Anon 47

The new information about 47 hit zecora harder than anything else she had experienced. A grave mistake on her part and a betrayal of trust on 47’s. Lying was easy for him, considering he was made for tactical assassination and espionage, the business of killing. But To see how it actually affected some one that he might genuinely care for, That hurt him more than he would like to admit. For the next few days zecora moped around the hut, mostly with a glazed look on her face. She also stopped eating for the most part, not that there was much to eat. The time and bits it took to get this far into their investigation rendered the food stocks barren. On the third day of this nonsense 47 finally said something. “You can’t go on like this forever Zecora, your physiology requires you to eat.” Instead of a proper response, the zebra offered nothing but a glare in his general direction. “Made it very clear why I was able to tell you before. Time was a key factor in determining whether or not this was reality. I had to make sure that I was not on earth. You can understand my caution.”

Zecora gave a frown. “You could have told me sooner - being lied to makes me feel like a real loser.” This made 47 rather uncomfortable. “I know you are smart enough to figure out this was not your native land. Especially since you have been staying here in a magical Marshland.”

47 let out an ill contented sigh. “Zecora, you are only upset because you think that it is ok to be upset.That concept alone leads to unnecessary complication in your emotional state.” Zecora turned from sorrowful to enraged in response. “I made a mistake, clearly. I anticipated you as a threat and not as an ally. And for that I am sorry. In my defence I will try and make it up to you. How? Well that is up to you.”

Zecora let out an irritated huff “We will see. First, some tea.” 47 remained silent as she scrutinized the lack of supplies. This included her shortage of coin. “I need to peddle wares again. Lest we lose sight of our campaign.” A faint knock drew her attention to the hut entrance.

Without missing a beat 47 announced “Felix, you may enter.”

Slowly he enters with a perplexed expression “How did you know it was me?”

Zecora mostly ignored felix, seeing as he interrupted their argument. 47 responded “I don’t remember summoning you. What do you want?”

“Well that is the problem. Are you done with me? I mean, I did appreciate the extra coin but I could do without the constant threats of violence. It’s not healthy and all.” He said with a slight quiver to his voice. Clearly Felix was not prepared to go into any sort of confrontation with the killer.

“I will contact you when we require your services again. Until then remain inconspicuous and gather intel.” 47 said

“Well maybe I want to get paid for my time like normal? It would only be fair after all.” Though felix was scared he stood his ground. The idea for a better life for his family was worth the risk.

47 folded his arms in response “You seem to think this is a negotiation. The answer is no and will remain as such. Now do what I told you and wait for further instruction.”

47's response deflated Felix quicker than a needle to a balloon. "Well, I... crap."

“You have nothing, And without us you are nothing.” 47's response was quick and concise. The look of defeat on Felix's face was enough to convince 47 he would not break their little pact. If he had insisted on arguing, termination would be acceptable. Defeated, Felix eventually left the hut back to wherever he had came from. Zecora seemed indifferent about the situation as a whole. Her depressive state had finally broken, and the hunger was setting in.

47 seen this as a perfect opportunity to gain some favor back from the striped equine. "Zecora, it's not easy for me to have friends. In fact most friends that I had in my world were more like acquaintances. The only real friend I had was Diana, and she was just a voice in my ear for years until the day I had a put a bullet in her. There was also a time when I was a young boy and I had made a friend. A little long eared rabbit whose fur was the color of the snow I had grown so accustomed to, in Russia. My father, the doctor who had cloned me, saw this as a failure. He had attempted to eliminate emotions altogether and I was a shining example they had failed. Some of my brothers, seen this as an opportunity. Their idea of a prank was to leave my beloved friend lying dead on my bed, neck snapped”. As mad as she was, zecora could not help but feel bad for him.

“I am so sorry 47, That must have been difficult...”Zecora had even broken away from her traditional rhyme.

