Chapter 1
Equestria
Canterlot
Royal Dining Hall
7:36 AM
Princess Celestia sat quietly picking over her food, while her sister watched from the opposite end. Her eyes hollow yet judging her harshly, in an attempt to avoid looking at her directly, the sun princess lifted the newspaper to fill her vision. A black and white photo of a small filly caught her eye along with the headline. “Miracle Filly, Sweetie Pie Turns 3!”, despite the joyous sounding title, Photo Finish’s old saying, “pictures are worth a thousand words”, showed something different. A small foal trapped within a glass bubble, having to watch the world through a respirator mask.
“It’s destroying them you know.” Luna finally spoke while eyeing her sister and the paper.
Sighing Celestia responded. “Destroying who sister?” She frowned deeply.
“Who do you think? Pinkie Pie and Cheese were so overjoyed when they found out she would be having their first grandfoal. Now they must watch her suffer through tempered glass, unable to touch the vary thing their daughter wanted most. Because of you.” She said the last part with malice that made the sun princesses heart crack.
“I offered them the finest medical care in Equestria, it was their choice to take it or not sister.” She spared back, but the taste was bitter in her mouth, even with the pastry she bit into the pastry.
“After giving them a little speech about how much hope their little filly has brought Equestria after she survived so much longer than the others. How could they possibly refuse?” Luna glared.
“I spoke the truth.” Celestia responded but couldn’t make it sound any less empty.
Luna didn’t push further but it was obvious she didn’t believe if for a second. “You're going to see him today aren’t you?”
“Perhaps...” She mumbled through the jelly-filled croissant.
“You never wear makeup unless it’s a diplomatic visit, yet we have nothing scheduled today.” She looked Celestia over. “That leaves a few options which are easy enough to eliminate.”
Celestia stayed silent for a few moments setting down the rest of her pastry. “Maybe I am, I thought you would be happy.” She snapped back.
“Happy?” Luna’s eye twitched, taking a moment to breathe in and exhale to calm her nerves. “You think I’m happy, that after all this time you're finally going to be gracing our honored guest with your presence? After what you did to him, you couldn’t even look at him. You're only going now because the consequences demand it.”
Standing up from the table she wiped the crumbs from her mouth before tossing the silk napkin down. “I’ll see you later tonight sister.”
Luna didn’t respond, watching her exit through the ordinate doors. Setting her tea down once she was gone, leaving the half-finished cup unfinished. No amount of honey would remove the taste of bile building in her throat. Excusing herself she left through the doors just behind her.
———————————————————-
Celestia trotted slowly down the marble hallways, her golden horseshoes clicking against the floors before she turned into a disused sitting room. Her steps quieted by the well maintained if dated carpets, closing the door behind her and locking it. Looking over at a bookshelf she trotted over gazing over the countless volumes of “A Brief History of Paper”. Grasping a few of the different numbered volumes she pulled them out a few inches. Waiting a few seconds a clicking sound was heard causing her to back up as the shelf swing outwards revealing a gilded elevator.
Stepping inside she pulled a brass lever to her left before it started to descend. Feeling her stomach rise in her throat she swallowed uncontrollably as the lift picked up speed. Watching the ironwork holding back the stone pass her by, shifting a bit on her hooves as it started to slow down. Coming to a stop before her destination, Canterlot Labs, perhaps not the most creative name, but it was accurate.
Stepping off she ignored the bowing elderly scholars, trotting to Nightlight motioning for the stallion to rise. The years had not been kind to the stallion, struggling up from his bow. His joints audibly creaking as he moved. “G-greetings princess....” He wheezed a bit as he pushed his thick-rimmed glasses against his wrinkled face.
“Greetings Doctor, I won’t bore you with the pleasantries, have you made any progress in solving the issue with the hybrid foals?” She developed a more serious look, while the elderly stallion shuffled uncomfortably under her gaze. Almost seeming to shrink further, as he tried to respond.
Knowing that lying wouldn’t get him anywhere he just shook his head. “No princess...But we’re developing new theories and discovering things every day! It’s only a matter of time before we have a breakthrough!”
The white mare didn’t look optimistic. “Have you tried talking to... him?” She asked.
