling myself that it was only for self defense, but another part of me tells me that it didn't matter whether is protecting myself from getting myself in a position where I couldn't do anything, I still killed them. No. It was just self-defense. There. It's justified. No harm done to anypony.
Well...
"What do I do now?" I ask myself outloud.
Perhaps I could look around this place to try and find an explanation. What happened to me? What happened to this place? Where did this "power" come from? Who were those two that I killed? Why were they wearing gas masks? How long has it really been?
"There's got to be something around here that explains what happened."
I looked around, leaving no stone unturned. There turned out to be more than I expected.
There wasn't anything of importance that I could find. With all of the papers around, there would have been a damage report, or some convenient newspaper lying on the ground somewhere. But I found nothing of the sort.
That was until I saw a file lying on the ground, either hiding in plain sight, or not hiding at all.
The file looks rather large. There seemed to be at least fifty pages in there. There couldn't have been that many test subjects.
Picking it up, I open it up to the first page. It showed a picture of a tall, older looking gentlecolt, frowning at the camera. There was nothing else written down. I turned to the next page.
It contained basic information of the test subject who was depicted on the last page. His name was Percival. Wasn't that the pony who was dragged in? I kept reading on.
Lulamoon, Percival Test Subject Age: [NOT GIVEN] Status: Crazed
After that, there was a file of his life from beginning to current day. I didn't feel like reading all that, so I decided to skim through the thing.
I turn the page and see a much younger stallion. I turned the page again.
Blaze Test Subject Age: Twenty Status: Alive
I've got to go faster. Coy, Thunder, eighteen to nineteen years of age, status: Alive. Darkness, Deep, age: twenty-seven, pegasus, status: unknown. Drop, Lemon/Elictricka, unicorn, status: captivity. Glory, Morning, status: alive, Kainsman,Itake, status: In captivity. Latet, Ferrum, status: In captivity, Sprinkles, Sugar, status: alive. St-
I stop when I see my name.
'Strap, Aegis, twenty-nine years of age, status: deceased.' my eyes grow wide, and I begin to feel sick. I dropped the folder, scared for my life. 'What the hay happened?'
------------------------------------------------------- For the past couple of hours, I've been wandering around this place. I have no particular reason, I just... wander. Each room I pass has a little something interesting about it. Like photos of other ponies, writings on the wall, blood splattered on the walls, corpses laying in the beds, and broken glass strewn across the ground.
One particular room had the words, "HE LIVES" scrawled on every single wall, several times over. Is it talking about me?
When I entered another room, I had the need to fall asleep in one of those blood stained beds, but I also had the need to look around some more. I'm really tired, but I've had enough time to sleep. I've been dead after all.
"They couldn't have gone far. Maybe they're still here." came a male voice.
I jumped.
"You better be right. I'm really worried about 'em." came a female voice.
Could they be talking about the mother and daughter from earlier? Perhaps I should make myself scarce. They could discover their bodies. Maybe I'll make up some kind of a story. Yeah, I could say that I woke up and found them like that. O-
Before I could finish my thought, I was suddenly struck in the face, which made me fall to the ground.
Whoever hit me looked like he just met somepony famous. "H-h-hey, I found somebody!" he called out.
"You found what?” came another voice. This one was female.
“I found a living, breathing pony.” a smile grew wide on his face.
How dare this peasant attack me! I have the powers of a God, and he dares lay a single hoof on me?! He must pay!
Where did that come from?
I through an uppercut, which made painful contact with his chin. He staggered backwards as a result. I got up quickly and ran to attack him, but he pulled out a knife. I slowed down and began backing away as he started to charge me. He back me into a room and began to slash at me. I managed to dodge each one, but was unprepared when he managed to stab one of my hooves. He bucked me in the face, and I fell to the ground in the fetal position.
The stallion was breathing heavily as his partner stepped into the room. She had a dirty face, much like her partners. "The hay did you do that for?"
"He attacked me, and I defended myself."
As they bickered, I looked around for some kind of weapon. I saw a shard of glass, tons of them in fact. I went to pick it up, but something stopped me. From the back of my mind, there was a word. Yes. I thought. Now is the perfect-
D...D...D...
What? "Come on. Reset. Reset. Reset." I said quietly.
"Well what should we do with him?" the woman demanded.
"... We could take him back to the camp?"
"How about we just leave him here and let him die?"
"No, we can't do that. Look at him."
