I awoke slowly on my cot, taking in the room around me. An emptied test tube sat in the middle of the room, surrounded by several computer consoles displaying all kinds of weird stuff. There was one door in the room with no windows, and the door was magnetically shut and opened; preventing me from leaving, if I wanted to that is. I liked it here, it was nice, much better than outside. Everybody here was nice to me, more or less, especially Dr. Hans, the one in charge of me. A completely brown unicorn pony, he was the nicest to me; always telling jokes, just to make me laugh, helping me with my exercises and training. Yeah, life was good. The only downside was Shadowlight. He's always such a downer, never wanting to have any fun. Always being all depressed and stuff; no matter what I do he just won't even smile!
After a while I decided it was time to get out of bed; feeling like today was a good day. I yawned and stretched like a cat; which made me giggle. The one thing I didn't like about being down here; no pets. Which meant I couldn't get to see my cat, Bast. Dr. Hans kept telling me she was okay, but I didn't believe him. Speaking of which, it seems I woke him up at his desk.
"Goooood morning Dr. Hans!" I cried, nearly knocking him out of his chair. I laughed at his reaction, getting a scowl in return.
"Dear Celestia!" He screamed, stopping his fall. He brought a hoof up and fixed the glasses on his snout. "Not so loud Ghost! You nearly scared the life out of me!"
I giggled again, "Sorry Hansie!" I said, bounding off my cot and coming up next to him.
He scowled at me again, which only made my smile bigger. "You know I don't like it when you call me that! Dr. Hans is just fine. Now I think you should calm down, Princess Celestia is paying us a visit today, don't know why though."
I smiled even bigger, exclaiming, "Oh yay! Tia's visiting! She hasn't come down in a while."
Dr. Hans shook his head at me, sighing as he said, "And you must simply stop calling her Tia. It's not at all proper for you to be talking to her so informally."
I gave him a knock on the shoulder, pushing him unexpectedly out of the chair. "Oh don't be such a tight-tail Hansie, Tia doesn't mind when I call her that." I didn't notice I actually pushed him out of the chair, so when I looked over I had to put a hoof in my snout to stop myself from laughing. "Oh no, I'm so sorry! I don't know how strong I can be sometimes! I'm still getting used to all of this extra power...." I said, moving over to him and extending a hoof.
He pushed it away, hopping back on his hooves. He brushed off his white lab coat and reached a hoof up to fix his glasses again. "That's quite alright Ghost, it's only to be expected. Although try not to hit me so hard next time...." He said, rubbing a hoof against his leg.
I gave him a quick nod. "Of course, of course. Now when will Tia be getting here?" I said, containing a bit of energy.
He sighed at me calling her Tia again, but said nothing as he got back into his chair, fixing a few papers that had gone askew in his fall. "Not too long I would assume. Probably any minute now actually." He said as he settled the papers back down next to his computer.
"Oh good, I can't wait!" I said, trotting away from him and sitting down on my cot, content to wait for Tia to come.
I didn't have to wait long for her, as a few minutes later the magnetically sealed door opened to reveal Tia, along with another doctor of the facility, Doctor Ray. I haven't talked to him all that much, but I heard he was kind from Dr. Hans. This didn't show all that much, however, as I detected small traces of pain written on his face, along with a stiffness while he walked. Somepony had hurt him, not physically, but mentally. That sent my curiosity ablaze, so I decided to send a gentle probe towards his mind. Not to my surprise, but he didn't feel it as I wormed around inside his head. I was careful to stay away from his memories, but I couldn't help feel the stabs of pain that racked his brain. Something was imprinted on it... “I’d be careful what you say around me...”
I didn't have time to go over it as Tia addressed me, "Hello there Ghost. I'm hoping you are finding the accommodations here more than pleasing?" She said, the melody of her voice making me smile.
"Of course. Although it's quite different from what the rest of Equestria looks like, it's nice. I can train whenever I want and your staff couldn't be better." I finished with a smile.
Princess Celestia smiled, obviously happy with my praise. "Excellent. I'm glad you are finding things so nice around here." After saying that, she raised a hoof in the direction of Dr. Ray. "This is Doctor Ray, he's in-charge of the Number Twelve project." Oh that, I heard about that one. He was the one they were going to try making from scratch, with no help from DNA or using other ponies. The fully brown unicorn pony in a white lab coat similar to Dr. Hans' stepped forward, still in shock from the mental trauma.