“In retrospect, Zecora, it made it a lot easier to do what was necessary when I had returned. I made sure to return the gesture to the one’s who had murdered my friend.” Zecora seem to be bewildered for a time. In combination with her sad state.

Sometime later zecora called out "47, I've come to a decision that you may not like but I feel that is in the best interest of us both. It is time that we show you to Lyra, to ensure our relationship’s growth."47 began to protest but before he vocalized his distress he came to the realization that negotiation was non-optional in the situation. In this situation he had become Felix and Zecora was in fact 47, technically speaking. Zecora also made it apparent that she was going to give the orb to twilight tomorrow at the market and that Lyra was coming home with her. 47 reluctantly agreed to the meet.

It took quite some time but Sophronius was able to figure out the secrets what's about the crystal door shut. "So simple, vhy vas not able to see it before? Vho knows... Now it makes sense. Blood! Old magics require blood." He cackled. Sophronius had ordered a large portion of the slave force to remain in the dome-like cavern as his men secretly drew a blood seal on the crystalline door. Sophronius did this for a very particular reason. If something violent and hostile to emerge from the gate with enough bodies between the gates at the exit. That would give the nights enough time to close off the tunnel.The results were catastrophic to say the least. The moment the seal had been finished, it vanished, soaking into the thirsty crystal structure.

The earth shook, giving way to small boulders it fell within the confined area. At that moment of beam of pure crimson energy erupting into a beam stretching far into the sky. The moment it touched the atmosphere it lit the sky ablaze with a scarlet aurora. The two massive doors creaked open, causing loose crystals to fall from the frame. As the doors opened, light seemed to drain from the room as though it was being sucked in by some sort of black hole, beyond the door was absolute darkness. As if looking at a black canvas that would encompass your entire field of view with a single glance in its direction.Before the door had even opened 2 feet strange looking arms had grasped the edges of the door and began pulling themselves forth into this new world. Emaciated insect-looking things with massive armored forearms, three fingered hands with jagged claws, and a tripod of spear like-legs sprouting from their armored thorax.Their exoskeleton seemed to be made of a durable and dark chitin. Once able to squeeze their strange bodies through, they began a ripping the residents apart in a frenzy. Devouring all in sight with powerful mandibles. Stoppage, Alclipper, and Sophronius worked quickly to seal off the entrance to that section of the tunnel. The whole time Sophronius marveled at the beings. Rejoicing at this recent discovery and "pleasant" turn of events. Despite Alclipper's obvious affections towards Sophronius, even she seemed a little off put by the situation.

After a night of brewing potions Zecora awakes early, eager to return to the market. She takes note to remind 47 that she will be bringing Lyra by when she returns. At this point 47 knows better than to argue and just accepts the situation as is, and what little he can do about it. Soon Zecora was off with a small cart packed full of wares and potions to sell at the market. 47 takes notice of the charms that she plans on hocking. Must be trinkets that she made with little to no effort, society is what he expects it to be here they should sell with little to no effort. As Zecora spends her early morning selling goods and receiving money, she notices the sky is a lot more ominous than it has any right to be considering the time of day. In fact this worries her so much that she asked twilight sparkle as the mare passes by. "Oh twilight, why does the sky bear such gloom? Should it not change, since it is almost past noon?"

She responds, her tone hushed and worried "I'm not sure myself but I'm going to get to the bottom of it if it's the last thing I do. I am on my way to canterlot at this very moment. I would ask you to join me but you seem to be preoccupied at this moment."

"Ah yes, quite so. I hope you gain the knowledge to solve this and perhaps make a better afterglow?" Twilight wishes zecora farewell before trotting off towards the train station. The zebra sees twilight sparkle meet up with her friends and head off in a quick fashion. A few hours into her sales she spots Lyra browsing other ponies wares. It took a few tries but the zebra finally waved down the one unicorn. “Greetings there Lyra, How would you like to unravel a great mystery that will equalize? Perhaps something that is just more than a surprise.” The zebra struggled to find the correct and concise words to adequately entice the unicorn without completely blowing 47's cover

Lyra cocks a single eyebrow at the zebra "oh, what do you mean by that? After finding out what bonbon does as a profession not much surprises me these days."

