Everybrony's dream

A few hours later it was just Alex and Twilight left in the study, Rainbow having accompanied AJ and Applebloom to go and meet up with Big Macintosh in the infirmary. After which, Alex had promised Rainbow to meet her back at the gym for some R&R.

Currently however, Twilight was furiously scribbling notes while Alex lay with his head on her back as he recounted as much as he could about his capture.

“And that’s how I got this…” Alex finished, gesturing towards his torn up ear, “I’m sure Pinkie filled you in on the rest…”

Twilight pondered for a moment, before activating her horn and enveloping Alex in a lavender aura of magic. Alex, more amused by this than anything, lifted his head off the unicorn’s back and watched as Twilight’s face slowly screwed up in a mask of concentration. As the seconds ticked by her expression got more intense, as did the tingling sensation around his body. He got a little worried when she began sweating and grunting in effort, her horn glowing just as strongly, if not more so than during the Ursa Minor incident. To Alex’s surprise, the tingling feeling abruptly stopped as Twilight expelled an explosive sigh, panting as she turned to face him.

“Well,” she began, “you definitely… Definitely have the gene…” she panted, wiping the sheets of perspiration on her forehead, “however, there’s one thing I need to ask of you…”

“What’s up, Twi?” Alex queried, while handing the worn out unicorn a nearby glass of water, before interrupting her question “though I have to ask, if I have this anti-magic gene, why did the healing potion work on me?”

Twilight smirked, “the gene only protects against direct magical stimuli, a unicorn casting a spell for example.” Taking a deep breath, and a sip from the glass she continued, “the gene doesn’t protect against natural medicine, healing plants for example – which was what the potion was made up with. It goes both ways though, if you strolled into a patch of poison joke, you would be as affected as any of us.”

“So, the gene only really protects against unicorn magic?”

“Exactly,” Twilight brightened, “however, the gene makes your body act very much like… Well, it’s like you’re covered in butter. When I tried to lift you just then, my spell couldn’t get a good hold, no matter how much energy I pumped into it.”

“You just wanted an excuse to think about me all greased up, didn’t you?” Alex joked, causing the unicorn to turn scarlet before she smacked him across the face with her journal.

“Way to ruin a perfectly logical conversation, Casanova.” She deadpanned, getting up from the sofa and staring back at him, “come on, I need your help.”

Trotting over to a nearby bookshelf, she scanned the dusty tomes until her eyes alighted upon a large green hardcover. Reaching for the book she tilted it out of the bookshelf at a 45 degree angle, the shelving unit swinging forward to reveal something that made Alex’s jaw drop.

It was a ship… One he recognized immediately, even though the indigo color scheme was totally wrong.

“Where in the blue hell did you find one of these?” Alex asked, sprinting past the unicorn and placing a palm on the hull.

“Discord… Well, when he was bringing things over from your universe, he brought over some… Interesting electrical devices you humans use for entertainment. In particular, he was incredibly infatuated with a game you humans call – “

“Halo…” Alex finished for her, staring in awe up at the indigo blue Pelican Dropship.

“Yes,” Twilight continued, a little miffed at Alex’s interruption, “before he was turned to stone, we managed to create this from some concept art and interior schematics of the D77- we found online…”

“But… How?” Alex asked, turning to the unicorn with his brow raised, “we humans haven’t even come close to producing the technology required to make this brick fly…”

Twilight chuckled, gesturing towards the starboard thrusters, “Inside the engine housing are boulder sized gems that store magical energy. When the energy is released, it acts like an engine, propelling the craft and powering all the necessary on-board electronics. One charge, done by yours truly, can keep this bird in the air for a full day.”

“Have you tested it yet?”

Twilight winced, “well, no. For starters, the cockpit configuration is made for humans. We tried to get around this by using unicorns to fly it, but the engines cause a magical feedback loop that induces hypoxia-like symptoms to anypony operating the controls…”

“Twilight, I know where you’re going with this… I have no idea how to fly this thing. I’ve barely flown a handful light aircraft at home, and even then I have nowhere enough experience to even think about attempting a solo flight.”

“Luckily for you, you won’t exactly be flying it yet. Tell me, where do you think Sol’s control over the world ends?”

Alex shrugged his shoulders as he turned his attention back to the Pelican. “I suppose it wouldn’t.”

Twilight gave him a smug grin, “where on Equestria does the sun not shine?”

Alex failed to supressed a snort of laughter, and was smacked upside the head for his trouble.