“You mean... specimen 16? Why would we do that? He’s admitted he’s not a scientist, I fail the see why we should take anything he says as more than a grain of salt.” Night Light shook his head dismissively. “Even then he hasn’t said much to us since the harvesting, so it’s a moot point.”
“I see... what of the other subjects?” She frowned deeply.
“Not many of them left I’m afraid, just the gryphon, the hippogriff, along with a Dimondia and Gem Biter Diamond Dog respectively.” Nightlight pulled his clipboard out looking through the list.
“Why have they not been released? I was promised the Forget Me Spell was 100 percent effective.” She looked surprised.
“During our studies, we found all four of the subjects have a vane of iron in their skulls. While we can only guess it’s purpose, but we have largely concluded it's used as a natural compass.” See her disinterest he quickly got to the point. “From what we can gather it blocks out attempts at memory wipes. He have tried to increase the power of the spells but that has only caused the subjects migraines, not unlike specimen 16. Even on the subjects where it was successful we still had cases where we didn’t remove everything. As with the case of Iron Will, this can be possibly attributed to the fact it hasn’t been used in much quantity on non-ponies, so it’s unrefined.”
Celestia grimaced hearing that name, they had kept an eye on the Bull for months before suddenly in the middle of night seemingly for no reason... He fled to Port Royal and got on the first ship to Minos. After that, she had seen him appear in a tabloid magazine where he was interviewed about his alien abduction. “I see, tell subject 16 he will be having a visitor today. Bring in something nice as well, perhaps some tea sandwiches from the Royal Kitchens. It’s high time I visit our Savior.”
“...Right away princess.” Night Light seemed hesitant but bowed his head.
“Until then I’d like to be shown the condition of the remaining subjects.” The princess followed.
“Fertility, show the princess the enclosures.” Night Light turned his head to an elderly dark purple mare who bowed her head.
“Allow me, princess.” She motioned her to follow, though the princess had to slow her pace, as it seemed the mare had developed a bad hip.
During the slow walk through the labs, Celestia was able to see the sorry state it was in. Half-eaten meals left to rot, trash having overflowed out of the wastebaskets, desks drowning in data and notes, even the scholars seemed to trot around in a fog. Large bags having developed under their bloodshot eyes, likely from not having slept a full night in years. While she took in these troubling sights she heard the old mare clear her throat as they stopped before a heavy iron door.
“Hold on princess.” Pulling out a ring of keys she started to fumble through them before inserting on into the door. Twisting it the heavy locks could be heard sliding open. Allowing the door to swing inwards revealing another hallway lined with barred cells.
Closing the door behind them they would continue, passing by numerous empty stone-walled cells. As they moved down the hallway, she would see some flickering lights coming from a few of the cells. As they approached she could peer inside and see the occupants. The first to catch her gaze was a burly if elderly Gryphon sitting in the far corner of his cell. His yellow eyes seeming to glow from the lamplight. It seemed it had once been furnished rather nicely with ordinate beds and cupboards, but all since been smashed to pieces.
“After replacing the furniture several times we gave up.” The mare responded to the princess's look of horror. “We don’t even open his cell door anymore for meals, he’s too dangerous despite his age. We just pass it through the bars with a stick.”
“What’s his name?” Celestia asked while forcing herself to look into the glowing owl-like eyes.
“Gifford, he hasn’t said much of anything beyond that.” The mare responded as they passed by his cell, his eyes following them as they moved.
The next cell had a wiry old Hippogriff who seemed to stare at a crudely drawn window with a forest scene on the far wall. The rest of the cell's furniture seemed disused, except the bed which had been pushed closer to the window. “And this one?”
“Sky Streak, from what the phycologists have told me he hadn’t taken well to captivity. He’s been nearly catatonic for years now, the only times he moves from that drawing are to eat or relieve himself.” She responded a matter-of-factly. “As long as we don’t mess with his window we don’t seem to exist to him.”