“I assure you this is no small thing that I am offering. You might say that it is perception altering.” Zecora admitted to her side to that sounded a lot better in her head, now it sounds like she is just offering the unicorn psychedelics of some sort. She just gave a sheepish grin.

Lyra smiles in response "well then that is something I look forward to." The zebra tells Lyra to meet her back at her stall around 3 o'clock.She should be finished packing what's left of her wares by then. The rest of the day goes on without a hitch despite the skies ominous malfunction. Lyra seemed quite excited about the whole ordeal. By 2 o'clock she was already waiting at the zebra stall. She even had her saddlebags all packed for the trip. The trek back to the hut was not as strenuous as the zebra had predicted. Seems as if the ponies of ponyville missed her and her brews more than she had anticipated because they cleaned her out of all that she had prepared for that day. The whole way back to the zebra's hut, the unicorn seemed to bounce. When they had arrived at the their destination, Lyra looked like she was about to burst from excitement. As the zebra reached for the handle to her hut, the door was opened by the surprise she had in store for Lyra.

Lyra's expressions change with each passing second she laid her great golden eyes upon the bipedal being. First she was shocked, then she looked to Zecora with confusion mixed with sadness thinking that it was all just a trick, then she looked back to 47 who had ushered them inside at that point. When 47 had closed the door behind them Lyra knew for a fact that she was not dreaming. The all who had laughed at her and pushed her away from her beliefs were wrong.At this point in time 47 was giving Zecora of the thousand yard stare, her response was a smug grin. Lyra spoke up "I can't wait to rub you in the faces of everypony who ever doubted me." She said while rubbing her hooves together. A devilish grin smeared across her face.

47 cut in right after her sentence ended "That's not how this works. If it was up to me, we would not even be having this conversation. My existence in this world is simply an accident and I must be kept hidden from the world. In fact the only reason we're having this conversation is because Zecora felt it appropriate. You're free to ask me questions though I'm also free to not give you an answer if I find the question unacceptable." He was quick and precise with his words, giving no quarter to the unicorn. This seemed to deflate Lyra to an extent. Regardless she was quite excited at the whole experience. 47 was relieved to have gotten control of the situation, at least to an extent. “So I take it we have an agreement?” The unicorn gave a very enthusiastic nod.

Lyra had taken out a notepad at this point and had already written down a few questions, lest she forget. She had also made a crude sketch of his figure. Though his hand seemed a little bit more detailed than the rest of his body. “I noticed you don't have any fur, though I did not expect you to be completely hairless.” She motioned towards his head with a hoof. “Is that normal for all humans?”

“This is specific to just me, though most of my species loses their hair at an older age.”

Lyra noted that down as quickly as he had spoken it “I see... I noticed that you also have a mark on the back of your head, is that like our cutie marks? A visual image that shows who we are on the inside.”She said motioning to her own Lyre shaped cutie Mark.

47 seem to become uncomfortable at this question, she was of a lot more observant than he had predicted. He did not even remember turning the back of his head to her at any point in time. 47 made a mental note not to underestimate her again, she could prove dangerous after all. "Well yes and no. Ours are called tattoos and they are something that are is willingly done to our own body. As you can see we have no fur so it is easy to view our bearskin as a canvas. With a special tool and colored ink, we can make permanent art that stays with us for a lifetime. Something like your cutie marks." Lyra made 'Ooos' and 'Ahhs' as he explained, making sure the document every last word. "So you could say that our tattoos are a representation of who we are."

After some quick thinking she picked the next question that seemed the most suitable. “What does your tattoo mean?”