"Hello Ghost. I think this is the first time we've met..." He reached out a hoof, to which I shook adamantly. "My name is, as the princess has already mentioned, Doctor Ray. And I am, in fact, in charge of the Number Twelve project." He paused for a moment, his face contorted in a brief flash of pain before he continued, "Which is what brings me here today. We haven't had much luck in communicating with him... Successfully, so we thought you might have better luck."
I pondered that for a moment before replying, "So he's finally out? That sounds like fun. All I have is Dr. Hans and boring old Shadowlight to train with and keep me company, so anypony new is welcome!"
Dr. Ray smiled cheerfully, "Excellent! The princess and I think the best time to introduce you two would be during today's training session."
I nodded. "That sounds good. I can see what he's made of before we actually get to know each other. That's the best way to meet new ponies!" I said, going over to my footlocker and pulling out a small necklace. Using some magic I clasped it around my neck and nodded to the two of them. "Ready." I wore the necklace any time I trained, it was the only thing I was allowed to have from the surface and I always thought it brought me good luck.
Trotting out of the room with Princess Celestia and Dr. Ray, I turned right, while they head left and down another corridor, heading towards Twelve's room. As they went off, I headed down the straight corridor from my room, which was brightly lit by several rows of lights lining the corners of the ceiling. The hallway was also lined by other doors leading to rooms, some of which I didn't even know where they went. As I trotted through the hallway, I passed by Shadowlight's room just as he was leaving for breakfast.
I called a greeting, "Hey Shadowlight! Wanna get some training in today?"
He glared at me as he left his room, heading to a door two doors back in which the cafeteria was housed. "No," he growled, going through the door which made a small hissing noise as it opened and closed.
I shrugged and stuck my tongue out in his direction. "Fine!" I called, "Suit yourself. Look's like I get to train with Twelve all by myself!" I said, not at all sad that he wouldn't be joining us. I continued trotting down the hallway until a minute later I came upon a large double door, like the ones in our rooms, only thicker and more reinforced. Putting a hoof up to a scanner, a small light appeared and it scanned over my hoof. A second later a tiny beep sounded from the device and the doors hissed open.
I see the room everyday, yet it still seems to amaze me everytime I see it. In all my time living in Ponyville I had seen nothing like it. It was a room large enough to fit at least four two-story houses. Bright lights illuminated the entire area, although they could be turned off by a switch next to the door. On the upper part of the leftmost wall was four pieces of one-way glace placed directly next to each other, allowing the instructors to watch without getting in Shadowlight's or my own way. There was a small screen next to the light panel, which held the controls for the rest of the room. You could design any type of training environment you wanted, from simple targets to combat situations. If you could imagine it, it could be put together. Bounding happily to the console, I stepped close, thinking on what would be a fun test to welcome Twelve.
"I got it!" I called out to myself. As soon as I had the idea in mind, I projected it with telepathy towards the machine, which could be operated either by imputing what you want on a keyboard, or by telepathy. The console let out an audible beep to confirm it got my order before the room went pitch black for a moment. A second later the lights turned back on to reveal the setup I had chosen. I giggled happily, as it turned out exactly how I wanted. The top half of the training room where the glass was was still lit, but towards the ground there were large wooden boxes, about the size of a small house, scattered in a maze like pattern around the room. The lower half of the room was dimly lit, only so you could see about a meter in front of you at any time.
This is the type of scenario I work best in. Sure my powers work well in an open field with full light out, but the dark is where I'm most comfortable. I locked the light-switch and console until I gave a voice command so Twelve couldn't cheat. I couldn't take a chance with him, I didn't even know him yet! I looked down at myself to see that my powers had already taken effect, hiding most of my body from sight. I strengthened the power, hiding my spiritual, mental and physical presences. At this stage, nobody, not even the Princess could find me. Of course I can control it at will, but it sometimes likes to start on its own. Dr. Hans has found that out on several very funny occasions.
With myself Ghosted Up, as I like to call it, I quickly flew up to one of the nearby boxes, giving me a good view of the doors and decided to wait for him to open them. To pass the time, I began to hum a soft tune to myself, one that I learned back when I was a filly. I didn't have to wait long, although he didn't necessarily use the door. He just teleported in. I stopped humming as soon as I saw him, although I couldn't really make him out all that well in the lighting. Although my first thought was he doesn't like walking all that much if he didn't even bother to use the door.