Moving on the princess couldn’t help but take in that hollow stare before they moved onto two opposite cells. With two hounds watching them through the bars, both their cells were immaculate. Unlike the other two, they seemed to watch them curiously. They both seemed to smile, their white and yellowed teeth showing respectively. “These last two are our resident Diamond Dogs, Rex from the Kingdom of Dimondia, and Rover from the exiled Gem Biter Clan.”
Those smiles rubbed the princess all the wrong ways, like the others they were quiet, but didn’t seem perturbed by their situation. “Do they always... smile like that?”
“They haven’t stopped since we allowed them to meet specimen 16. Before that, the two spent their time threatening and barking at one another. Bad blood between them.” Fertility looked at them, somewhat more used to the strange smiles, but far from comfortable.
“What did he do to them?” Celestia looked deeply concerned while the two dogs watched them behind the bars.
“We are unsure, for a time they seemed to struggled to accept specimen 16’s existence, recoiling in fear. He said something to them that calmed them, but neither they nor he have shared what that was. Since then, they just seem to... wait.” She seemed to be in deep thought.
“What about the other subjects, what do they think of him?” Celestia seemed more curious now.
“Under careful observation with Gifford, the two seemed to have a hushed argument. Eventually escalating enough that we had to separate them. Sky Streak scarcely responded all to his presence, after a time we gave up on visitation.” They continued down the hall with the two smiling dogs' eyes following them as they walked towards a vaulted door.
“Here we are princess, Specimen 16s cell.” She developed a more thoughtful look.
“Yes?” The princess tilted her head away from the door to look back at the mare.
“Nothing princess allow me to open the door...” Reaching into her lab coat she removed a golden key and inserted it into the lock. Countless bolts could be heard sliding out while the heavy hinges started to creak. Stepping out of the way the old mare bowed her head. “Will you require anything beyond the tea sandwiches you ordered?”
“Perhaps some Chamomile tea and honey. Thank you fertility.” She watched the door open in its entirety revealing an iron and crystal glass-enclosed room within the large vault. Stepping inside, the massive door behind her was allowed to slowly swing shut, the bolts returning to their locked positions.
Once it was locked behind her she continued forward approaching the cell within. Past the glass and ironwork, she could see the sole occupant of the high-security vault, his back turned to her as he painted. Ignoring the gilded cage around him, one could mistake it for a room within Canterlot Castle. With the rich red carpets, an original Platinum Era bed with velvet sheets, a stained rose and oak wood artisan bookshelf, a small circular dining table on which an ivory chess set rested. All placed with so much care and more, in an attempt to make the prison more comfortable.
Stepping to the Crystal door she focused her magic to open the lock before stepping in his chambers. She knew he could hear her, but had yet to turn away from his painting, more focused on mixing a few colors than the fact he had a guest. During this time she took a moment to look him over in person for the first time. While she had seen illustrations and photos from her scholars she had never truly met him.
The only inaccuracy she could find from her notes what that his blonde hair had grown out quite a bit. Having been made into a braid to be more manageable, his outfit was of white Breezy Silk robes, given to him after his original outfit had fallen to rags. Before she could continue a cough was heard from the creature. “You seem to have less manners then your sister, Princess Celestia.”
She was dumbfounded. “Excuse me?...”
“Princess Luna had respect enough to knock before entering my prison. You barged right in, I must say it says quite a bit about the two of you.” He slowly set his pallet down while dipping his brush in acetone.
She sighed. “I know you're unhappy with your situation, but you must understand you left me few options.”
“My situation? No, I’m unhappy about our situation.” He responded as if he was correcting her.
“Our?...” She seemed confused for a moment before realizing what he meant. “You mean the other Subjects.”
“Another example of the differences between you and your sister. She used their names, you do not.” He turned around revealing a young but pale face.
She frowned deeply, she didn’t like how he was talking to her, but she knew he had every reason to hate her. “Aaron, I did what I had to in order to save my ponies. I wouldn’t wish this situation on any other creature, not even my worst enemy’s. Can you really say yours would have chosen any differently?”
“No I can not without a reasonable doubt, but it doesn’t mean I have to like it. So why have you come to visit?” He sighed looking her over.
“I was hoping to chat with you.” She said just as one of her guards entered from behind and set the tea tray down. Eyeing the captive human as he moved turning to make his way to a corner before the princess cleared her throat and motioned for him to leave.