47 had assumed that she would've asked us next and responded quickly and coolly "that is a question I deem inappropriate, So I will withhold my information. In fact most personal questions I will not answer as I do not feel comfortable sharing such information with strangers." Lyra gave a frown and nodded, then quickly scratched off a few questions that could only be deemed as too personal.

“No no, that makes sense.I will refrain from future personal questions. After all it would be unfair to make you comfortable with you already forced out of your comfort zone.” 47 was pleasantly shocked at her ability to assess separate perspectives of individuals. Zecora was also pleased at how the interview was going. Lyra was different than others which is one of the only reason Zecora trusted her in the first place. But even she was shocked at how well the unicorn was handling the situation. At this point the zebra had already made the three tea. 47 had taken his seat at the small table while the unicorn stood adjacent from his position, notepad and pen floating in the air covered in Lyra's magic. Zecora took a seat next to 47 and began to drink. “So next question, how is it that your species reproduces?” The moment Lyra finish her sentence the zecora spat out what liquid remained in her mouth out of pure shock. "Was... Was that too soon?" 47 just sighed and shook his head.

“Ya sure ya did not know that was going to happen Sophronius?” Stoppage inquired, short of breath. The small cave and cause to seal off the massive and now infested room had been a success.

"Is it not the most Wunderbar thing you have seen!? A true Wundaveapon" The sorcerer was short of breath as well. Not from causing the cave-ins, but from sheer excitement. In his current state Sophronius forgotten the primary objective, that being the detainment and/or elimination of Zecora's familiar.

"Yez yez, but what about that Zebra and her pet? If not taken care of we may not have any timez to Celebrate." Alclipper, being the voice of reason, snapped the terrestrial sorcerer out of his frantically excited state.

Sophronius cleared his throat and regained his composure "yes well, if we can isolate one of these beings we will be able to use it against her familiar. That's killing two birds with one stone, I will be taking notes from the side to gather combat data on our new weapons." This concerned stoppage, he was not sure how they were going to do it or even if he could destroy one of them on his own. But the endgame did serve a mutual goal. At the very least they did open up those blasted doors, a small win in a series of losses. Sophronius’ plan to capture one of the creatures was sketchy at best. It involved making a small hole at the top of one of the collapsed tunnels so one of the monsters could come through. They would then attempt to incapacitate the creature so the Geo-manser would be able to capture it in a magically treated cage. At first glance it appeared to be a normal steel cage. In reality the steel had been treated with a magical enchantment causing the bars to absorb any kinetic force and apply it to the steel molecules in a way that caused them to strengthen. He took a great deal of pride in this "simple" enchantment. Stoppage had confidence in the cages ability, considering it was the same sort of enchantment that was applied to his armor. He just did not have confidence in Sophronius' combat abilities.

His main concern was the manual incapacitation of the creature at hand. Alclipper shared his concerns and voice them openly. “Iz this good idea...?” She asked cautiously. Alclipper and Stoppage carefully dug a pile of rubble that they had caused to seal off the entrance. Once a singular creature crawled through Sophronius would cause another cave in to seal the hole while his two allies rallied back towards his position, a larger intersection of tunnels. At that point Alclipper and Stoppage would have to fight the creature and force into the cage.Then Sophronius would take care of the rest. Before Alclipper and Stoppage had cleared enough for the ruble to see through to the other side, an armored fist shot through the top of the stone barricade.

