Verse One - Grand Opening
Unity, First Symphony : ‘’Dark Crescent Moon over Bloody Street Minor’’
Verse one : Grand Opening
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Pyanepsion - New Moon (First Day)
I woke up by the sound of the rain outside. The pearls of water hitting the bay window of my living room. When did i fall asleep?
I shifted around, several empty bottles falling to the carpeted ground with a soft thud. Headache.
I ran an hoof on my desk, in desperate search of something, anything, to ease the trobbing pain in my brain. Hey, that rhymed.
Shut up. That was horrible.
Gee, happy-go-lucky brain again. Thanks for your morale support.
My hoof stumbled across my tabacco box. I took an hooffull and shoved it in my pipe in a dextrous motion (more like a tired wave of the hoof), took out a box of matches from my tail. After two tries, the thick cloud of sweet smoke went in my lungs, welcomed by a joyfull grunt. Nicotine. Now, all that i needed was some coffee, and i’ll be ready for work.
But, first, shower. I fell asleep on my desk yesterday, and my coat showed it pretty well; its and bits of furr stroke at funny angles everywhere, a line of dried-off drool escaped from my mouth, and i couldn’t see my eyes through the darkened circles of fatigue. My mouth felt like paste, and my overall body felt like it was sore from running a marathon. I couldn’t remember even walking out of this appartment in the last weeks. Months? Anyways. Instinctively, i removed my clothes, with little difficulty. I could only think about outside. The sun. The wind. Mye ars flatteneed on my skull. All of it wasted in search for that formula. The dark atmosphere of my junked appartment. My smile faded when i thought about all that i missed outside.
Today was different. I had to go back to the lab. I found the one lead we were all looking for yesterday, and spent the night exploiting it. I had to show it to my collegues. I could finally get out of my self-infliged exile from the lab, Finally!
Anyways. I’ll be talking about it for hours today. I had to focus. FOCUS! Fuck you brain, let me think!
I made my way in the tub, closed the glass door, and twerked the knobs. Hot water fell on my face, so i closed my greyish aubergine eyes. They had lost their shine long ago, when my mother died. When all of my friends abandoned me. They said friendship is magic, but it was bullshit in the end. They all betrayed me.
I couldn’t get out those negative thoughts out of my head as my hooves, full of soap, ran over my pale grey coat, giving it an ironic shine. As if my shining furr would reflect my bright, happy mind.
My hooves were becoming similar to rust on an old chariot; plaques of hoofnails were all edgy and stuck the carpeted ground of the appartment, and kept on sticking to the trash everywhere.
My wings were pretty awfull, too. They turned out dusty and rusty, with all of those weeks without flying. I wasn’t really like your usual pegasus; my talent wasn’t in flying like them. It wasn’t anything special. We’ll come to it later. The feathers needed a long preening, but i’ll have to stop at some spa to make them do it; My unicorn father never really teached me, and i hated to do it by myself. Seemed like a waste of time. Working on weak, dirty wings wasn’t very appealing anyways. I washed them absent-mindedly, and turned towards my new problem; my head. My nuzzle was all stomped, since i slept on it. A quick soap and rinse helped it a lot. And my mane. My mane! It was long, too long, like my tail, and it’s old silver color had long ago lost it’s shine too. All in all, i was a grey pony in the background, always in the shadows, with little to no background. Father was the head of the NCR (New Canterlot Republic)’s police, and had to work in contract with Unity, that shady marketing company. Everyone could clearly see that it had it’s strings a bit everywhere in every industry, and the police was only a team of investigators; the rural police was assured by (guess who?) Unity itself, with it’s robotic patrols. They said that technology could save us from our lack of evolution, but Darwin was wrong about one thing. We were supposed to evolve in touch with the nature, not by enslaving it and killing it like we do today. About an hundred years ago, it was all about friendship and sticking together with the animals as friends. Nowadays, it’s all about profit and killing animals, destroying their habitats and enslaving the poor to the the rich’s hardwork.
The skies were dark, always so grey. Never, or rarely, could you see the real sun again. It was all holograms nowadays. And my appartment was pretty rudimentary; i had no IA, no electronics. My fridge was an Icebox! Could you beleive it? And i lived in Central Canterlot!
I shampooed my mane and rinced it, then went out of the shower. I smelled good, but didn’t look like anything. I tried to comb the long strands of hair out of my face, to no avail. I looked like a rebel DJ with longer hair, and a long beard. Like a mess.
A waste in a wasteland of profit.
I came back in the living room, still wet, and took my pipe again. At least, the sweet numbing sensation in my muscles from smoking hard tabacco made me feel something. I worked with dead things all the time; and i saw so many dead ponies in my life to say that Death was only an escape route in our daily grey routine life. Everyday was exactly the same for everypony.
Today, the only thing that mattered was the amount of money in your pockets or in your bank account. The riches like me had debit cards, and the elite had credit ones. The society would fill our wallets with their tears, and we would spend it all in front of them to show how much we appreciated it.
And weirdoes like me, full of money, would only live like the poor as an act of compassion for our fellow workers. All dead inside, we were only empty shells doing what the society, What the government told us to do.
Let me explain a bit; when you exited high school (more like obligatory prison for foals), you followed the exam. The Exam, that would define in what manner you’d be best to help society.
They told me, Science. I went to science. And then i followed high classes about science. Science, science, science. It was all for naught. The things we’d come with could only be afforded by the rich, but usefull to the poor. Society contribution, my rump.
My cutie mark had never shown up. That was why i was a weirdo. A scientist with no talent in science that doesn’t know what’s his forte. A pegasus that wasn’t made to fly.
I sighed, and took a swing from the half-empty bourbon, sitting idly on my desk. The bottle of Bronco was my only friend; it helped me work, and helped me sleep. Yeah, Drunk Science!
The pipe refilled, held in my teeth, and the tabacco pouch hidden in a saddlebag along with my documents, i went out for the first time in weeks.
At least, it would be a good day. It stopped raining.
Author's Note
Hello folks.
Here's the first chapter of many, introducing the Unityverse. I've been DMing a few games of MlP:RiM in this world, and wanted to share it somehow, for those who didn't like tabletop RPG's. So, here it is, in story.
Any comments, likes, unlikes, anything, are appreciated. Critiques too, if they're constructive. And sorry for the spelling, I'm Canadian French.
Verse Two: Drop the Bass!
Unity – First Sypmhony : Dark Crescent Moon over Bloody Street minor
Verse Two : ‘’Drop the bass!’’
I exited the small junky appartment, landing on the blackish concrete of the streets. Unity’s guards were at each street corner, watching ponies in their black metalic armor, under the gray skies of the smoged city that is Canterlot. Ponies of all colors, though a bit dusty due to the smoke falling in ashes a bit everywhere, coats unshining in the absence of any visible sun, all of them walking silently on the same cacophonic rythim of hooves on the ground.