"If he tried to attack you, then that must mean he's a subject. We already know how much of a success it was when we caught Percival."
"Yes, but-"
"Enough. Let's just go."
"Re*cough*set. Reset. Res*cough*et." I said, getting louder and louder with each word, coughing as I did.
"What's he doing?"
"Reset Reset Reset RESET!" I spat the word with enough venom to make the both of them step back a bit.
Neither of them said a word. I turned to them, continuing to chant the word. "Reset, Reset, Reset, Reset, Re-"
"That's... that's not possible, that's not supposed to be possible." the man said.
"We have to kill him right now."
"You DARE touch me-" before any of us could react, there was a sudden loud bang that came out of nowhere.
The room shook violently, making us hold onto anything we could for dear life. As the room shook, something rolled inside, eventually rolling into one of the walls. It's contents sprayed out. All of us covered our mouths. Amidst the gas, a tall, dark figure stepped inside the room, slamming the door behind him.
The only that could be said about him was that he was tall. Really tall.
He used his magic to grab the stallion and mare. Their struggles to become free themselves from his grasp were pointless. He bang their heads together, letting their bodies fall to the ground. He kicked them off to the side of the room. As he stepped closer and closer to me, I backed away. Reset, come on, reset reset re-
I tripped over something, and I fell to the ground. My legs started to become weaker and weaker, so I couldn't stand up. I scooted back towards another wall, knowing all too well that I wasn't going to escape him. He stepped behind me and shoved his hoof in my mouth.
I tried to pull it out, but he was to strong for me. He brought me up to all fours and started to drag me to the door, keeping his hoof in my mouth. He jiggled the knob, but the door wouldn't budge. He slammed his body against it.
I wanted to try it one last time. "Reset, *cough* reset, re-"
"That's not gonna do you much good. If it didn't work earlier, it ain't gonna work now!" he scolded. His voice was raspy and high. Higher than I expected it to be.
"What-" I coughed again, much more violently than the last few times. Despite this, he kept his firm grasp as I persisted my fight against him. I knew that he was stronger than me in several different ways. But that didn't stop me.
He slammed into the door again, managing to bust the door wide open.
My vision began to get blurry. "Who..." I coughed again.
"If you value your own life, you keep your trap shut. You need those last few breaths."
A numb feeling washed over both of my legs. I couldn't use them to walk, and this "tall man" I've temporarily named him that, took notice. "You can't die on me right now, you're too important!"
I stopped fighting him. My body went limp, and I let it drop. It was becoming a great struggle to breathe. "No no no no, I promised I'd bring you back alive!"
He let me go, and fell like a rag doll. "Not now!"
I took my final breath of air. My vision began to blur, and the tall stallion's voice was starting to disappear, as well as everything else. Before the darkness took my vision, the tall stallion began to shout. I could barely hear it.
In the back of my mind, I heard a voice. Not the tall stallion's, but a more... non-existent voice. This wasn't like the other voice. The other voice made itself known to me, like it wanted to be heard. This one called out to me softly, like it was afraid to talk out loud.
The word came without a warning. With each syllable, my world became clearer. My head was spinning and I felt sick. Consequences of dying, I guess.
I found myself in a very bright room. I sat right in the middle of it. Florescent lights on thin lights dangled on strings swung back and forth. I glanced them for a second, and I had no need to look away. ‘Is this what the afterlife is like?’
I don’t know how long I was staring at those lights. I had no sense of time in here. The lights that kept me company were fading away into nothingness, leaving me in the darkness that I’ve learned to fear.
‘Is this my own mind? Am I afraid of myself?’
I found it a struggle to breath and the walls were closing in on me. I couldn’t cry out to anyone. There was no one around to cry out to. Although I couldn’t breathe, I felt a word slide out of my mouth. It came out like I wasn’t struggling to breathe. “Hopeless.
I woke up again, though I wasn’t sure if I really woke up or if I was going into another dream. If what that was was a dream.
Instead of a white room with many bright lights, it was dark with only a small lightbulb. And I wasn’t alone, thank Celestia for that! The other figure in the room was rather large and wore a hood to protect his identity. He didn’t seem to notice me as I looked around the room.
I tried to get off the table that I woke up on, but there came a massive pain each of my hooves. I grimace, and let out a cry. That’s when he took notice me.
“I wouldn’t move right now.” I recognized that voice. It was The Tall Stallion’s. What was he doing here?