“Ah, at least you brought something to snack on.” He stood up from his seat and made his way over to the small table before sitting down. The princess quickly followed suit, levitating the teapot and pouring two cups.
Taking a few tea sandwiches for himself he started to add a bit of honey to his tea. “So how’s Night Light’s new crisis?” He asked in an odd friendly tone as he took a bite of the cucumber sandwich.
“New crisis, what are you talking about?” She sipped her tea. “The hybridization program was a success, we were able to create an entirely new generation of foals, regardless of the stallions sterility.”
“Ah yes I heard about that, how’s the next generation coming?” He eyed her while sipping his own tea. “I hear Sweetie Pie just turned 3, Pinkie and Cheese must be so proud of their grand-daughter.”
“Ah, you heard about that? Yes, they were delighted to find out they would-be grandparents. They both always loved foals.” She responded.
“So I’ve heard.” He shrugs as they both ate in silence. “So when are you going to let them pull the plug?”
Celestia nearly spits out her tea. “What are you talking about? Plugs? There are no plugs to be pulled.” She said neutrality.
“Oh, using a unicorn to power the respirator then?” He gave her a tilted look.
“I have no idea where you heard such stories, Sweetie Pie is fine.” she exhaled.
“Compromised immune system, low red cell count, developmental delay, if that’s the pony equivalent of fine then perhaps your sicker then I believed.” Frowned deeply. “Don’t look at me like that, Luna keeps me well informed about my unplanned brood.”
Celestia sighed as she poured herself some more tea. “I see, you disapprove of giving a foal a chance at life?”
“Life? What kind of life are you giving her? Meals through IV, a machine breathing for her, a mother who can’t even touch her. Some life.” He sighed sadly slowly pouring himself some tea.
“She can get better... we just need time.” She said, though not with as much vigor as she had hoped.
“Is that what her family thinks? Or is it what you think?” He has a more thoughtful look.
“It can be one and the same... their filly has given many hope, for some that is enough.” She said her frown deepening.
“Is it enough for them?” He asked while taking another tea sandwich. “Or does it matter?”
Celestia didn’t continue for a moment, simply focusing on grasping a jelly-filled pastry. “Of course it matters...”
“...So why have you really come here, princess? You’ve never come to visit me before.” He looked up as he sipped his tea again.
“You have mentioned your world has made greater strides in biology then our own.” She said rather plainly.
“Ah, didn’t stop Night Light from brushing off my warnings while he milked me.” Frowned deeply. “Facing the consequences now is he?”
“I know you have valid reasons to hate him and his team but they were only trying to save their kind... You didn’t make it easy for them...” She shook her head.
“Excuse me for not wanting to be their sperm bank, especially after they wouldn’t even address me by my name.” He glared a bit.
“I know that’s a major point of contention between you and them Aaron but-“ She was cut off.
“Just ask why your little science experiments aren’t having viable offspring and be done with it.” He said setting his tea down.
“...Fine... Why has the hybridization failed?” She asked no longer beating around the bush.
“I was harvested because I was the only subject whose seed seemingly produced pure ponies. Instead of hippogriffs, centaurs, hippocamp, and the like. Your little scholars operated on the theory that if it looked and quacked like a duck then it’s a duck. But all you had created was a generation of mules...” He smiled while she looked at him confused.
“Mules?” She parroted looked confused.
“Mules, surely you know what a mule is don’t you?” He looked amused.
“Yes I’m familiar with mules, but I’m confused by what you mean.” She looked at him as if he had gone mad.
“Well from what I’ve heard from your sister, Equestrian Mules are much like the mules from my own world.” He leaned back in his chair.
“How so?” She asked more than a little bit curious about this tangent.
“A product of a mare and a jack, distinguishable from its parents having an ideal mix of its parent's physical traits and constitution, a prime example of Hybrid Vigor. In your world mule foals even tend to do a bit better on testing, right?” He asked while the princess nodded her head.
“Yes, the Scholarly Tribune published an article about that I believe.” She thought back to the paper.