I could only wait for an opening and join in the traffic of legs and tails as the current took me to the Mane street, past Canterlot Park. I lived in a dirty appartment on Lilypad St., one street away from the famed park that brough much tourism, in the city that looked more and more like Manehatten everyday. The streets were all on the same frame, so basically, pegasi could see an ocean of buildings following the same rows everywhere. A huge chessboard for the giants of this world, Celestia and Luna, who tried to get their prized capital more technologically advanced and productive than any, maybe thinking they’d make some kind of model for others to immitate.
We approached the corner to Mane street. I was to follow it and get down the first Staircase (yeah, i lived on the top, in the same used-to-be noble quarter of the city), and then try to get on any un-blocked street available to get under the grand walk of screw-like forming stairs to get to the Equestrian Robotics Tech lab.
Oh, maybe time you knew about my job; i was the Chief of the Breeding team. We worked on a way to synthetically (and at will) change or base race. Any earth pony would be able, within minutes, to become a pegasus and soar the skies, then a unicorn and learn magic. Then swap back to earth pony, to do their usual industrial work of manual labor. Wouldn’t that be something awesome for the science?
That is, until we hitted our (hopefully) last wall. We had the prototype working on some small critters, though it brought only mutation to them. We knew it wouldn’t on ponies, since of our inner magic, but it wasn’t ‘’permanent’’. Any changes wouldn’t last more than a few seconds, before every bone in the subject broke and refused themselves in their original form, bringing lots of pain and usually death to the subjects. We tried on a criminal (who was subjected to death Sentence), and he didn’t last more than a few minutes. As soon as he understood how to fly, the used-to-be unicorn grew a horn and it opened his skull in half. I swear, his brain looked quite the mass, he must’ve been quite the mastermind.
Anyways. Only yesterday had i found that using Changeling blood could grant limited magic feats, wich could be digitalized, re-wrote properly in the machine, wich changed ponies appearances without any pain, or colateral damage. Maybe it could also change the overall appearance- we coudln’t really know. The only thing one needed was a strong enough magical ratio in his blood to accomodate the Changeling’s, that once properly coded, and used with parcimony, could make one change either race or sex. With actually organic organs. With real magic. With real things, that wouldn’t cause any damage. Though, it could only be made a few times per week, and a maximum of 47 per year, or else it could make permanent-permanent changes. Like, let’s say a mane color that couldn’t change. Inoffensive, yes, but it could be worse; mutations that coudln’t be reverted. It was my only fright, so i decided to get back to the lab and take more care of my team; i needed air, i got air. I had to bring them results. Wich i had tucked under my left wing.
I used my right one to get another cigarette from the pack in my mini-saddlebag, and a lighter. I ignited the tabacco and inhaled longly. I I was so stressed. If we actually did find out that i was right, i think i’d try to become a unicorn for one day, and learn magic. I could get a perspective unknown to me, that could help me get new ideas, methods, anything to help me in my new projects. We’d try to make such machines more compact, and maybe we’d be able to synthetise life after that. Imagine! Synthetic alicorns as super soldiers in our army! The griffons will think twice before trying to invade us. The changelings too! And what about the zebra tribes raiding Fillydelphia? We’d crush them! No more war! Just fear and respect towards ponies, the one race that could change it’s breed on the go. Maybe we could first try to code out an alicorn. Would the princess let their DNA be analyzed easily? Stress soon turned into excitment, as i realised i was already at the base of the First Stairs. I was on the Technological and central level of Canterlot, wich basically was the one place you went for shopping or working in technologies, science or Magic. We were just under Canterlot’s Castle level, and right next to it was my lab. I mean, Equestria’s finest science laboratory about either new science or technologies. Wich would soon become pretty famous, once my team and i would change the world’s face forever!
I slowly approached the grey and white concrete building, spitting my cigarette’s boch somewhere on the street with a few others, wich would be cleaned by Unity’s trashbots. I couldn’t stand them; once per day, usually at night, an army of robots would undertake Canterlot and give it a clean- using their freaking lasers WE created. Unity stole the technology and used it to make trashbots. It lost all of it’s credibility afterwards. What could’ve become a mass weapon industry was turned into nothing.
Yeah, i hated Unity, oppositively to thousands of others who thought such a thing brang security and the like to everyone. Their products and technology was mostly stolen from other companies, wich they bought once they found something interesting. Well, not my team! I’d stay the only one not to sign their freaking forms! Independant knowledge that will serve every fucking pony in the whole wide world of Equestria. No, Equus! The whole planet will know of my genius, me, a blank flank, and will adore me for my intelect! Maybe Serena would come back.
You know she died, right, and didn’t really quitted you as much as you abandonned her?
Shut up, brain. She threw me out and went away in another country, faking her death. And you know it, we’ve got tangible proof.
And what is it?
Not anything you need to know. You’re supposed to make inteligent things, not question me! Now go back to work!
Anything for you, ‘’Boss’’.
Of course, it was sarcastial. He always is. Anyways.
I pushed the glass doors and went to the welcoming reception. ‘’Hey there, Waffles. I’m here to get back to my team, are they still in lab 827?’’
French Toast, the receptionist i liked to make fun of once in a while (okay, usually each morning) looked up at me from his LCD screen. His puny brown eyes went well with his equally syrupy brown mane, almost looking like maple syrup, wich poured down his shoulders. He kept it pretty long for a guy. And his beige coat remembered the color of french toast, wich was why he was named as it. He might’ve looked funny, but he was one of the most inteligent ponies i knew. He was receptionist only because his job was technician in informatics, wich he could manage on his computer at the reception desk. Governement was as kind as that, taking two jobs that were far from identical and mixing them into something pretty weird and hard to manage. He snorted, taking me out of my daydream, and kind of edgily replied to my joke, ‘’Go fuck yourself, Saul. You’re three days late. You told the chief you’d take a week, it’s been ten days. And of course your pathetic team is still at 827, we wouldn’t want to give them any larger lab for your messing around. Now get back to work and quit fuckin’ up my job!’’
I backpedaled a bit. ‘’Well, sorry dude, didn’t want to mess up with you like that. Anyways. Have fun doing whatever you’re working on. And announce to my superiors that i’m back with unexpectedly great results. We should be ending my researches today!’’
The hint of a smile appeared on his face, his way of showing he wasn’t angry about me, but his job. ‘’Well, good luck. And sorry for being edgy, i seem to have lost my ability to sleep lastly. This job is killing me!’’
‘’You’ll be fine. Let’s take the edge off tonight. My treat. Usual pub, at eight?’’
He nodded. ‘’Sure. And bring Sweets with ya.’’
