Her golden hooves clacked away at the polish linoleum floors of her castle. Princess Celestia was headed to the most secret room of her palace. One where no guards, no spectators were ever allowed. The lighting of the hallways began to grow dimmer and dimmer. She reached the door and opened it with her magic; a lime light reaching out into the now dark hallway. She stepped through the doorway and the door swung closed behind her. On a nearby table sat a collection of containers, each holding a red substance and labelled with a single letter; "C", "S", "D", and "N". She continued into the room and stood before a large cylinder-like case that reached up to the roof. She placed her hoof on the cold glass and the sound of her golden shoe meeting the glass echoed through the room.
"My Dear Experiments...," she said in that calm, motherly voice of hers, "... Soon... You will awaken... And, soon, I will see of how much use you are to me."
"Princess?"
Celestia turned around to see a young mare coming from around the back of another set of cases.
"Ah, Reverb," she smiled to the hesitant young mare, "Here for your duties, I presume?"
"Yes," Reverb smiled back up at her, "I just got here. Would you like I just do the usual duties or is there something new you wanted me to do?"
"Just the regular tasks will do. See to it that everything keeps to schedule."
"Yes, Princess," Reverb nodded, heading to one of the elaborate machines beside the cases she came around.
Celestia simply nodded and gave her experiments one final glance before leaving them in Reverb's care.
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Reverb made her way about the machines with great ease, as if it was something she did so commonly. Like it was just part of her life like brushing her teeth or her mane. She touched a hoof to her head and sighed before looking into one of the cases. She looked at a red and black pegasus who was submerged in deep sleep; a frozen state.
"So, what're we gonna do today, guys?"
She began walking around the room and looking in all the canisters. She acted like they were actually alive. She stopped in the front of the room and looked into the room's depth.
"Should I tell you another of my stories? Or should we play another game?"
She wasn't expecting an answer or even any kind of response. She just felt like they were alive already... Like they were already as real as she was. At least, she wanted them to be. After asking her questions and not getting any answers, she returned to her regular duties; monitoring their breathing machines, vital signs, and continuing to make sure they would awaken according to schedule.
Reverb's body was aching with anticipation at this point. She couldn't wait til her "friends" awakened. She didn't have very many to begin with and every time she pictured them awake and free, she imagined them all hanging out and having fun. She couldn't wait til that day.
She finished her duties for the day and made sure to tell each of them goodbye, even though she knew they wouldn't respond. After locking the secret door behind her, she headed into the city and caught the train to head back to her sister's place in Ponyville.
As she made her way there, all the other ponies around her avoided her and moved to the other side of the streets just to get away from her. She was always an outcast; shunned from a majority of the community. Due to the fact that she had an introverted unicorn horn since birth and because she had a crazed twitch similar to Tourette's; the other ponies deem her as weird or unusual. And of course, they avoided her entirely.
"All these Canterlot ponies are stuck up, anyways," she half pouted, half snorted to herself.
Reverb was one of the friendliest ponies. She loved doing crazy, stupid things to make others laugh. But, because of her "uniqueness" (as her mother called it), the other ponies shunned her and seemed to ignore her very existence.
On the ride back to Ponyville, Reverb stared blankly out the window. It seemed like every time she left her "friends", her heart sank a bit. She really couldn't wait until they were all awake. Her hoof began to twitch against the window sill. She had come to realize that her twitches started in her hooves or her ears and soon would spread through out her whole body, slowly but surely. As she felt it coming, she noticed the horrified and disgusted looks the remaining Canterlot ponies gave her. A single tear escaped and ran down her cheek as she tried to still herself and continue looking out the window.
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Reverb made it back to Ponyville, her home, and stepped off the train. She looked around for her sister, Vinyl, glancing over every pony head around her.
"Reverb! Over here, silly!"
Her ears quirked to the sound of her name and she looked in the direction of which it came. A blue pegasi mare was standing on a bench near the exit, waving her hoof in the air at her. Reverb stared for a moment and then laughed, heading towards her.
"Kaleidoscope, what're you doing here? I thought you had work to do at your craft shop?"
"You think I would miss welcoming you back after 6 weeks?!," Kaleidoscope pouted, stepping down off the bench, "You got that mysterious job up in Canterlot and then decide to move up there in a temporary apartment. I've missed you, you dunce!"
Kaleidoscope hugged her tightly and Reverb just shook her head and laughed.
"Sorry, but you know how jobs are."
Reverb pushed her off quickly and held her by her shoulders.
"So, tell me, what all glorious things have I missed in my absence!"
"Reverb, you know nothing exciting ever happens in Ponyville. Especially not around the likes of us."
Kaleidoscope sighed and Reverb shook her head vigorously.
"Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope-ity. Nope."
When her friend gave her a confused look, Reverb just laughed.
"Trust me," she assured her friend, "Our lives are going to be much more adventurous here in a few short days."
Reverb trotted off, leaving Kaleidoscope staring after her in confusion. She was beaming with excitement. She really couldn't wait for her "friends" to awaken.
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Meanwhile, back at the secret room, something was happening. The glass on the first container began to crack. The crack spread halfway down the case and then, stopped suddenly. The lights flickered momentarily before they all shut down. The only light in the room was illuminating from the cases. The liquid substance that filled the cases was slowly beginning to drain and the crack in the center case began crawling down it again.
Finally, the whole case shattered, spewing the remaining liquids in it onto the floor. The pony that was once caged inside, now fell limply to the bottom of the case. The light of the cases flickered as it's eyes flew open and the other glass cases shattered. The room was cast in the green tint of the case lights and one blue and one red eye beamed and shown brightly in the glow. Slowly, the other experiments began to awaken.
No one could have been prepared for what was to come.
The center experiment took a loud gasp for air, tearing off the gas mask he wore and the lights went out entirely. The only thing visible in the darkness was the glowing of their unnatural eyes... Glinted with some mysterious darkness... And an eery whisper echoed off the walls...
"... Reverb..."