“Earth mules were much the same, far more intelligent than their individual parents. While being a jack of all trades in terms of physical aptitude, they would seem to be an ideal organism. If not for a single flaw...” He gazed into her eyes.
“Sterility...” She spoke nodding her head solemnly.
“On Earth, it was due to their parents having differing numbers of chromosomes.” Seeing her confused he continued. “Chromosomes are sort of the building blocks of life, think of them as an instruction manual of what makes you, well you.”
“I take it mixing different numbers of these... Chromosomes cause issues?” She asked.
“Mhm, this mish-mash of chromosomes leaves them sterile.” He smiled oddly. “While I can’t be sure, I’d be willing to bet Equestrian mules have a similar problem.”
“I fail to see how this is relevant to our situation, the foals aren’t sterile.” She looked unamused attempting to place the conversation back on track.
“I’m getting to it, you should know patience is a virtue.” He sighed leaning against his hand. “That’s what’s known as Hybrid Sterility, but when you create hybrids you can have something else happen... Hybrid Breakdown.”
Hearing that seemed to make the princess uncomfortable. “Hybrid Breakdown?...”
“The first generation of hybrids are strong and fertile. But the following generation? That’s when the bottom falls out I’m afraid.” He shook his head. “They tend to be sterile or feeble, as the chromosomes are simply incompatible.” Looking back into her eyes he gave her a cruel twisted smile. “Sound familiar?”
Her frowned deepened. “I see... but why should I take your words seriously? You’ve admitted yourself to be on the field of money handling, not scholarly pursuits.” She swallowed uncomfortably.
“Because those tidbits are common knowledge for anyone who graduates high-school in my world.” He chuckled. “Our basic schooling is far more intensive then yours.”
She sat there for a few moments digesting all this information before speaking. “Thank you for your time, I must be going.” The princess bowed her head and raised from her seat.
“Good luck princess, you’ll need it soon enough.” He said oddly, which garnered him a look from her before she turned to leave. Showing his rows of crooked teeth as she locked the doors to his prison.
———————————————————-
Locking the doors behind her she didn’t bother to pay much mind to the other captives. Simply too deep in thought to pay much mind to anything around her. At least until the entered the main labs to find a variable circus of frenzied activity around her. Looking around flabbergasted she saw the scholars tearing through piles of papers. “What’s the meaning of this?!” She shouted you get their attention.
“P-princess!” Night Light quickly stumbled over though the piles of paper.
“Night Light, what’s going on?” She looked around seeing the panicked faces of the scholars around her.
“Princess, t-the journals are missing!” He said in a panic, struggling to catch his breath.
Her eyes widened. “T-the journals?...” For the second time, her throat felt like a desert.
“They’re missing from the vaults, we’ve torn the labs to pieces searching for them! They aren’t here!” The old stallion looked to be dangerously close to having a stroke.
“Night Light calm yourself and think when was the last time they were handled?” She rested her hooves on his withers.
“A-a few days ago princess.” He gasped for air.
“And no one from outside the labs has been here?” A pit was forming in her stomach.
“Of course not, just you and Princess Luna, this is a classified facility after all.” He shook his head. “We couldn’t possibly have been infiltrated!”
“Keep looking, I have to go check something.” She struggled to swallow while Night Light bowed and went back to barking orders as they desperately search.
She nearly galloped back to the elevator slamming her hoof against the lever as it rapidly ascended. Once it came to a stop back at the disused sitting room she scarcely remembered to close the bookcase behind her. Galloping through the halls she spotted what she was looking for, nearly bowling over a very confused royal guard. “Y-your Majesty?!”
“Where is Princess Luna?!” She practically screamed into the shaking stallion's face.
“S-she left s-shortly after y-your brunch!” He stuttered out.
“Left?! Left where?!” She stared incredulously at him.
“S-She was invited to the unveiling of the new transcontinental post office in the Gryphon K-Kingdom. I thought s-she would have told you?...” He swallowed shrinking under the princess's mantic gaze.
At that moment she felt her back legs give out from behind her, forcing the alicorn into a sitting position. “I take she took her flying chariot?...” To which the stallion nodded, she said nothing after that, there wasn’t anything left she could say.