I nodded in return, and left to my lab. Caramel Sweets was my assistant and secretary : she was in charge of the zoo while i was out. And the zoo was my team. Most of them just got out of university and wanted to get some renown easily : and with me on their side, well, they couldn’t have wished for more. I pushed the large metallic doors opened, and yelled, ‘’Honey, i’m Home!’’. All of them turned to me, except Meds. The old bastard was too busy writing advanced equations on his chalkboard to have heard me. When i only heard three ‘’Welcome back, Boss!’’, i dared to look at them.
The lab looked exactly like when i left. Hazardeous pieces of metal on a few desks, a huge chalkboard with advanced equations of Quantic science, two rows of desks and working tables were siding windows, either facing the court of the facility or the hallway i dodged only to suprise them. In the middle of the room sat a huge pod, in wich you could sit. It kind of looked lie an egg with a shell-lid. Anyways. A small screen and a keypad were kind of glued to the side of the egg, wich would make it operate it’s magicall science. Facing the egg, three stairs leading to my desk and bookshelves, as well as my wooden-engraved chair. A work of art by the ones who made it, i suppose. Used to be in the royal Archives in the Castle, until such things closed, the archives all virtualized a few years ago. I was the first one to buy such pre-war chair, fixed on chair wheels, and with a large cushioned seat and back holder. It’s Tail hole was made in such a way, it didn’t bend your tail when you seated. Ultimate comfort for long working hours.
Finally, in the other side of the room, our scrapyard. It contained a large number of filling cabinets surrounding a large mountain of metal pieces and technology-thingies. All parts to make Breeders and other wonderfull things, all in the same spot if we needed anything. Spared us the never-ending travels to the basement for stuff we’d need on-the-go.
Yes, nothing changed. Joe Fisher was still the same light-blue and purple maned guy with little facial hair, fashioned like the thinnest and weakest of unicorns. Though, he was an Earth pony- wich was kind of odd, since he was so thin, and weak, as previously stated. All of the energy his muscles would’ve needed to developp were spent in his brain- making one hell of a neoscientist. His usual field of research was improbable science, though he liked me enough to surrender and become my first scientist in my team.
Then, there was Caramel Sweets, working on her chair on my office. She was a light, cream-café colored pegasus with such soft wings, and the cutest of blonde manes. Long and shining, they didn’t belong to the dark greyness of Canterlot.
Jade, the green Unicorn with a dark red mane made up in a ponytail, with red eyeglasses. She was a brilliant informatician, as well as chief technologist and chief mage of my team. It would soon be nine years she worked under my command, and many more years that we’ve shared classes at school or university together. You might call her my rival and friend in anything.
Meds, on the other hoof, was the mastondonte of our team. A Massive, though aged chestnut stallion with a black mane, and bright green, lifefull eyes. He inspired joy, honesty and confidence at the same time. He used to be my mentor; though he gave up and went under my orders the day i won to him at a chess game, it was sort of a gamble we made. Wich i’ll make someday with my pupil, if i ever found somepony masochist enough that would want to live at my side for a few years as my assistant. Wait- i already had one crazy, masochist pony. Problem solved, thanks brain!
Fuck you, you Dishwasher whore.
That isn’t an existing insult! How come you have to create new ones just to fuck with me, brain? ‘Know what? Shut up. I’m brilliant.
Anyways. Back on topic. (try to follow, brain.)
I was flabergasted. I only now realised, there was only four of my team left. The other desks and working tables were empty. The tables were clean. And only four were always as chaotically full; thoses of Sweets, Fisher, Jade and Meds. The others have been deserted. Where was all of my group of cultis-i mean recently ex-students? I needed praise for the news i brought! Anyways. Seems like they decided to cut down my team while i was gone. Happened everytime. But they wouldn’t usually remove 75% of my team without any good reason! ‘’Hum… Where’s everyone?’’
Jade simply answered, her muzzle in her books and screens, ‘’They all left when you did. Lost faith in the project. I don’t think they knew you’d come back, as usual, with either the last-minute saving find, or the worst of news while being drunk.’’
My hoof found the back of my head, and i bore the most embarassed expression ever. Maybe half of my blood was in my cheeks! ‘’Gee, sorry guys. But even sorryer for the others; i found what we’ve missed. Magic has it’s limits, but Changeling blood doesn’t! I found out how to re-code it using the usual hospitals DNA reader, twerked up a bit. Did you know that it reacted to the re-coding? That’s why i left. Wanted to find if any codes could be made. And i found them!’’
The lab rats (remaining members of my team) all ran to me, Meds being the first. Seems i finally had his attention! ‘’Wait. Did you say Changeling’s blood? I was about to try something about it! Guess you beated me to it.’’
Fisher gently shoved the old bones of Meds asside, and piped up, ‘’Wait! Didn’t you leave because you were out of options? You lied to us! Anyways, you came back to share the fame, so guess i can’t blame you on that one.’’
Jade silently sneaked up behind me, and rested her upper body on my back to hold me in place. ‘’As a way to repay us for running away with the only team’s lead in this research, you’ll have the honor to be the first test subject, as soon as we’re done modifying the machine. I hope you didn’t mess in the codes you wrote, since they’ll mean your own success or failure. And WE will get some credit since we pushed the button on the machine.’’ She let go of me and turned to the others. ‘’How about it, guys? Isn’t it a good idea?’’
Everyone cheered, at the only exception of Caramel Sweets, wich came to save me. ‘’Hey, don’t you pick on him like that! He’s done his best to get the job done. He needed air, he got some. We all do such a thing once in a while, right?’’
Jade the tenebrous scum looked at me with manipulating eyes. Of course i knew she’ll get what she wants anyways. I cleared my throat to get everyone’s attention. ‘’If Meds gets to revise the codes i wrote this morning at three AM before falling asleep on the Pegasus’s one, i’ll happily be test subject. And don’t you all worry, i couldn’t have get this far without all of you. Now, let’s all finish this up! I want Jane on the Breeder, Meds on the codes, Fisher on the DNA tester, and Caramel, you’ll go in the basement to ask for some fresh changeling blood. A hundred milimeters should be fine enough. As of me, i’ll do what i do best : Push you around to prove who’s boss. Now work, you adorable yet puny slimes!’’
All of them cheered in perfect harmony, ‘’Yes Sir!’’
҉
An hour and a half later, all of us were about done. My wings couldn’t stop fluttering in anticipation, and everypony’s smile were beaming in the lab. It didn’t take a doctorate in psychology (though i had one) to know that, with our respective results, everything will be working. The results were 100% confirmed through the machine’s auto test run. All of our calculations, based on previous tests, and those we had now, showed how we’d been wrong, and how right i was.
One by one, my little team came to sit on their desk, smiling so widely, hoofbumping each other. I was smiling too; my coding for the machine couldn’t be more perfect; i had tripled-check every possible variant, and those i had typed on my PDA, wich showed on a big flat screen behind me were perfection itself. Scienced perfection.