I didn’t notice until then. I recognized his voice. Not from when he saved me, but way back. It seemed like that was only days ago. But how long was it truly?
“Gaze?”
“Very good!” I took off his cloak. His brown mane was longer than it was when I last saw it. “It seems that your memories didn’t burn you alive! That’s a very good sign!” he started laughing, though I didn’t find the humor. He stowed away his laugh. “Pardon me. You’re probably hungry.”
I nodded.
“Them come with me. We’ve prepared a feast for you in the dining room. There you’ll meet the others.”
“The others?”
“Yeah. They can’t wait to see you.”
Gaze took me on a grand tour of where we were. And believe it or not, Gaze and the “others” were occupying Canterlot Castle.
“I bet you didn’t expect to be shown around Canterlot Castle by moi.” I wasn’t listening to him. I was busy marveling at the beautiful (although derelict) castle. Banners that were hanging on the wall were now torn up, and debris covered the ground. But there was a path leading us to our destination, as well as paths that branched off the one we were standing on. It’s either they’re lazy or the debris is too difficult to remove. The first one sounds more likely.
I realized what he asked moments later. “I didn’t expect to be in Canterlot castle.” I truly never thought a privilege as great as this would ever be available to me. I felt holy just standing in the main hall. Even if it was in poor shape.
“You gonna keep stopping?” I looked to see Gaze standing by two double doors. Probably the dining room. “We’re here!”
He kicked open the double doors while his eyes were closed. He showed his hoof around. He didn’t even realize it wasn’t the dining room.
“That’s the kitchen.” I pointed out. He turned to look in the room, and realized his mistake. I didn’t feel sorry for laughing at him.
“I knew that,” he lied. “I was just saying... we’re here... at the kitchen. I never said we were going to the dining room.”
“Yes you did.”
“Buck you.” he said calmly, not changing anything about his face or the way he said it.
He took the walk of shame to the kitchen, as I followed him, on a completely different path. The path of enjoyment.
He reached another double door. This time there were voices from behind it. That was definitely the dining room. “Okay. Now we-”
The door was shoved open, pushing Gaze against the wall. The pony that stood at the doorway was Lemon Drop. Or how she liked to be addressed: Elektricka.
“Oi, Gaze, we need some more water in here!” I nearly gasped as I noticed the noticeable change. Her skin had grown over her eyes. Blood veins were clearly visible, and they were protruding from the blank space where her eyes should have been. And yet she acted like she could see everything like they weren't. “Oh, who are you?”
Gaze stepped from behind the door, letting out quiet obscenities. “Did you hear me, Gaze?” Electricka asked.
“Yeah yeah yeah.”
“Oh, and who is this?”
“This is our newcomer. I saved his life from the Scroungers.”
“And by you, you mean...” she raised an eyebrow.
“Me. I saved him.”
She stared at him and started laughing. Laughing a... rather raspy laugh. “Okay, sure. And Thorn is a good spy.”
“Thank you!”
Wait. That voice. “Isn't that Thesis?”
Electricka turned to me, looking completely bewildered. “Aegis? Aegis Strap, is that you?” It took me a second to nod. Her eyes burned deep into my own. Though I’m not sure she knew that. “How are you still alive!?”
I was still trying to recover from it all, so Gaze took it upon himself to answer the question himself. “Hey, what does it matter? He’s here and breathing!”
I thought it was very important to know why I was still alive. I was about to tell him this, but he walked inside and dragged me along with him. “Hey everypony, look at this sight for sore eyes.” I could hear the angry sigh of Electricka from behind me.
The crowd stared at me for a brief moment. I think they were trying to register in their minds who I was, because I don’t really look like myself anymore. I was once a man, not a murderer. I had a great life, a wonderful girlfriend, and a nice roof over my head. I’ve heard of people losing everything, but I never thought I would be one of them.
“Aegis!” they all cried out in unison. There seemed to be over twenty ponies in there. There was somepony with two horns instead of one, a few with their mouths drooping to the ground, a red and black alicorn with a horn and wings (who didn’t look all to happy to see me), and some... awfully grotesque figures.
The ponies in the room stood up, practically running over to him in an avalanche of unfamiliar faces and familiar faces. Though, their appearances changed just as much as his. He got acquainted with some of the ponies he didn’t know, and rebuilt his friendship with his test subject companions. Turns out, they all had a little disability here and there.