“The ocean floor you idiot.” Twilight deadpanned, her horn glowing as a large pair of steel bulkheads began parted a little above their head, revealing a cold inky blackness above them – Twilight’s magic being the only thing stopping a torrent of icy black water from snuffing them both out.

“Anything Sol’s sun can touch, she controls.” Twilight began as she closed the gap above them, “thankfully for us, there are some places in Equestria that will never see the sun’s light…” The sound of a door opening and closing interrupted Twilight’s speech, much to her chagrin. But as Alex turned to face the newcomer, he was greeted by one of the strangest things he had seen yet in this new Equestria.

It was Octavia. Which, altogether wasn’t that surprising – seeing as Twilight had already told him about the Double Bassist being present on base. What’s more, Twilight had even informed him that Octavia was also their deputy head of the resistance’s science wing (under Twilight, of course). So, he also wasn’t surprised that she was wearing a white lab coat and black, square rimmed glasses. What DID surprise him was that; one, she was standing upright, and two, Octavia had somehow swapped out her rear legs for a set of six tentacles.

He couldn’t help letting his jaw drop as she shuffled over to them, making an odd squelching upon the cold floor as she nodded to Twilight, before giving Alex an approving glance and a somewhat sultry smile.

I’ve seen enough hentai… Alex’s mind began, before he squelched the thought and automatically stuck out his right hand for a shake. Which he regretted somewhat, as the Octo-pony (she had eight appendages total, including her forelegs) grasped his outstretched forearm with one of her warm, squishy and slightly damp tentacles; the tip of it resting gently against his bicep.

Instead of leaving it there however, she the proceeded to wrap the rest of her tentacles around his waist, hoist herself up so her eyes were level with his, and then proceeded to begin taking measurements of his head with a small tape measure.

Alex did not know where she got the tape measure, nor what had possessed the mare to use him as a human jungle gym. All he knew was that Twilight had fallen over in a fit of uncontrollable laughter, and his waist was now surrounded by the very warm, squishy, damp, and (as he realised now) incredibly powerful lower half of the ex-bassist.

“Extraordinary…” She quietly remarked in her posh accent, slowly wrapping the tape measure around the circumference of his head with her two hooves, whilst snaking a tentacle up his back and around the back of his neck. “Twilight?” She queried, turning her head towards the crying unicorn on the floor next to them, “Has he made contact with the ship’s processor core yet? And why does he look so shocked?”

“Uhhhh…..” Alex began, eyes darting back and forth between her eyes and tentacles.

Octavia flashed him an excited smile, “Twilight and I had the bright idea one day to try creating a spell that would combine an earth pony’s natural strength and endurance with some of the local fauna’s underwater ability. To better perform repairs on the outside of the stronghold, you see.” She sighed, and wrapped her fore hooves around the startled human’s neck, “The spell turned out to be a great success, but at a cost. I am stuck this way, half octopus half pony… Other side effects include swimming at speeds only Rainbow Dash can dream to match, enhanced regenerative tissue properties, hundreds of millions of sensory nodes in these tentacles…” She gently caressed the tip of the human’s ear with the tip of the tentacle that had grasped his arm, “which does have the tendency to make me more... Tactile.”

She chuckled, leaning closer to him “as creepy as this sounds, I can actually taste the output of pheromones you’re producing. But don’t worry…” She winked at him, face now a few inches from his, “all the important parts are still there.”

Alex blinked, “certainly feels that way…” he squeaked before he could stop himself.

Octavia chuckled before turning to Twilight, “you’re right Twi… He is kind of cute when he gets flustered.”

Alex leaned over to stare at the still cackling unicorn who, of course, didn’t notice his piercing glare. He frowned at the scene, before shuffling himself and the now chuckling Octavia over to the purple pony on the floor.

“Well, while we wait for you to calm down, I’m going to take this lovely octopu- uh, I mean, octo-pony you have acquainted me with back to the gym. I have an appointment with my wingmare to keep.” He turned to a wide eyed, and excited Octavia, “assuming the lady doth not object, of course?”

Her expression changed from one of mirth, to a crazed grin; “An opportunity to study your motor functions firsthand?!”

Alex chuckled, “sorry Tavi, but all I’m gonna do is hit the sauna with Rainbow. You missed the training session earlier, and now all I wanna do is relax and get to know you guys better before I hit the hay.” He patted her back, grimacing slightly, “would you mind?”

Octavia’s grin widened, “unfortunately for you, my dear, I don’t do walking quite as well as normal ponies… So, it looks like you’re going to have to carry me!” Alex squeaked as Octavia tightened her grip on his waist, “besides… Seeing as I’ll be one of your primary handlers for the next little while,” leaning in to whisper gently in his ear, “I need to get to know your body’s capabilities better.”