At last, Meds looked away from his chalkboard, chalk still between his shaky lips. He spat what little remained of it on the ground, and turned towards everypony, who all stared at him in awe.
He had took every possible possibility and mathetically considered wich one would happen, and calculated their overall possibility under the lab’s atmosphere, pressure, temperature, well everything modifier. The only option left was a huge ‘’SUCCESS!’’ written over everything. My eyes fell on Meds. I’ve never seen him so happy, and i knew deep inside that he’d never, even if he tried, make any mistake in maths. He was also our expert in Medecine (His red cross over quantics symbols cutie mark was clear enough), and he calculated the percentage required; nearly half of one’s blood’s concentration would have to become Changeling’s, though afterwards, the system would simply change the code’s variants to change the subject pony’s race again.
At that, i must admit, my heart fluttered a little. Knowing that 43,0948% of my blood would become a changeling’s sure wasn’t appealing, after all. And i was the test subject on this one.
I looked at everypony. They were all looking at me expectedly, almost pleading me to just run inside that damn machine and test it already. I looked at Sweets, more especially, nodding towards the lab’s door.
‘’Go in the basement again. Get us some more blood. I’ll get ready for the test drive.’’
She jumped over her desk and ran through the door, and everypony stood up simultaneously. I walked down the three steps separating us, and went towards the machine. I hoofbumped my colleagues as i passed near them. When i arrived at the machine, some sound captured my attention; i couldn’t tell what it was, but it clearly wasn’t good.
‘’Fisher, is this coming from the machine?’’, i said while expanding my wings a bit, never once turning to him.
‘’Huh, i don’t think so. I think it came from outside.’’
I shook my head. ‘’From my position, it clearly came from my right or from the machine. Meaning that it was either the machine or-‘’
Sweets stumbled into the room, her face red from exhaustion. Before she could say anything, Jane went to her. ‘’Thanks to you, Caramel. We were about to be waiting for that changeling… ‘blood’. Now come along, let’s see the fruit of our labor!’’. Jane jumped on Caramel (not unlike how she jumped on me earlier), and used her hind legs to push her towards me, were everypony had reunited. Fisher took the large plastic bag containing the blood, wich appeared to be radioactive greeny and blue at the same time. I wondered how it would looked like once oxygenated- the blue tint would become red, and the green one would become... A mystery, i guess. Anyways, Fisher took the plastic bag and simply threw it in one of the machine’s many slots.
‘’There. The needles should be sharp enough to tear that bag appart anyways.’’
I looked at him and shook my head. ‘’Nothing will be left in the hooves of Luck today, Fishy.’’ I took a scalpel in my mouth and walked to the machine’s blood recipient (apparently), then sliced what appeared to be the plastic bag, before using my hooves to deverse the bag without any of it coming close to touch me; such thing now belonged in my body, not out. And i wouldn’t risk any contamination.
As soon as it was done, i took out the empty bag, rolled it in a ball and threw it in the bio-disposal trash. Fisher looked at me with his best ‘i don’t give a shit’ glare, while everypony else smiled. Meds and Jane were nodding towards the machine, as Caramel mouthed ‘speech!’ a few times. I sighed and leaned against the Machine’s hard shell, just next to it’s serial model, ‘000000002’. The first one had blew up when we started the project, as a newbie tried to over power it to make something go faster on it. Two teamates went to the infirmary, three others were bruised or slightly harmed. And the newbie never showed up again.
Anyways. Today, i trusted the prototype. I trusted the team. I trusted the maths, the codes, the informatical system we runned on. And i trusted Sweets more than anyone.
I cleared my throat. ‘’Well, everypony. I’m at a loss of words. D’you really expect some speech and a picture right now?’’
Meds almost yelled, ‘’Get in that machine already! I can’t wait to see you wiith an horn!’’
Oh. That’s what they’ve been doing. Meds knew how much i’ve once dreamed to perform feats of magic, and how much i’ve thaught my cutie mark to be magic related. That’s almost what drew me to make the research in my field known to the Equestrian labs, and what made me team’s chief of it’s projects.
And today, it all came to an end. If i still beleived somewhere in that foalish dream, i will soon have a cutie mark like everyone. Yeah, like i cared anymore, anyways. My lack of cutie mark was what made me unique, like everypony’s cutie mark.
I was so deep in thoughts, i started to get inside the machine. ‘’Alright, everypony. See y’all in hell for what we’re about to do today, and wish me science. Luck can go buck herself.’’
Meds and Caramel chuckled at that. I got all ready for the machine’s run, even strapped my hooves using my wings, so the mechanical arms would have more ease at finding my veins for the blood transfer.
I turned to Caramel Sweets, and smiled. ‘’You’ll take the flag if i don’t come back. Though I trust all of us’s work in this. Oh, and we’re going out to the pub tonight- seems like somepony wants to celebrate a bit, other than us after that historical moment.’’
In a fluid motion, Jane jumped on the machine, and shoved her hoof in my mouth. ‘’Quit whining and start testing already!’’. She back-flipped her way to the ground after that.
I chuckled a bit, ‘’Alright, alright. Caramel, initiate the program. Medic, Jane, and Fisher : stand back and monitor everything that will happen during the test.’’
Everypony nodded and hummed a postitive answer, as the cover of the egg-shaped machine closed in near my face. Just before it pressurised, I made sure to wink at Sweets. Just because she needed it.
Then, the lights. They were so many lights coming from that shell, I couldn’t see anything. Then, the numbing pain of the painkiller’s needle swiftly stabbing my fronthoof’s vein. I yelped in surprise as the two other needles for the blood transfer introduced themselves to my jugular and other fronthoof’s vein, and started to either suck or pour their contents in my body.
Then, a loud bang and screaming. What was going on? I couldn’t hear what was being said, neither what was really happening. Just some screaming and… Bombs? Were we attacked by Unity? I should’ve known it! They didn’t like us at Eq labs, always messing up with technologies and making discoveries they wanted to keep for themselves. Maybe it was them, or terrorists? Griffons or Changelings raiding the labs? But why would they raid a lab when the Castle was just…
Just above. Damn.
I tried to free myself, to no avail. I had to stop them! If what I thought was really happening, I had to do something. Anything. I knew how to fight- my father used to be in the police, and wanted me to be able to kill just like him, should things went darker than he expected. Our family had many enemies, and I had to deal with some danger over the course of my life.
Wich made me the only one pony able to defend our team. Damnit! Why isn’t anything stopping? What was going on?
A loud bang. The shell cracking. Danger signals. The pain. I could see through an opening, blood pouring inside the machine. Fuck! In the distance, I just knew that the spot of green furr belonged to Jane. Fuck.
The shell cracked open, revealing a burnt-orange stallion with long blond hair and… Fire wings? What?