"Retreat!" Stoppage yelled with haste as he jumped back before turning and running, Alclipper effortlessly made it back to the intersection before stoppage. The insect looking demon frantically clawed at the rock taking large chunks out with each swipe. The three watched in awe as the new being pulled itself through with little to no effort after tearing boulders apart as if they were made of paper. Once through the three could spot another creature directly behind the first. Sophronius quickly stomped his forehoof down, His tablet flashing brilliantly in unison, causing even more rubble to fall down on the newly emerging insect. That seemed to seal the exit once more. The first one had managed to scuttle its way to Alclipper and Stoppage in that short amount of time. Stoppage was ready, wielding his massive hammer he took a mighty swing towards the creatures advancing legs. It reacted a lot quicker than he would've liked. Before the hammer could make contact the creature had blocked it with one arm while swinging at his head with the other, claws fully brandished. Had his armor not been magically enchanted, Stoppage would have lost his head easily to that strike. He was also thankful that he had a tight grip on his hammer. Otherwise that would've been knocked away and he would be without a paddle so to speak. Alclipper on the other hand had taken advantage of the situation and had already moved behind the creature. With the mighty buck she put all of her force into a single kick aimed at the joint of the creature's back stabilizing leg. Despite the being seeming to be nearly unstoppable, her well-placed kick caused the creature's leg to buckle. Its weight shifted too abruptly for it to stabilize thus it fell to the ground hard. Stoppage use this to his advantage, Raining down a fury of blows which were ultimately designed to kill or fatally injured. The insect had anticipated this as well and raised its shield like Forearms up to block its face. Blow after blow stoppage’s attempts seem to do little other than Dent strong Chitin.

"Do it now!" He shouted through gritted teeth as he slammed his hammer down one strike after the other. With a few powerful, Arcane, movements the Geo-manser caused the spire of stone to erupt from the side of the cavern, pushing Stoppage completely out of the way. Abruptly disengaging the two and disintegrating upon impact. Alclipper gave the creature another mighty kick from behind as Sophronius did his second arcane maneuver causing multiples spears of stone strike in unison with the red striped zebra. There was enough force to push the creature directly into the open cage. Quickly, Sophronius closed the door behind the monster and marveled at the insect as it attempted to claw and gnash its way out of the enchanted steel. “The hell is that thing made of!?”

“Oh I intend to find out. I promise you that” Sophronius had already taken out a note pad and began documenting an absurd amount of information.

Though the sky was a crimson red and gloomy, sunlight was still present. For Alclipper this wasn't a good thing. She rested comfortably in one of the abandoned rooms that resided in the castle of the two sisters. This seemed to be where she spent any of her private time considering the lavish decorations and comfortable looking furniture that filled the room, most of it was a rose red. A few threads of light came in through her heavily coated window. A forehoof of hers casually lay in the a beam of light. Her flesh sizzled, cracked, and popped as flakes of bare muscle and tissue evaporated into thin air. Alclipper's sighed and attempted to embrace the pain is something new but to no avail. It had been so long since she had been cursed. Since then she had forgotten what simple pleasures felt like such as the warmth of the sun and the cold of snow. Though the few senses of hers that had remained were mainly hunger and pain. Though she could still feel happiness, despair, malice, and other emotions. But it was the physical feelings that she had missed the most. Stoppage had been watching her for some time, he was leaning on a great doorframe that led to her quarters. "How long have you been at it?" His tone was reserved and words hesitant. Something that was not natural for him.

Shocked, Alclipper quickly moved her hoof out of the light, it began to slowly regenerate that which had been damaged. "Iz nothing. How long?"

"Been here long enough." Response was shortened to "For me. Tain’t easy bein’ what ahm supposed to be, all this" he motioned to his full plated self “But for you, must be a lot harder. At one point or another, ya must of been normal. If ya don't mind me asking, how long has it been?”

She shifted in place, talking about this clearly wasn't easy for The stripped mare. "Two decadez. Few or more yearz added. Iz not so bad once only thing you remember."Stoppage moved into the room, closing the door behind him. This seemed to only make Alclipper even more uncomfortable considering she didn't have a high opinion of him to begin with. Even with them sharing rank.

"Surprised with all that time, ya'll didn't get speech therapy. Ain't no hoity toity fella neither. Guess you'd want to keep as much as you intact as possible, am I right?"

Alclipper gave a slow and uneasy nod “Not az dumb az look. Maybe I Misjudged.” Stoppage scoffed at the common, is only served to confuse Alclipper.

"Just don't get cozy with me, I am a monster after all" he said with a laugh