'These Shackles, They Come....'
Unknown Location, Unknown Timeframe.
Slowly, I opened my eyes, and my breathing intensified. Another day in this hell. I knew not why I was here, but I was. Imprisoned by somepony’s will. I knew not who, but…
“‘Twas your sister, mein darling.” Was it? I had no way of knowing for certain. The voices were the only one who didn’t hurt me. There were two kinds, but I couldn’t tell what the difference was. Not anymore, anyway. I was in a small, black room, chained to the back wall, malnourished and broken. I couldn’t muster any emotions, any will to leave, all I could do was lie in the corner and answer any questions they asked.
“Fight it, goddamnit! They’re tricking you! Pouring you full with toxins, trying to make you a living corpse!” I rolled my head to another side, my light blue hair falling limp and clinging to my fur. I stunk up the room, but not entirely my fault. If I was being drugged, it made my entire body numb, and the lack of meat on my body made it impossible for me to fight. All that was left was to sit here and die, unloved and uncared for.
The back of the room lit up, and I simply stared at the silhouettes in the back, two in number. I knew there were more, observing me from some hidden location. I felt it. I saw them, laughing at the spectacle. It… almost made me boil over in some emotion I haven’t felt since being bound here.
“Good morning, Luna.” the first voice called, “Are you ready to resume testing?”
Weakly, I shook my head, the only implication I had done such was the jingle of the chains moving. “I just want to leave… when can I leave?”
“Never.” said the second voice, “By royal decree, you are to remain here on Griffin Station until the testing is completed, or the project loses funding. Neither are happening in the near future. However, if you’re that willing to go to the final stage…” a strange gas entered the room from all sides, and I tensed.
“Don’t fret, mien darling. This is precisely what we want. They shall bring you to your new… ‘throne’, you could say.” the voice comforted. Throne? I liked the sound of it. I didn’t resist the gas, and was soon on the ground, with a peaceful expression on my face.
When I next awoke, I was bound to a mobile platform, being pushed by some ponies. Some with horns, some without, some with wings, but three with both. I turned my head in their direction, my bloodshot expression turning into one of curiosity. I knew not who any of them were, but they were obviously important. I rolled my head back to facing forward, and noticed the ruins in front of me.
A large, black pyramid that looked familiar to me. In fact, the scenario was almost like deja vu to me… I knew not why, I had only been in the black room before. It was clearly important, for while the rest of the earth had complex machinery attached to it, only the pyramid remained untouched. My eyes darted back at the three strange ponies watching in the distance, and figured they ought to be in charge.
“They are. See the big, white one? That’s your sister, the one who forced you into this. All for ‘national security’, when in actuality, she wanted you *gone*, dead and never to return. We don’t, mein darling, and we will give you power beyond your wildest dreams. All you need to do is…"
Doctor Sparkle’s PoV.
Moon, five years after becoming the Alicorn Princess of Magic, four years after the foundation of the research group, Group 935.
“This is all going according to plan…” Princess Twilight Sparkle smiled. Ever since taking up her throne, she had received several titles. Due to the waging war down on Quadiome, she was known as Commander Twilight Sparkle, due to her position in her self-funded research group, she was Head Researcher Twilight Sparkle, and, of course, she was also the Fifty Fourth Element of Magic, Twilight Sparkle. She held a hoof up to her chin, pondering the correct way to combine all four of her titles.
“The Fifty Fourth Element of Magic, Head Researcher Commander Princess Twilight Sparkle? Perhaps I should remove the ‘Princess’...” she closed her eyes and smiled. If today’s test went accordingly, the Holy Solar Empire of Equestria and her allies would have a definitive edge over the Allied Nations, as they were calling themselves. From what she could dig up, the black pyramid granted the one inside to command the dead, so long as a steady force of ununpentium was around. Which they had, so it was of no real concern. What was, was the candidate.
“Test subject number one: Ex-princess Luna Tsukuyomi, serial number 1213. The first of fifty to enter the strange, pyramid-shaped device. Of the fifty, she is the oldest, both in age, and in the time spent as a test subject under the group. Of course, she is also the only alicorn, although I will contemplate asking for additional, should the need arise. With me here, are Princess Celestia Amaterasu, and Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, more commonly known as ‘Cadence’. The proper amount of souls have been consumed by the device, courtesy of Element of Kindness and fellow researcher, Sub Advisor and Chief of Medicine, Fluttershy Richtofan. Further test involving the ‘soul’ consumption of this device are in order, and will go side by side with this experiment.”
“Rather formal, Princess Sparkle.” her former mentor joked. The researcher shook her head, brushing it off.
“On this station left behind for us, I am simply a Head Researcher. However, I thank you for your kind words.”
“I’m curious about this device. This is the first I’m hearing of it, so would you mind explaining what it is, exactly?” the Princess of Love inquired.
“According to the radios scattered around the world, left behind by the Precursors or ‘Humans’, as they are more commonly called, this ‘device’ can reanimate the dead, with the assistance of ununpentium, or, if you were looking at a periodic table, element 115. The ones discovered on the moon were the most insightful, both to the group we are a continuing, and the proper way to operate the device. This is just a test, so we have no way of knowing if this will work for our kind.” the researcher explained, her horn lighting up. “This, is the first test of many, mares and gentlecolts. What is our motto?”
“To improve the pony condition!”