‘’No time to loose. Can you stand? Fuck brah! Use that magic of y’all to do somethin’!’’
I had no time to do anything, not even ask what was happening, as the stallion got pushed out from my vision field. Everything was so blurry. Except one thing.
A living shadow, walking towards me, menacingly hovering dark tentacles towards me.
My mind went into a kind of weird phase. Everything was darker, but the dark was so clear. I focused on the dark shadow in front of me, extended an hoof towards it.
‘’Nocte, Necat!’’
A ball of dark energy was hurled from my own mind. I could feel it’s dark, eerie feeling stretching out from my forehead to that horrible figure I was pointing at. I don’t remember if I was screaming. I guess I was, since I had to catch my breath. Why was it so dark? I tried to blink, but I found my eyes already closed. I slowly cracked open my eyelids, only to see the wreckage. Everything had somehow blew up, but there was no fire. Only tendrils of dark smoke-like thing a bit everywhere. Was it all a dream? It felt so… real. So natural. I broke free of the hoofclaws that securely hung me on the chair. I stood up, and disengaged myself from the machine.
I made a few steps in the lab. Everything was so… Eerily silent.
‘’Hey, monster! Come over here!’’
I recognized the voice. It was that weird stallion that saved me. Well, half-saved me. He was holding a glass vial in his hoof.
‘’Come on! Let’s get out before Unity gets here! Hurry!’’
I nodded, and walked slowly towards him. I turned to the lab, once I reached him, and saw the vial he used to hold twirling in the air, coming to a stop against a desk. Then everything did blow up.
I managed a surprised ‘’What in the hay!?’’, just before a fire wing extended in front of me to protect my weak body from the shrapnels.
‘’Damn, science project! Focus a bit! Do you know where you are?’’
I nodded. ‘’My lab…’’, I said under my breath. ‘’Where’s… my team?’’
He slowly shook his head. I understood what he meant instinctively. ‘’Then… Where are we headed?’’
I could hear hoofsteps making their way from the stairs, and the familiar ‘ding!’ of the elevator door.
The stallion quickly grabbed me and broke a window with a little jab. ‘’Anywhere, I don’t care! Just not here!’’
He squished me, producing a little queak from my stomach. What?
My world turned upside down, as he slung me on his back and took off in the sky.
‘’Come on, can you cast some kind of invisibility spell? That’d be great, science project!’’
I gave him a little punch between the wings, ‘’What am I, Science project? I’m Saul Laski! And I ain’t no mage, I’m a pega-‘’ I looked at my sides. No wings. Just regular flesh and furr. ‘’Wait a minute. It worked?’’
The stallion turned it’s head towards me, while flying over the large stairs. ‘’I don’t know, Science project. But you sure have a horn. And a pretty much working one, if you ask me!’’
I looked at him with my best ‘what’ face. You could take my face right now and do the hundred-pieces puzzle with my eyes and muzzle. ‘’I… dunno.’’ I touched my forehead, and almosrt cutted it open. Something sharp was resting on my forehead. ‘’What’s that on my head?’’, I yelled against the wind. The stallion poked my sides with an hind leg. How could he do this? No way somepony could’ve been flexible enough to- ‘’You’ve got a kind of holed-up horn on your forehead, mage. So do an invisibility spell if you don’t want them to chase us!’’
I shook my head. This couldn’t be happening. What was going on? I used to always know everything and have absolute control on things. Now, I was threwn away on a pony’s back and having a free ride.
I let go all of the breath I didn’t know I was holding, and pouted. ‘’How is this my life?’’
The stallion (wich’s name I’ve just remembered: Ebon something) twitched left to dodge what seemed like a magic projectile, maybe from a Unicorn. Or one of those guns we created last week: it was so hard to distinguish the differences without magic goggles.
‘’Hey! Quit whinning and shoot at those assholes!’’
I held myself on his long mane, wich was way longer than mine, I just remarked. ‘’I can’t! I don’t know how!’’
He dived into a nearby alley, and I jumped just before he hit the ground so I could roll like a badass guy. Though, I kinda crashed my back in a dumpster and let go a little tear. A little.
‘’Hey, get up! I’ll show you how to focus, and that’s as far as I know about magic. Come on!’’
I stood up and jumped from the dumpster, the pain in my back substained. Though, I kinda felt empty inside. Weird.
‘’Oh-kay, how do I do that?’’
He tried to punch me, but I blocked easily before he reached me. ‘’Hey, what gives?’’
He grinned. ‘’Do just what you did. Focus!’’
I tilted my head. ‘’Like, focus-focus, or magical-shit-woozy focus?’’
He kicked some dust to my face, but I dodged again. ‘’Focus like you just did. Instinct. Trust your instinct and focus. It should be fine. Try on the wall there- and hurry up before they realise where we are.’’
I breathed in, slowly, and focused on the wall. I could feel some kind of weird hate growing inside me. How rude. It took my senses, and I pointed at the wall. It seemed like the best thing to do. Then, I heard a part of me screaming some weird words. I tried to yell them. ‘’Nocte… Necat!?’’ The voices died. I went again, with more conviction. ‘’Nocte Necat!’’ A ball of energy formed itself on my forehead, and I inclined it towards the wall. Nothing happened. The energy went away slowly, took In by the breeze. It looked like tendrils of dark smoke.
‘’There, seize them!’’
What was that coming from? I looked around. The other stallion was gone. Wait, what? He left me alone? I heard a loud crack, and a dark-coated stallion fell in front of me. I simply moved my foreleg before the body hitted it.
I looked above, and saw the now familiar face of that… Ebon, I guess. ‘’Hey, watch where you drop your garbage!’’
He laughed as he landed. ‘’Come on, get on my back. Unity’s coming towards us. I’ll get us into one of the shelters.’’
‘’What shelters?’’, I asked, as half-jumped on him. He didn’t even move a nanometer of furr.
‘’It’s a surprise. Are you holding tight?’’
‘’Yeah, guess I a-Woah!’’
He took of like a rabbit who just realized it was blood-pressure time (seriously, bunnies are really fast) as Unity soldiers arrived at the end of the alley.
‘’Seize them!’’ Really? They weren’t really creative. Was there their only vocabulary? Anyways. We were already far by now. ‘’Thanks again for saving me, but I think it’d be time I go to the police and explain them what happened.’’
Ebon looked at me. ‘’Seriously, Science project? You really think it’s a good idea? You worked in Eq labs and you think the police, or Unity, can save you? If I wasn’t such a gentlecolt, I’d drop you right there with a bomb over your horn.’’
I coughed slightly. ‘’Wait, you think I ain’t clever? I was the chief of my team! A lead researcher, the only one in my field! I studied things beyond your understanding, heck, your imagination. And we succeeded! Look, I’m a unicorn. I used to be a changeling!’’