Amidst the faces, he noticed somepony was missing. I passed it off as nothing, but after a while I definitely noticed somepony missing. Everypony was making a ruckus, making it so I couldn’t even hear myself think. “Hey! Everypony... Hey!”
I jumped onto the table, but I slipped and fell to the floor head first, cracking my skull into several pieces. I bled onto the floor while nopony said a single word.
‘Reset’
I grabbed a nail lying on the floor, and shoved it into my head.
‘Reset’
I stayed completely still. Everypony was still acting like they’re in a bar (despite the fact that there was nothing that strong in sight). I was utterly terrified, and it shown on my face. I was glad that nopony noticed it. The power shouldn’t be doing that, but it’s been doing weirder things.
If I don’t find a way to get their attention, I’ll never find out who’s missing. I guess it’s no big deal, but it’ll kill me if I don’t find out soon.
I look around the room. They seem to think I’m something special. I could easily get their attention. I could have Gaze quiet the room down, or I could make them be quiet if I attack one of them. That’ll make some heads turn.
Gaze was hanging out with Electricka in the corner of the room. There was also the red and black stallion I saw earlier. He had something around his neck, along with a chain hooked onto it. The thing on his neck looked like it was digging right into it. He had something on him that looked like it was keeping him from talking, and his eyes were very bloodshot red, like he’s been rubbing his eyes for days on end. He was breathing in and out like he had been running for miles.
He looked up at me, and I could hear his teeth grinding against each other in hatred. He tried to stand, but Gaze pulled him back to the ground. Gaze reached for a glass bottle that was lying on the table, and smashed it over the red and black pony’s head. He fell back to the ground. I swear he could’ve screamed if he wanted to, but what came out of his mouth wasn’t a scream, but a raspy scream.
“Sorry,” Gaze apologized, “You have to be really aggressive with Ferrum here.”
“That’s Ferrum? Ferrum Latet? What happened to him?” he looked like he was in so much pain.
“The scientists tried this thing on him after you,” he looked up at me, a sudden look on his face, like the face somepony will make if they were trying to avoid talking about a secret. “...disappeared.”
I gave him a death stare. Electricka slowly scooted away to join the affairs of the others. “What do you mean disappeared?”
He didn’t say anything. Until he tried to revert back to the subject at hand. “They tried this formula on him that was supposed to make him into an alicorn. Which worked, but-”
“What do you mean when you say disappeared?”
He looked around, like he was trying to find some reason to get himself out of this. “Can... can I tell you later?”
“Fine. But I need to ask you a question first.”
“Like I said, I’ll tell you-”
“Where is Char Gen.”
The look on his face changed. Like he had a flash-back from a war. “...I think it’s time I fill you in on what’s been happening around here.”
I looked around for somepony who seemed easy to overthrow. I looked around until I saw a stallion who sat alone in a corner. He was completely black, from top to bottom, but I could clearly see his eyes. They were pure white. Not blind white, but... just white, whiter than snow. His eyes looked like they were protruding from a mask he was possibly wearing, but I found no indication that he was wearing a mask, nor any indication of clothing.
I walked over to him, trying to act like I was heading to somepony else. It was hard to tell, but I swore, his eyes followed me. And that’s when I attacked.
I threw my hoof towards the back of his head, which made a painful connection to it. Like I expected, he didn’t expect it, so he staggered forward. I had all eyes on me. Now was the time. “Now that I have your attention-” I was tackled to the ground.
The pure black stallion reached into his pocket and took out a knife. He hesitated for a second. I tried shoved him off of me, but he pinned my hooves to the ground and head-butted me. He jumped off of me and watched me as I rolled around on the ground clutching my head. “It’s dishonorable to kick a stallion while he’s down,” as he spoke, no noise came out of his mouth. But I know that’s what he said.
‘Re-
He kicked me in the ribs, and kept at it. I huddled into a ball to keep him from kicking me. “But I’ll have to make an exception this time."
He offered me his hoof to get me on my feet. Why?! You won! You don’t need to show me your sympathy!
I didn’t take his hoof. I was perfectly capable of standing on my own. As I stood, but I felt a great pain surging through me. Note: accept help.
“Deep Darkness. We’ve met before.”
“Yeah, I remember you now.”
We hoofed bump. Everypony’s eyes were on me still. Gaze walked over to me and put a hoof on my shoulder. “That was great. But try not to start fights. It’s bad for your image.” Gaze said.
“You don’t tell me what I shouldn’t do.” I spat the word at him. He didn’t step back, like I expected him to.