Alex let out an uncomfortable groan, “could you at least loosen up a bit? I’m pretty sure you’ve wet MY pants, and I can feel more than just the heat from your you-know-what on my wedding vegetables.”

She rolled her eyes and scoffed, “pony up, twinkle-toes. If a little heat on your sheath is all that can make you freeze up…”

“Human’s don’t have sheathes, Octy.” Twilight broke in, visibly fighting another fit of laughter, “it all just… Hangs there.”

The shocked blush on both Octavia, and Alex’s faces was enough to send Twilight back into violent fits of laughter.

“So…” Octavia hesitantly began, “all this time, it wasn’t something in your pocket I’ve been feeling?”

Alex slowly nodded, grinning sheepishly. “Yep…”

“Ah…” Ocatvia loosened her grip on him, “I apologise if I have made you uncomfortable, Alex. However, what I said about my walking difficulties, and learning your body’s capabilities is true.” She took a deep breath, leaning backwards from his torso and putting more of her weight into Alex’s arms, “you see, as I said before, due to my… Augmentation, my sense of touch exceeds that of most creatures.”

“Which means?” Alex nervously interrupted, earning him a chuckle from Octavia.

“Not only can I feel every movement you’re making, all the way down to your heartbeat and blood pressure. I also can, well, the best word is ‘taste’ your hormonal levels, and as I said before, your pheromones. So you’ll excuse me when I do this.”

Before Alex could protest, she had already shoved her two middle tentacles up his shirt and suckered them to his back and sides, the tips of them resting just under his shoulder blades. While her front pair (which she had also shoved up his shirt) was already resting upon his chest and abdomen. She had also shoved her rear pair down his pants and gently curled them around his thighs, being sure not to touch anything sensitive of course. She also quickly stuffed a hoof into his mouth, in order to prevent him yelling.

“Now, please do calm down, it’s all purely scientific.”

Alex huffed through his nostrils as the moment of panic left him, and he removed her hoof from his mouth. “You could’ve just asked?”

Octavia flashed him another coy smile, “now where would the fun be in that? Besides…” She eyed him up and down, before leaning back in and whispering into his ear “I can tell you’re at least amused by this, and from the way your pores just opened up, possibly enjoying it a little too much for your liking.” She blew on his ear slightly, eliciting a shiver from the human and causing her to chuckle again, “don’t take this the wrong way, but you taste delicious when you do that…”

“Tavi, I think his eyes are going to pop out of their sockets of you keep that up.” Twilight spoke up, having finally gotten over her mirth.

Alex took a series of deep breaths, calming himself to the point where he could think rationally again. “Twilight…”

“Ah, quit whining and lets go.” Twilight joked, “as I know Rainbow told you, you’re the only available stall… Male we’ve seen in a while now, and some of us are a little more touchy-feely than others because of that, Tavi being one of them.”

“Um, yes, well…” Octavia flustered, causing Alex to snort with laughter and Twilight to giggle, “as I said… Purely scientific…”

Twilight giggled again, “as shocking as this may sound to you, there are some mares on this base who believe that just because you have a working penis, you need to be tied to a bed and…”

“OKAY, I GET IT!” Alex shouted, pushing the unicorn playfully with a free hand before turning to Octavia, “look, Octavia, I don’t mind the whole… Touchy feely thing, but next time, just ask.” He finished in an exasperated tone.

“You’re not freaked out by this? Not even a little?” Octavia queried, gesturing at the tips of her front pair of tentacles, which were poking out of the collar of Alex’s shirt and curled around the back of his neck.

“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t freaked out at first… But you seem nice enough.” He chucked, and whispered into Octavia’s ear, “besides, I think that look of jealousy that keeps flashing over Twilight’s face is priceless.”

He received a lavender hoof upside the head for the trouble, but was rewarded by the two mares giggling. He joined them with a chuckle, before wrapping his arms behind Octavia’s back to support her weight more evenly and following Twilight out the door.

Alex let out a deep, content sigh as he plonked himself down upon the wooden sauna bench. So far, he was the first in the room, which made the least sense to him, seeing as he was the only one who had to remove clothing and wrap a towel around himself.

He winced in discomfort as he rubbed one of the many bruises he had received from Octavia’s suckers from her ‘human frontal load bearing capacity, and motor functionality experiment’ (as she had called it in the end). She had apologised profusely for the bruises, as she had not realized the force she was holding him with before. Apparently the same trick on ponies produced little to no bruising, which Alex had chalked up to their coats somehow providing enough protection to their bare skin.