He chuckled. ‘’Well, better look yourself in a mirror, cause you are everything but a unicorn, you know?’’
I took out my cellphone from my tail (yeah, best place to stash things you don’t want to loose) and looked at the black screen. It showed me my reflection, though too dark to see correctly. ‘’I can’t see anything. Are there mirrors at your shelter?’’
He laughed. Yeah. It’s an underground complex with walls made out of mirrors. Me and my gang hang out there all the time; Unity doesn’t know of it’s existence yet.’’
I tilted my head to the side. ‘’I doubt that. I knew the one who mapped the surroundings of Canterlot and the city itself on their servers. It was pretty much complete, last time I checked.’’
He shook his head in a ‘no’ pattern. ‘’Nope. I’m pretty sure he hasn’t mapped out inside Canterlot.’’
At that, he dived in a well in the middle of a city park. Hey, Canterlot park? We were next to my home? I totally didn’t know that.
Anyways. He expertly dived in the well, and twisted out so I had no choice but to loose my grip.
I tried to scream, but water soon surrounded me. I swam up to see his freaking smile. He looked like about to laugh. ‘’Shut up, you birdie. Why dropping me in the water?’’
He held his own cellphone and threw it in the well. ‘’Cause you don’t need electronics no more, friend. You see, we’re criminals now; Unity will haunt your sweet ass until the day you die.’’
I looked at the cellphone who escaped my tail slowly falling deeper in the water.
‘’Fuck.’’
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Footnote: Level up!
New Class: Dark Mage: You now have a horn! Though you still lack the know-how, you can now throw spells like a spellslinger! Oh, and did you know you didn’t have to yell? Magic isn’t about incantations! We ain’t in D&d!
New perk: Aviator: you can now ride mounts the same size as you! Thanks to your new mentor.
New spell: Nocte Necat: You can control the darkness of the night, or the usual shadows. Taking power from them, you can cast a deadly sphere of darkness. Yay!
New Passive: Shadow Vacuum: You usually draw darkness like a magnet. Now, you’re like the syphoon in a sink! You draw power 20% faster.
New Passive: Half-Changeling: your changeling blood makes your metabolism, healing and recovery faster. Your reflexes and willpower are also improved by 10% each.
New Sub-Passive: Half-Changeling: You can also use your blood to feed on love. Though it’s still a mystery how to use it! Feeding of love makes you happy, stronger, and all-in-all better. Don’t ask what it does; it’d be too long to describe.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Resistance updates: Ebon is now Saul’s mentor! When they’re together, Ebon’s bombs are more efficient, having an increased radius of 20% and do 10% more damage.
Saul (against his will) joined the Resistance!
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Unity inc: ???* Is still in control over the business! While he’s in power, all troups are more chaotic, less organized and less efficient, though they all gain lifelink towards ???!
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
*??? Is the dark shadow with the tentacles.
Author's Note
There! Sorry it took this long. I've been adding the final touch, then didn't know how to end. So have a bad ending.
Expect more updates, i'll be writting pretty often from now on! I've got nothing else to do anyways.
Comment, fave, do anything. Science for the Science God!
Verse Three: Brass and Winds
Damnit! And I was so close, too!
And just when I thought I had him in my grasp, it had to get lucky and hit me, square in the face, with his fraking magic. Damn half-breed.
I stormed through my penthouse, trying to calm down my nerves. I had one job I couldn’t deleguate, one job I took seriously enough to do it myself. And I was too rusty. I screwed up.
Anyways. I still had other chances. It wasn’t as bad as it seemed; he, no it, clearly didn’t know me. Wouldn’t remember my face. He only saw me under the shadow form; so there was no way he’d be able to find me. But I, in the other hoof, could find him. Easily. I had the world in my hoof. The princess were under my control. Nothing could go wrong unless I wanted it too. My only problem was the damn griffons; and they won’t be for long, since I had agents posted out there, spies and infiltrators already taking hold in the government. Their monarchy will soon become a democratic republic, under my only control.
The dark smoke that erupted from my head, serving as a mane, fell over my eyes. I shook it off to the dark side of my coat. Ponies usually took me for a zebra with less stripes. They didn’t know I was a child of the night; one of the only still alive. Our race had been annihilated by the Changelings long ago; but I remained. And the princess of the night took me under her wing, a few years after, and raised me to understand and control my powers. A fatal error; today, right under her muzzle, I was controlling every single thing in their government. The only thing they still had was heir pathetic magic. Even the elements were regulated now, and under my command.
I passed in front of my mirror, and stopped to look at me. A monster. Just like them. Them I killed everyday, to ensure my grasp on power and fame. What little fame I had. Nopony could ever think that a monster like me was at the head of Unity, the one company ensuring their security… And secluding. I only had to type, and the world would either collapse or flourish.
And I still wasn’t happy. Somepon- something survived at my sight. He even fled, with the help of his new resistance hound. The horror.
I looked at my poor body, half black, half white, in a small maestrom pattern. Smokey darkness were my mane and tail, signifying my rank to my peers. Well, if I still had some. I wouldn’t be surprised to know I was the last of my kind. In fact, I counted on it.
My shifted eyes looked back at me, through the reflection. I still didn’t understand how light could be black or white, depending on how it struck my coat and anti-coat. Whatever. I didn’t need to know how the magic worked to use it; in fact, ignorance was my best friend, everyday. And my only one at that.
‘’Sir, your appointement with the princesses is imminent. Should I announce them your arrival In the conference room?’’
I turned around to one of my brutes, a muscular pony in assisted armor. Those armors my engineers created, giving the wearer decupled strength and resistance. They would walk away without a scratch if they were dropped a bomb on their back. Bullets would only graze the paint.
I shook my head away from my small daydream. ‘’Yes, you may. Tell them I’ll be downstairs in a few; I only need to get my papers ready. Oh, and serve them some of our best wine while you’re at it.’’
The brute nodded and exited through the glass elevator, silently going down to the princesses.
I walked toward my bay window, giving to the glass roof of the conference room. The princesses could be seen, sitting on their seats, waiting for me. Yes. Today was the very first time they’d meet the head of Unity. The head of the organization that controls their very moves and government.
Me, their old protégé. I couldn’t help but laugh at that, as I walked to my office.
-҉-
Ebon brought me in front of the sturdy metal doors of the sewer’s entrance.
A part of my mind couldn’t help but yell at how cliché that was. During the little ten minutes walk to get there, he explained how I’d have to join the resistance now, along him and a silent mare, and seek to destroy Unity with them. Personally, I ain’t really into vengeance and all, but if I could get some kind of payback upon those who killed my team, my friends, and destroyed all of my work, all of my sacrifices, literally my life: I think I’d get a gun and start shooting.