He shrugged. “Sorry.”
“I need to ask a question.”
“Shoot.”
I scanned my brain for the name I was looking for. “Where is Char Gen?”
Gaze confident, if not smug look faded away. I could tell that he was hiding some kind of secret. “I think it’s time you learned what happened while you were gone.”
Nopony saw the changeling slink away. Quite frankly, no pony had even cared enough when they noticed the empty seat when they fell in the chair when they started laughing and fell over. Thesis had meandered elsewhere to distance from the eavesdropping eyes and ears in the dining room. You can't make a secret call without these things hindering you.
When she saw no pony around and heard nothing but silence, she reached inside her jacket and pulled out a ring that could fit on a grown stallion's leg. Feeling the sides of the ring, she found the correct button out of the twelve others. After clicking it, a hologram of Xavier Priston popped up.
“This better be important,” Xavier said angrily.
“You’re not gonna believe this. He’s still alive.” Thesis blurted.
“Who do you mean?”
“Aegis. He’s still alive.”
Xavier said nothing. He stared at Thesis, thinking she was playing some kind of joke on him. This certainly wasn’t the first time this had happened. “If you think this is funny-”
“No really. He’s alive... But he’s changed.”
“Specify.”
“The project worked. He’s the Quantum Stallion now.’
“...Get back here as fast as you can. Bring the data you’ve gathered and meet Hoodwink and I back at the facility. We have a plan to carry out.”
“Are you sure that we want to do it this quickly. It won’t work.”
"Oh, he's reading something that somepony gave him."
Aegis and I sat in silence for a couple minutes, making casual conversation while he did so.
"Are you from around here?" I asked.
"No. I come from across the country. I've been taking up jobs since I moved out of my parents place ten years ago. How about you?
"I've lived down in Ponyville for years. Haven't gone many places on my own. But when I heard about this, I jumped right out of my seat."
"I hear ya. I was about as excited as a foal in a candy store."
"That into science, huh?"
Aegis didn't speak for a little bit. I couldn't tell if it was a hard question for him or if it was hard to explain. "...not exactly. You see-"
"I can't."
The room fell silent for an uncomfortable amount of time. Xavier even stopped walking around the room. The silence mixed with the darkness, making I thought that I had somehow died in an instant. The feeling disappeared when Xavier spoke up.
"I wanted to make the first blind joke."
Aegis and I laughed.
"Okay, shut it you two. I'm seriousing right now."
"I'm just reading the procedures and guidelines. You both signed the waiver, right?"
"I did. I don't know about Char."
"I couldn't read it. I wonder why." I joked.
"Can't you just let me make one, just one, blind joke? I mean, come on!"
I shrugged.
"Well, we have forms in braille, for some reason. Apparently, we're allowed to test on blind folk. This has happened before."
"What happened to him?"
"Let's just say that he ended up seeing out of three eyes."
"That's awesome."
Xavier made a disapproving noise.
"Okay, I'm required to read this to you."
"What are we, school children?" Aegis asked.
Xavier cleared his throat. "Welcome to Glass House Industries!" he said in a Kindergarden teacher like way. "We are dedicated to doing science. Science science science!"
"Is that what it's saying?" I asked.
"Basically. Anyways, in the event that one of you should die in the name of science, we will be held accountable and your family members, friends, acquaintances, or pets-"
"Pets?"
"No, not really. Anyways, ponies will be informed and we will pay for the funeral. It is okay to leave at this point if you so wish. But, if you choose to stay, you may not leave unless you are fired, or excused-"
"Or dead," I whispered to Aegis. He chuckled.
"-from testing. Do you choose to stay?"
I waited for Aegis to speak first. I already knew the answer long before he even asked the question. "I'm staying. My family needs the money. And so do I. I'm a bit selfish."
"Wait, so you're selfish, but you're here to help your family, too?" Xavier asked.
"I'm inconsistent, too."
I elbowed Aegis in the ribs. But I missed. I can't see. "Real funny, Aegis."
"What about you, Mr. Can't see?"
"Hey, that's insensitive."
"Didn't you just make a joke about you being blind? Twice?" Aegis asked me.
"It's only funny when I do it."
Xavier made another disapproving noise. "Now, I just need you two to sign this, which says that you know the risks of doing this, but you don't really care."
I heard the rustles of paper. Particularly in front of me. "Here are the braille papers. Please sign at the bottom of the page." Xavier placed the papers in my hooves.