If he was being honest with himself though, he was a little puzzled by the group of mares’ advances. He didn’t care about the flirting, hell, he probably wouldn’t care if one of them tried to drag him to bed one night (whether he would join them or not was a different question of course). What he did care about was their motives. The fact that, as had been repeated many times, he was the only available male on station worried him.

Alex shrugged noncommittally, closed his eyes and leaned back into the bench again. He would just do what he always did; ride it out and see where it took him.

His thought process was interrupted as the door to the sauna opened, letting a freezing draft in. Squinting through the misty room, he could barely make out the shape of a large pony standing in the doorway.

“Hey mate, in or out, you’re letting out all the heat.” Alex gruffly remarked, somewhat annoyed his relaxation had been interrupted by some random.

The door closed again as the pony stepped into the room, the mist still obscuring their figure. Alex sighed, frustratedly and leaned back again… Only to jump to the side as a soft shink followed by a thunk accompanied a small knife as it embedded itself in the wooden bench where his left hand had been only moments before.

“Ah, so you are quick. I must put that in my report to Sol…” Said the mystery pony in a strangely familiar refined accent, which was accompanied by three more small daggers sent flying in his direction.

Alex rolled, avoiding two of the daggers but letting a short grunt as the third clipped his left tricep. Alex recovered and barreled into the pony, grappling it’s neck and sending a quick series of knee jabs into the thing’s ribs, before being pushed back onto the bench with a meaty thud. A hoof connected with Alex’s eye, snapping his head backwards and almost sending him over the back of the bench. Thinking quickly, Alex kicked over the stand of hot coals in front of him, a macabre smile crossing his face as his attacker was showered with the red hot nuggets.

The pony let out a blood curdling scream and fell out the doorway, the thick smell of burning meat accompanying him out the door. Alex didn’t hesitate, grabbing two of the daggers that had been thrown at him out of the bench, he held them akimbo and bellowed a war cry as he dived out the still partially open door and onto the pony… Whom he recognized as one of the only stallions on base – Fancy Pants.

Alex jammed the dagger in his left hand into the unicorn’s side, hacking at his horn with his right and rolling the pair over so he was sitting upon Fancy’s chest. The dagger in his right hand was wrenched away from him as the unicorn screamed and writhed in agony, Alex noting that he had lodged the blade roughly halfway into the bony appendage. Grasping the writhing unicorn’s face, he also noted a large burn patch on his cheek and dug his fingers into it, while twisting the blade he had sunk into the unicorn’s ribs.

“You’re a really shitty assassin, you know.” He whispered into Fancy Pants’ ear, a trickle of crimson slowly trailing down his face from where the unicorn had struck him.

“Am I?” Fancy Pants wheezed, “If I could make it past the screens… More will come.” His jaw clenched, something in his mouth crunched and his eyes began to glaze over, “long live Sol…”

Alex stared at the corpse underneath him as the bloodlust within him slowly drained. He rolled off him and onto his back, fighting the urge to vomit as he clamped a hand down on the slice made by the dagger on his tricep, which was bleeding heavily and had begun to tingle violently – a sensation he had begun to associate with some kind of magic. The dagger must’ve been magically poisoned somehow, and he could only hope that his genetic protection would win out.

Staggering to his feet, Alex winced as the urge to vomit rose within him again. Slowly, he made his way over to a second steam room (which is where he assumed the other three had ended up) and pushed his way through the door. Sure enough, Twilight, Rainbow and Octavia were just on the other side, shocked and confused expressions adorning their sweaty faces as their eyes flickered between Alex and the dead Fancy Pants. The nausea and dizziness finally caught up with him as he dropped to a knee in front of the three mares.

“Assasin…” he grunted, as he felt hooves pressing up against his chest, “Magically poisoned daggers… Bastard got me. Fuck this hurts.”

He faintly heard one of them scream, as he fell forward and the world slowly faded to black.

A/N: Hey guys, hoped you liked the chapter! Couple of things:

1. I'm going to try writing slightly shorter chapters, like this one, from now on to make things a little more manageable.

2. I called Octy a double bassist as opposed to a cellist, as in every picture you see Octavia and her instrument in, it looks way too big to be a cello.

3. I won't just leave the Pelican discussion there, I'll pick it up again in a later chapter.

As usual, comment if you notice anything unusual grammar/spelling wise, and thanks for reading!