Ebon knocked on the door three times before opening it, by turning the valve counter-clockwise for two turns. The door opened itself to a large gear, fitted in the wall, next to a console. On the gear, I could make out some runes and arcanic letters, but they were a mystery to me.
Ebon walked to the console and pressed a few buttons. I looked at the gear, wich slowly started to retreat in the wall with such noise. It would take a few minutes to open, I’d guess.
I turned towards the other door, wondering why such security would be used for a sewer. And why would Ebon knock on the first doo- oh. They were impact runes on the other side of the door- if the door would be opened without knocking over them, they would release so much arcanic residue, it would empoison the whole room here. And those on the gear-door would surely be sealing the other side from the arcanic residues. Brilliant. But they seemed a bit too complex for being sealants.
I shook my head, banging it on the wall to my right. Wait- What? How could I read magic? I looked up to the gear door, and slightly understood, through the patterns, how the glyph was maintained without any constant energy feed. I could see how it would be reusing the arcane residues to turn the whole room into a furnace in no more than two flat seconds.
The worst in all of that, was that if a pony was even slightly touched by the arcane residues, and if the gear door was touched too- it would make a kind of lightning reaction, burning the insides of the touched pony, as well as the air around him/her.
And I somehow understood that in a few seconds. Was magic language basic knowledge of unicorns or what? And why was all of this happening? I only wanted to get home and drink.
Absentmindedly, I took out a cigarette and ignited it, before breathing out. Such relief. No more stress now, no more nothing. I took another puff, and closed my eyes. If I had enough willpower, would I be able to simply vanish and go away? I think It would’ve been best to die a few hours ago. I wasn’t some kind of hero. I’ll never be able to live like a criminal; no less be able to live normally again. Even if I ended up shipped to the zebra lands, and somehow hide my new horn, no fucking pony would like to hang out with a monster. Less hiring me. Damnit, the only city which had jobs for me now haunts the living shits out of me. I was in the undercastle’s sewers, wich leaded in the crystal caverns under the castle. Wich’s castle was the siege of Unity and the ones hunting for me right this instant.
I had lost everything. I could forget the sun. I could forget money, fame, science. I could forget it all. I’d become just like the horrors my father used to kill, just like the perverted minds my father used to put in jail. Before he was killed, for unrevealing… Unrevealing what, exactly? He last told me that nopony would be safe anymore, that the one he tried to catch was higher than his boss, hiererachly speaking. And… That nopony could ever catch a living shadow.
Living shadow.
I almost choked down. I coughed like a madpony, and my eyes bulged out of their sockets. Though, as Ebon turned to me, I tried to hide the surprise look on my face. He couldn’t know yet about how much I knew. I’ll keep this info as a metaphorical ace in my metaphorical deck. I knew exactly who I was up against; the one who killed my Father. Or, at least, the one who commanded the kill. I wouldn’t fight for my freedom. I’ll fight for vengeance. With a determined look, I threw away what little remained of my cigarette, wich hissed as it hit the dark brown water of the sewers.
I had to get back over the ground. To get back to his home, to his office. There was a safe in wich he putted all of his files; the new residents of that house would never find such a thing. You had to literally break a wall to access it without the key. Wich…
Wich was hidden in my own safe, back at my home. Would we be able to pull it off? To go back to the surface? Maybe that ‘silent mare’ Ebon talked about would be able to help us!
I turned to Ebon, wich was looking at me with question marks floating in his irises. ‘’Hum… Are you alright? You kind of started mumbling to yourself, and your horn kind of twitched a bit. Maybe you’d want to lay down a bit?’’
I shook my head a bit. ‘’Sorry, what was that?’’
Ebon looked even more puzzled, but even more, he looked like he cared for me. Care? What was that word nowadays? ‘’Yeah. You look like you need a rest.’’
I shook my head. ‘’Nah.’’ I looked at the now opened door, and walked in before him. A mare walked up to me, and quickly analyzed my body from tail to hooves. She seemed to take a long look at my flank- no, my cutie mark. What a girly name for such an important thing in life, and society. Anyways. She gave me a curt nod, wich I interpreted as a ‘’Go on, you’re clear enough to go in.’’. Ebon pushed me inside, and went to a couch. He didn’T even mind closing the vault door.
He looked at me from the couch. I must have been looking hazard, taking in the sights of the large circular room- it made me think at some old cartoon from my youth, TMNT. In a corner, large couches and a coffee table holding books and pads, as well as a few pencils. On the other side, a small kitchen, along with a large table with many chairs. In another, walls enclosing what I thought would be latrines; or something like this, eventually. And, in the last one corner, a large table with a map, a few chairs, and bookshelves leaning on the walls, filled to the brim with old dusty books. A few were missing- surely those that rested on the coffee table. There also were three other small circular doors, probably leading to bedrooms and the like. From the corner of my eyes, I also spotted a pile of hay and rags, behind the couches.
Ebon faked a cough to get my attention. ‘’You look tired. You surely need to rest yourself a bit; using that much magic missiles in your first ‘I-can-use-magic-day’ must be tiring.’’
I gave him a reassuring smile, and turned my head towards the silent mare. ‘’No, sleep is for the weak. But I’ve just got a good idea. Maybe you’d like to help me with something? It could maybe entrust the princess to our cause. It clearly was Unity chasing us. And my father used to be looking after them, being the lead investigator of the royal guard and all. And he had a file on them, in his safe, wich’s key is in my home. Right next to Canterlot/Central park. They must contain some info that could be of some use to us, right? Some info that could make the princesses trust us and dismember Unity?’’
The silent mare looked at me with a weird… Shine, in her eyes. It made me feel a bit uneasy, but I shook it off. Ebon pushed me to a table with a city map on it. ‘’Look.’’ His hoof pointed a certain point in the city, right next to some kind of scrapyard. ‘’We’re right under here.’’ He slid his hoof to the middle of Central Park. ‘’And this is where you want us to go.’’
I smiled. ‘’Yeah. You got it.’’
He frowned. ‘’You don’t seem to understand. They’re looking for you out there. And, right in the middle of that park, there’s a cargison of them. And, across the park, is their general headquarters.’’
I kept the smile on my face growing. ‘’Yeah. No problem with that. We can either wash them off, either sneak out there. Easily.’’
He locked eyes with me. He seemed slightly pissed, and a bit anxious now that I think about it. ‘’You don’t understand. I’m the only one here who gets to leave the sewers. They know her more than they know you, and they’re clearly surrounding the scrapyard. They think that’s where we hide. Once in a while, one of them patrols the sewers. Even if you can prove your worthiness in combat, you simply can’t sneak past their magic sensors. You’ll get caught, and we won’t be able to do anything for you then.’’
I kept smiling. ‘’Yeah. But I know what I’m doing.’’