A familiar red aura began to show around him, lighting him up like a candle. My own aura was white, another reason for my name. I could tell from the brief moment his aura was up that he was extremely tense, not at all happy with where he was. I decided to have a bit of fun with him, he looked far too serious for being right out of the tank. Not even ole' Shadowlight looked that grumpy when he came out.
Using two small spells, one to hide the wind and sound from my wings, and the other to give me enhanced night-vision. The first was an very common spell, while the second was one of my own design. Nopony else knew it but me. Flying off my crate, I turned myself upside down and hovered a few inches from his face. I unmasked my head and screamed, "HI THERE!"
The sent him back a few paces, eyes wide. He recovered quickly from his shock and gave me an angry scowl. "Why you little..." He growled.
I let out a small laugh, unmasking the rest of my body and flying lazily above him, still upside down. "You're funny Twelve. Serious, but funny." I called down at him, laughing a little more.
His aura flared again, his anger obvious. “Don’t you ever... EVER, do that to me again.” He hissed angrily. Oh he's a grumpy one alright, I thought to myself. After a few deep breaths he calmed him self down, a small smile breaking out across his face.
I giggled once more. "See, it's not THAT hard to smile!" I flew in-front of him and straightened myself out. I smiled brightly. "You can't stop me." I cooed, before booping his nose. "You're it!" I called, hiding myself from sight again and running into the maze of boxes. "Catch me if you can," I called in an ethereal voice, the quality it took over when I was concealed like I was.
I was only one box in, not wanting to make it too hard on him. After a moment I began to feel his spiritual signatures began to fade, although not completely. His mental activity was very active though and it was like a bright light in the middle of an otherwise dark room. From somewhere near the door I heard a strange maniacal laughter, followed by a hollow voice, “You’re a fun one, Ghost... Although, I think I could get more enjoyment out of Shadowlight or Eleven than you.”
I projected my voice above him. "Why's that?" I said a little hurt.
“They think outside of the box. You are more... What’s the word... Predictable.” He said, not to harshly, but not very nicely either. I knew the game he was playing with me immediately so I guessed he wasn't serious. At least I hope he wasn't.
"How can you say that when this is the first time we've met?" After I said that, I decided it was time to move. Although I wasn't going to be easy on him anymore, so instead of hiding behind a box, I shifted my body inside of one. Closing my eyes, I purely used my sense to find that he was still standing around the place where he had originally jumped to.
“Shadowlight spoke of you, my dear.” He said, his aura moving forward then stopping a few steps later. He continued, “He speaks very low of you, too.” I sensed him flying, stopping just before the sections of light picked up and hovering there.
With his harsh words I decided to have a little more fun with him. Placing the echo of my voice just to the left side of his head, I whispered. "Boo." At that I sensed him skid sideways through the air, before staring intently at where my voice had come from. I continued as normally as I could in my state, "Shadowlight doesn't like anyone that isn't Shadowlight. Not even his Doctor is fond of him."
“Is that so? Then he has a intense distaste in you. If I recall correctly, he said he wished you had been one of the eight that failed. Then after, and I quote, ‘No, I wish she never existed.’” He recited.
I felt a slight pain in my chest and noticed that my aura had flowed out of me, probably due to the way I was feeling. I was lucky I was inside the box, as my aura is very difficult to hide, especially when I'm already hiding. "I knew he didn't really like me, but he really wishes I never existed...?" I said, actually hurt. I made a note to myself talk with Dr. Hans after this but I continued, "Well... That's not really relevant to what we’re doing, so are you going to try and find me or what?"
I felt a shift in the air next to me followed by the disappearance of his signature. A moment later I heard a soft, “Boo.” from next to me. I jumped a little in the air, turning towards him as he began laughing. I looked at him in shock as he stopped laughing, “That is why it was relevant, my dear Ghost.”
I let out a small chuckle. "Good one." I said, giving him a small punch in the shoulder, which coincidentally sent him flying out the box with a crash. I looked in awe at the hole he made, moving over to it and staring out at him laying on the ground. I tried holding it back but I couldn't help the burst of laughter that came out. I keeled over in the hole he made, unable to stop myself from laughing. He picked himself up and I could feel his gaze on me. I calmed myself down and picked myself up from the hole I was laying it. "I'm... Sorry..." I said in-between the laughs, "I don't know my own strength sometimes."