"Yeah, I see it."
"Okay, that one wasn't even funny."
"It could be funny if you looked at it in a new light."
"You must be really fun at parties."
I couldn't hold in my laughter. I started laughing like a madstallion, and Aegis and Xavier only stood in their places and uncomfortably watched me as I laughed and jested at my own blindness. If there was an award for making ponies uncomfortable, I think I would definitely get it.
Then I'd lick the first pony I'd see.
Oh, right.
"...So you gonna do something to us, or not?" Aegis asked.
"Not today. I have to get some money from the Highers, then I'll have to get my experiment approved, and then I can break out my evil scientist laugh."
"Does that mean we're free to go?" I asked.
"Yes it does. Be sure to yell your loved ones that you might not be able to come back for a few days, or... at all. Please cherish this time with your loved ones and have a great- I'm just reading this off the paper, this isn't me at all."
"Okay, then. When do you want us to come back?" I asked.
"A week from now. Most everypony else would have started already, but I like being fashionably late."
"Okay. I'll just sign this and we'll get out of your way."
"Wait, there is one thing that I could have one of you guys try. Let me go get it." Xavier walked away in a hurry.
"What is it?" Aegis asked.
"Just a thing. With stuff in it. That will maybe do things to you. If we're lucky."
"Can you be specific?"
"Now where's the fun with that?"
"There's none in either," I stated.
"Just want to suck the fun out of everything," Xavier grumbled to himself. "Ah, here it is! Drink up Char."
"Wait, why do I have to drink it."
"Payback for all of those blind jokes."
"Aegis, mind opening it for me?"
"Not a problem." I could here a cork being removed from the bottle. I assumed it was in some kind of vial, though it could have been in something else.
"Here." He placed it in my hoof.
I touched it to my vial and downed it as quickly as I could.
"Good. Go ahead and keep the vial or throw it away. Remember, a week from now at 1:00 P.M. Don't be late," he reminded us.
"How come we can't be fashionably late?" Aegis asked. "It's not like anypony really cares about the test subjects."
"Because shut up! That's why."
"How are you planning on getting home?" Aegis asked me on the way out.
"...We didn't plan that far," I admitted. How could we not have thought about that? That should have been the first thing that crossed everypony's mind.
"Shoot. Well, I can't just leave you here. How about I take you to wherever you need to go."
"No, I don't think that will be necessary."
"Do you have a plan to get home?"
"...No."
"Alright, then I'll go with you. Where do you live again?"
"Ponyville."
"Ponyville, right. How did you manage to get all the way over here on your own?"
"I didn't. I had some... help from a couple of friends. They took me here via train, then we got here with a taxi cart. One of my friends went off on the taxi-cart guy."
"Okay. I was planning on getting a motel if I had to, but going to Ponyville sounds cheaper."
"Fantastic! Hopefully my helpers won't be too upset."
"I hope not. Where else would I stay if I didn't have you?"
I smiled. Aegis sounds like a great guy. If only I could see him. As much as I liked to joke about my own blindness, I actually really hate this. Why did I have to be such an idiot back then? Daddy's cigars are not to be touched, mother told me. Stay away from them. Now look at me.
"Everything okay? You look like-"
"I'm fine. Let's... let's get to the train before it leaves."
I slept the entire way. The gentle hum of the train managed to knock me out about an hour into the journey. I didn't know about Aegis, though. He seemed like he was about ready to hit the hay after I told him about everyone I knew.
I guess I can be a bit boring sometimes.
I awoke just in time to be awoken by the train squealing to a stop. Chatter broke out among the passengers as they readied themselves to get off.
"Char, we're here," Aegis said to me.
I managed to locate the ground. Which the train happily helped me to do. I found myself getting up from my chair, then suddenly getting a carpet to the face.
"Oh crap, are you okay."
"Breathing. I'm still breathing, so I must be fine," I said, managing to place one hoof firmly on the ground.
"Good. I can't just show up at your house and expect them to let me in."
"If you tempted them with the correct things, I'm sure they'd let you do anything." I finally managed to stand myself up without losing any balance.
But as soon as I got ahold of myself, I nearly fell right over again. In fact, I almost screamed. But instead of screaming, I gasped in horror. Or in disbelief. I don't even know what emotion came out of my mouth, but something came out.
"What's wrong?"
"I... I can see."
"What?"