He slammed an hoof on the table, sending the map flying away in the air currents, wich led it to the floor. He kept silent for a bit, clearly trying to put his toughts into words. I don’t blame him for being a bit impulsive, but I do praise him on his restraint. ‘’Okay. Here’s what we’ll do. I’m going to hang you on the ceiling and keep you from going out until you can untie yourself without magic, and put a dagger on my neck while I’m sleeping.’’
I smiled. ‘’Or, I can simply wait for the night to come, and move in the shadows like my father thaught me. True, I was a Pegasus back then, but I still know how to walk lightly and without a sound. And we won’t have to care about theses unity guards. Simply let me do my job.’’
He shook his head negatively. ‘’If you think about sneaking up on them, it won’t work. Even I, an earth pony, can sense your magical energy. Quite uncommon and large. And yet, you seem impossible to use it.’’
I still had an ace in my mental card deck. ‘’Wait. I can still talk myself out of anything; how else do you think I could make the directors approve of my every actions and lead the most renowned scientists around? Unity guards are only but psychologically altered unicorns with no willpower. They won’t be able to resist a mental blow like I can deliver.’’
Ebon and the mare looked at me like I was a freak. ‘’There’s no such thing as mental energy. Teluric, Necromantic, Aeric, arcanic, yes. But mental? You’re trying to fool me so you can escape, right? Well, I’ll tell you a little something. We’re all in the same boat. They catch you, they’ll read your mind and know where we two hide. Let’s just do things as I planned, okay? We’ll go take out your files when we’re ready. Until then, we follow their radio calls, and when something important enough comes, the patrols stops. So we can get out and save the innocents like you. Then, we come back here, hide our flanks for a few days, then do it all again. And when we’ve got enough numbers to take down a few of them at a time, we go out and kill the patrols, steal their power armor, and make our own army. If we all go out and see the princess afterwards, an army of fifty criminals, and tell them the truth, it’ll speak for itself. Though, your files are a good asset. But we’re far from ready!’’ He almost shouted that last sentence.
I lowered my head. I knew we could make it, and if they found out my stuff before us, it’ll be too late to get the keys. We’ll have to break out the safe, and we clearly couldn’t do this.
‘’Wait. You can’t simply tell me to sit around and wait. And you clearly can’t tell me I can’t use mental energy! Look!’’
I looked at the nearest wall, and took out a few electrodes, plugging them on my head. An halo appeared over my head, it’s familiar blue hue showing me that I was fully charged. I began to focus my thoughts on the wall, and pictured myself before my ‘mutation’. In a flash, a copy of myself in two dimensions appeared on the wall, looking at me. ‘’See? We could fool them with images of ourselves, or dangers they can’t overcome, and get some weapons and intel in my father’s safe. It’d be easy! And that way-‘’
I couldn’t end that sentence. The electrodes died down, the halo turned red. Then, the headache sinked in. I tried to hold it, but almost fainted after a few seconds.
Ebon clearly saw how I held my head in my hooves in pain, and snorted. ‘’Yeah. You keep showing me how much you fail at this and I’ll keep you here for ever.’’
I took a pained breath and tried to hide the headache, as it faded out bit by bit- it would take a few hours to completely disappear. ‘’Well, I showed you illusions- I can also shoot things. Though… I think my electrodes where a bit soaked…’’
At that, a crackle and an electric explosion took me by surprise. The electrodes on my head exploded, and burnt a bit of my furr (it didn’t hurt that much, though).
Ebon laughed his ass off. ‘’Okay. I get it. You’ll be the brain of the team, alright, but you’ll get to stay here with the priest. And, if you stop humiliating yourself with your broken stuff and overconfidence in your skills, I’ll let you make the outside excursion plans. Though, one thing first.’’
He took my hoof and shook it. ‘’Welcome to the resistance, Saul. And has our newest member, I name you as the Sewer’s bitch.’’
I looked at him, narrowing my pupils to slits. ‘’What?’’
He chuckled a bit before going on, ‘’Your duties will be cleaning around, using our intel and incoming members’s skills to our advantage, and making every plan. In short, you’ll be the agenda, the taskmaster, and the reference book. You’ll also have to plan out everything. Myself, Ebon FireHeart, as Co-Foundator, trust you to the Sewer’s Bitch position, and let you hold onto…’’
He shuffled inside his inner coat’s pockets, then took out a little wooden necklace with a large ‘R’ engraved on it. The circular pendant was dark, and the letter was painted silver.
‘’The Resistance’s Proof of Adhesion! It’ll let you come in without any other need of ID, and let you understand Silence’s weird eye-and-symbol language.
At that, I turned to Silence, who sighed. Her pendant, as I could see now, glew in a multitude of colors, and her eyes were like a lake- you could see riddles on the surface. Then, I heard her in my mind. ‘’Welcome in the resistance, and don’t you ever take what that asshole says seriously. And, most of all, welcome to the family. Hope you’ll find your place quickly enough- wich is, as your rank says, Way. Under. Ours.’’ She then shook her tail upwards, lifted her head a bit, and took off. Her pendant was shining a vivid purple; I took mental note of it.
Ebon gave me a quick fraternal hug. ‘’Welcome to the family!’’ He then leaned his muzzle next to my ear to whisper, ‘’and don’t ever get close to her when she’s bitchy. It hurts.’’ He jumped back on his hooves, and pointed me to the corner of the large room, where the pile of rags and hay rested. ‘’It ain’t much, but it suits your rank. There’s your bed. Now go to sleep, I’ll wake you up at around two AM. Then, we’ll plan out our next leave outside, then I’ll train you in hoof-to-hoof and the arcanes. G’night, newbie.’’
At that, he trotted away, in the same direction that mare went. Realisation took me at that same exact moment- I was now a criminal, and my mercenary’s group were at the same moment my captors and liberators. How ironic.
I jumped on the bed, and rolled myself into a ball, not unlike a young pupy. ‘’G’night, myself…’’, I muttered. How surprised i was when I heard a voice in the bottom of my mind whispering back.
‘’And welcome to Tartarus, asshole.’’
______________________________________
Saul: Level 6.
Ebon: Level 13.
Silence: Level 12.
_______________________________________
???: Level 24.
???’s Second-in-command: Level 20.
???’s first General: level 16.
_______________________________________
Politic news: The Government raises the taxes on Alcool. Manifestations are incoming.
EqRobotics’s Canterlot branch as been closed. Most scientists have died in the explosion.
The grand Staircase is closed until several criminals have been catched by Unity. Fear takes ahold of the population.
Celestia’s former captain of the Royal Guard is still missing.
The Griffin General Hecathon Chirez will soon be sent to Canterlot as a diplomat to rediscuss the terms of the former peace treaty. War might be at ‘’bay’’ (more like Cloudport).
Author's Note
Sorry it took so long. It was sleeping in my folder, and i was sure i had published it a week ago. Oh well.
Anyways. There it is.