He sped towards me at a faster-than-normal speed, stopping right in-front of my face. I went cross-eyed looking at him as he said, “I boop your nose.” He paused for a second, his raised hoof in-front of my face, “Boop.” He cooed, just as he hoof connected with my nose, sending me out of the box in the opposite way. As I went airborne I could hear his laughter from the box, to which I joined in, still flying.
"Wooooo!" I screamed as I sailed, crashing into an adjacent box. I cushioned my crash a bit, coming out of the hole holding back my laughter. "No fair!" I called, "You did that on purpose!"
“Don’t be such a tight-tail.” He said with a big smile, “I’m just being me...” After that though, his eyes lost their light, his stare going right through me. My smile faded as I trotted out of the box I crashed and went over to him.
Waving a hoof in his face I called, "Hey Twelve, you there?" I got no response, his eyes still without light. I got a little worried, calling once more, "Helloooo? Is anypony home?" Just when I was about to go off and get a doctor, his eyes flicked back to life, the spark behind them rekindling. At that I sighed, relieved. "Oh thank Celestia. I thought your mind wandered into the void for a moment there...."
“Yeah, it did...” He said staring at me for a moment before his horn started glowing as he cast a spell around us, encasing us in a small bubble. “It’s just... I don’t know if I am really being me, or if this ‘me’ is just some scientist giving me my own personality..." He sat down heavily, his hair obscuring his face. He continued just as heavily, “I was made from nothing, so they had to do something to me, but at the same time, I could have developed my own free will...” He shook his head at that before continuing further, “I just don’t know. My day already had a bad start with Dr. Ray. Although, I will admit the time in here brought me out of the mood, yet here I am, back in it...” His voice was heavily laden with sadness, which started to rub off on me, which I didn't like one bit.
Going over to him, I sat down next to him and nudged him with my shoulder, saying softly, "Hey Twelve, it's not all that bad. Don't think about what you are, or how you are made, only think of what you'll become. Who you are is up to you, not some scientist in a lab. Hay, you could be like... A great warrior! Or... A famous actor!" I said with a smile. "Being all sad and stuff isn't the way to live. You gotta... Grab life by the wings and proclaim, 'Life! You're not all that bad of a guy and I think we could be friends; if you want to make me sad, well then I'll just have to disappoint you!" I said in an authoritative like tone, which only served to make a small laugh come out of me.
He joined me in laughing, after which he said, “I think I’m going to have a little ‘chat’ with Shadowlight. You’re nothing like what he said.” He said, nudging me with his shoulder.
I looked at him seriously. "Don't hurt him. What he said didn't hurt me... Really, I'm okay. But thanks for offering, that means a lot." I said, giving him a smile I knew was weak.
“I never said I’d hurt him. If I hurt anypony else today, I might get sent back in that tank for Celestia knows how long.” He said, standing back up after he was finished.
I joined him, putting a hoof in the air in-front of him. "Well it was great meeting somepony new that's for sure! I guess this is where we say goodbye for today?"
He extended his own hoof towards me, to which I shook adamantly, almost seeming to shake him. “For now. If you need me, feel free to come by my room. I’d go insane if I was left with Dr. Ray.” He said his voice jittery. I loosened my grip and he retracted his hoof, placing it once again on the ground.
Doing the same, I giggled. "Of course! You can come by my room anytime you'd like as well!" I said with a big smile, reaching a hoof up and wrapping it across his neck, giving him a hug. "See ya later!"
He returned the hug, wrapping a leg around my shoulder. “I’ll see you later. I’m likely about to get scolded from Celestia, though...” As he said that, Princess Celestia walked in, proceeded by Dr. Ray and Dr. Hans. The three of them approached us, Tia giving Twelve a scornful glance. As they stopped a few meters from us, Dr. Hans came up next to me.
"Come on Ghost, this is between Princess Celestia and Number Twelve." He said, trying to nudge me along with a hoof. I merely shrugged him off, wanting to hear what would be said between the two of them. He pushed me harder, "Let's go Ghost."
I turned and looked at him intently. "Dr. Hans, I would like to see what will happen to my new friend, if you don't mind." I've never talked to him like that and it had shown immediately. He looked at me wide eyed then glanced at Tia.
"Dr. Hans, if she wishes to stay, then she is perfectly allowed to." She turned her head to me for a quick second, "Although I warn you, do not interfere with our discussion." She said sternly. I nodded at her.
"Of course Tia." I said, she turning her head back towards Twelve. Dr. Hans sighed from behind me and moved next to me.