"I can see. I still see darkness, but... I can see the... outlines of things. I can-"
I looked up. I could see Aegis right in front of me. He was looking over me, like I was some strange creature.
All of the colors, locked away were now suddenly free. I can barely describe how I felt about this. Disbelief flashed across my face, I'm sure, but I think happiness and fear showed up for a little bit as well.
"So you're saying that... you can see again?"
"Yes... no. Maybe. Look, I can see objects."
"Uh-huh."
"I can see their... outlines, I guess. Like... that chair!" I pointed a hoof to the chair I was just sitting in. "I can see the outside of it, as if it was a coloring book drawing."
"That's crazy. Wait, do you think that the thing Xavier gave you had something to do with it?"
"Oh my Celestia, I think you're right! The next time I see him, he's going to get one of the most awkward hugs he has ever received. I'll see to it myself!"
"I don't even know what to say."
"Nothing has to be said. I can give you an awkward hug too!"
"No no, I don't think that-"
"Too late!" I jumped at his teal body and wrapped my hooves around him. I didn't care who was watching or what way ponies would take this, I just needed to hug somepony.
"Okay, hug over. Now let's get home so I can finally see what Tailgate looks like!" I jumped out of the train in a flash.
"Hey, wait up!"
In my time of being blind, I had to memorize everything I walked to when I went outside. And that wasn't a lot. I only went outside if I had to temporarily relocate or I had to do something somewhere, like help out at the school by helping out with a science class. The point is, I knew my way from the train to my own home. Though, it was harder to get there, seeing (ha!) that I actually had stuff to look at now. I didn't even know what my house looked like. But I think I distinguish it. Hopefully. If not, I'll have to pray that one of my helpers is at my house taking care of Tailgate.
Seventy-two paces to the train, then I turn left. Then forty paces forward then twenty paces when I take a right.
"For a former blind pony, you're awfully fast," Aegis shouted from behind me.
"I guess that's what happens when you're beyond euphoric!" I gleefully shouted. "Okay, I think we're there!"
"What makes you-" Aegis skidded to a stop, nearly tripping and getting a nasty burn on his face from all of the dirt.
I looked up at the house that lay before me. The lawn was unkempt, the house looked like nopony had lived in it for years, and the hay roof was about to fall off. It sounded just like my house.
I noticed a bright, yellow outline of a window on the second story. I think I saw the shadow of a many wearing a hat walking around.
I ran up to the door and pounded on it a couple times. Almost instantly, I heard the familiar sound of Tailgate barking his way down stairs.
"Who's there?"
"Tibbles!"
"Tibbles?"
The door opened, and I was embraced by a warm light from the kitchen.
"Char, I thought you weren't going to be home for a while."
"I have to go back next week. I came back with the help of my fellow test subject here."
"Hi." Aegis struggled to let out another word. "Just... let me... catch my breath. Char... outran me."
"You outran that guy? How did you even see where you were going?"
"Well... It's a long story. But I'll be happy to tell it to you over a nice cup of juice. Come on in, Aegis. My humble abode is right here."
"So... you can see me, but you can't see me entirely."
"Yes. I can see the outline of you like you were in a coloring book."
"That's... that's amazing. It's a miracle!"
"I'm the happiest I've ever been!"
"Char, you can see us now. You can see us all!"
Tibbles and I shared an embrace.
"Hey, Aegis! You want a drink?" Tibbles asked Aegis, who had collapsed in my living room.
"Yes please. Do you mind bringing it over here, I don't think my legs will allow me to move anymore. Celestia, I'm out of shape." Tibbles stood up, and grabbed another glass from a cupboard. "I can't wait to tell the others about this! They'll be absolutely elated."
"I'm absolutely elated!"
"I know!" Tibbles poured the last of the juice carton into the cup. He walked into the living room. I heard the clink of the glass on wood.
"Thanks... Tibbles?"
"Yes. You have a problem with my name?"
"No, not at all. Just... strange."
Tibbles walked out of the living room and sat back down at my dining room table. "Just imagine what Mari will say."
I didn't even think about Mari. "I don't know what she'll say."
"She'll be happy for you. They all will. Especially Mari. She'll be the happiest for you."
The thought of Mari made me smile. For the first time, I'll be able to look at her face. I'll behold her beauty, I'll finally be able to tell her how beautiful she is. It doesn't matter what she looked like, she'll always look like an angel to me. Even if I don't know what she looks like.
Little did I know about the consequences my new sight would bring me.