"You asked for it..." He murmured, refusing to look at me and instead was looking either at the ground or Tia and Twelve. Dr. Ray was beside Princess Celestia, looking a bit timidly at Twelve but otherwise the pain he had been caused before seemed to have subsided.
I nudged Dr. Hans a little. He looked up to me and I gave him an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry Hansie. I know I shouldn't have talked to you like that... But Twelve and I are beginning to like each other and I don't want to just walk out on him."
Dr. Hans returned my smile and nodded. "Of course. It was wrong of me to try and get you away from him." He said, his ear twitching slightly. I noticed something to and he and I turned our heads towards the two of them. "They're not talking...."
"They must be using telepathy." I said, looking at Dr. Hans again. "Did he do something that bad?"
Dr. Hans shrugged and shook his head. "I don't know Ghost. All I know was the Princess Celestia was furious and ordered Dr. Ray and myself down here at once." Once he mentioned how Tia had been, I decided to get a good look at her, going over her features. She appeared calm on the outside, but as soon as I looked in her eyes I saw a fury burning there. Something Twelve had done really angered her. But what did he do? If my hunch was right, I think I would be finding out soon enough.
Out of nowhere Twelve said out loud, “That... That is not an option.” He seemed a bit shocked by this, obviously not having meant to have actually said that.
Tia was still seething with anger, although the switch to normal communication seemed to make the conversation between them easier. “Twelve... This is not up for debate.” She said, leaving no room for debate. Twelve's aura had also sprouted up, glowing a lighter, as well as brighter shade of red, more so than when I first met him.
“Who am I? Your sister? Do something wrong and you immediately imprison them?” Even I lowered my ears to my head as he said that. That was too sensitive a topic to bring up, even in an argument like this. Seeing that this was about to escalate way out of hoof, I decided to intervene, despite what Tia had asked.
I trotted quickly in-between them before more harsh words could be said and Twelve getting himself in more trouble. I held a hoof up in the air, saying, "Woah there guys, no need to continue with this." At my interjection Princess Celestia gave me a harsh look.
I flattened my ears against my head again, looking askance at the ground. "Now, I know you asked me not to interfere Tia... But I could feel things were going to get out of hoof really quick, so... I decided to try and mediate you two." I looked up from the ground at Twelve saying, "Twelve... I think it would be the best for all of us here if you just go along with what she says."
He looked at me for a few moments, his eyes flickering around in thought before he finally looked away and at Princess Celestia. “How long am I stuck in the tank?” He asked.
“Three weeks.” She said in a taciturn tone, obviously eager to be done with this.
I looked over at Twelve to see his head and ears lower towards the ground. “Great...” He murmured. He was like this for a few moment before Tia moved away, her point made.
"Dr. Ray, Dr. Hans, if you could take Ghost and Twelve back to their rooms. Lights out early for you Ghost." She said, marching out of the room through the still open doors.
I took this without complaint as Dr. Ray moved over to Twelve and began to escort him out. "I'll come by and see you tomorrow, maybe give you a little company!" I called as he was being ushered out of the room. I don't know if he had heard me or not, but Dr. Hans moved over to me, looking every bit of sad that I felt.
"You heard her, we'd better get moving." He said, making an effort to keep his head up and a straight face. I gave him a smile and knocked him, very very lightly, on the arm.
"Hey, don't worry about me. If I know Tia, she'll be calm in a few hours probably. I'm sure you'll be okay too." I said, as we both began trotting down the hallway to my room.
He returned my smile, looking a little cheerier. "You're right. Thanks for that Ghost." He said, his voice showing that I really had made him feel better. We didn't get to say anything more as we arrived at my room, him placing a hoof on the scanner outside the door. After a moment the door hissed open and I trotted inside.
I looked back at him and gave him a smile. "I'll see you tomorrow Dr. Hans." I cooed.
He returned my smile, getting ready to shut the door again. "See you tomorrow Ghost." He cooed back, pressing his hoof against the mechanism and shutting the door tight. I didn't hear anything from outside, but I knew he was working a set of buttons. The first sign was the slight whir that sounded as the magic suppression field took affect on the room. The second was the dimming of the lights, barely enough to see by.
This didn't effect me that much; making my way towards my bed, I settled down in a comfortable position and tried to calm my mind. The events of the day running through my head. Number Twelve... Yeah... I definitely like you already.... Those were my last thoughts as I drifted off into a dreamless slumber.
