72by PaperbloomChaptersPrologue1234PrologueThe moon was lifted from the yellow tinges of sky to the coating of the night. Of course, the transition was as seamless and smooth as the texture of a silk dress, but a secret edginess was lodged in each and every pony who has heard of the messages. The signs. It made the daily life of Equestria uncomfortable, like as if the silk dress didn't fit right. Like it still had that weird feeling in the back that couldn't seem to be changed no matter how many times you move it. Even so, life was still peaceful for all, except for the other ponies who were needed to act on every pony's panic. Guards watched over every corner in Canterlot, their staggering numbers struggling to convey the message that everything was still fine. That it was still okay. "Seriously, I still feel like I just need a break. I mean, every pony can't sleep, or do anything because of these dumb ponies who think they so 'great' or whatever. These shifts feel all exhausting." Copper Blue paced on his hooves, the armor sparking itches in every unreachable place. At the start of the evening, he was informed that he was going to be spending another shift until relieved. To aid in his night watch, another guard was sent to him, a dull brown pegasus with a quiet alertness. Probably because he got a nap, Copper thought hastily. "Remember when, you know, the good ole' days were here? Before Celestia read that darn letter, before they got more? Before some ponies decided to disappear and come back all. . .you know." Pleasantly alert, the pegasus noticed his companion gibbering under his breath. Since the earth pony was the only source of noise that was close to him, he craned one ear to listen. The pegasus caught the words, "crazy group of foals," and "some fancy-worded princess mail." At this, he was convinced to join the "conversation." "I'm sure the princesses have a lot on their minds." "OH yeah, how do you know? They're probably affected by these things, too. Why do you think they doubled the guards and made me go on TWO shifts?" Slightly confused with Copper's accusing tone, he hesitated to reveal his whole answer. "I'm still not entirely sure." "Really, well, I figured it out. Can't you SEE?" "well, I can fly." "Buddy, I think I know. Anyway. . .What's the name? Mine's Copper Blue." "Spiny Arrow." "Pfft. . .You have the name, 'Spiny?' Every pony having cool names. Especially you pegasi. And my name is a TYPE OF METAL, for ponies' sake. . . ." The night went on and on with Copper reverting back to muttering under his breath. Spiny Arrow wondered how such a pony was trusted to be in charge of such a task. Maybe there is a reason, he thought, but he didn't trust his own judgement. Not when it was dark, anyway. Spiny wasn't used to night. He didn't like the way it messes up with his thinking. The darkness gets into him like when he was a little colt. He remembered when he had to take out the trash at night, and all of the stories of scary beasts haunted his little body. Especially the stories about the ones in the Everfree Forest. The almost perfect timing of the rustling bushes snapped himself back to his senses. His perfectly rational senses and logic, but also his instincts. Like fear. Spiny caught a glance at Copper, who was looking away still muttering, so he took a quick second to shake his head. His body eased. His fears fled. It worked well enough for him so that he can grow up, at least, like any normal stallion. He was fine with it too, since he was mostly put on guard in the daylight, but he hoped his secret fear would just stay in the dark. But then there was that group. The Flames. Spiny relaxed; a laugh escaped his mouth loud enough for Copper to notice. Spiny quickly pushed away his train of thoughts; he didn't want it to grow strong and make his fellow co-worker catch it. Or course, he could be just silly. Spiny leaped back into the actual reality. It was strangely silent. He swung his head to the side. Copper was sleeping. His fears were trying to climb up again. Stop it, Spiny, he scolded to himself. "Hey! hey. . .uh, Copper. Can't you just get up? Do your duty to the princesses!" Nervousness crept at his throat with his uncertainty of Copper suddenly waking up. "Wait. Wha-what you say?" "You heard me! You. . .your duty is your shift! Can't believe you were even sleeping. Geez." Copper Blue's words wobbled unsteady in the air. His voice was more or less, exhausted. "Woah buddy, you awfully talkative. Di-didn't you hear me earlier? Two shifts, buddy. That's one too much to me. And what you screaming for? Scared or something?" Copper, still dazed, observed as Spiny turned around and stared at something. It was odd. Spiny's ears were pressed back, while his eyes were squinted shut. He was sitting with both back legs, with one fore-hoof seeming to shield him of a terror Copper couldn't see. Even with dreary eyelids, he observed how weird it looked when a grown pegasus guard was frozen in place. It reminded him of the way young foals were scared when they were out too long on Nightmare Night. With Copper was so caught up in the sight, it startled him when Spiny turned around to look at him and shriek,"THEY WERE REAL, COPPER. THEY WERE ALWAYS REAL." Confused, Copper stared dumbly as Spiny Arrow burst out galloping, leaving him into a surprisingly pleasant quietness. Around him, murky clouds of dark magic flooded his surroundings. Copper slumped back further. He dismissed it mostly to the fact that he didn't care. A slight pain crept up his entire body. It turned sharp when he tried to move. A little desire to wake up sparked somewhere inside, but maybe his paralysis will help him sleep. Then again, there was a raging headache building. It became hard to fall asleep. When Copper Blue gave in to the intensifying pain, his eyes shut close. At least he got the sleep he needed. 1Outside, the moon was raised to its highest tonight. The mere presence was haunting, like the eerie pause that marked the interlude between furious battles. It's pale light glazed through the window with a fuzzy white cascading on the hard floors inside. The two regal sisters, who reign the whole of Equestria, stared at the massive doors that should abruptly swing open anytime in the night. Luna broke their weighted gazes, her tone speaking more of worry than urgency. "Dear sister, I understand your concerns about tonight, by why with thee requesting such little help on the matter? We could've gained some help with this mass panic, and you would sleep in relative peace." "All of the other princesses have gained their own problems to deal with. I don't blame them. And if this weapon is as worse as they claim, it's best for us to be the only ones to be affected." The princesses stood high on their hooves, wings arched and heads straight forward. This was the supposed night, the night when everything that the anonymous pony group, The Flames, said that their greatest weapon will be here. It was such an enormous threat to have been sent. It caused news to erupt into Equestria like numerous sonic rainbooms. Their mail was suddenly crammed with voices of their panicked subjects. Normal life was desperately urged to continue, yet news of the outrageous threat even reached The Crystal Empire. Princess Celestia can vividly remember when the first piece of "prophecy" suddenly floated in. It was written with the best cursive, graceful with a poetic feel all through out, yet, it felt simplified with a clear message in her head. Others will join us, and we all will agree that we should remove you and your sister. Then we'll go to the other princesses. Maybe they'll join us. The message was so taunting, so evil, the second thing she did was show it to her sister, Princess Luna. Soon after, Twilight sent other letters too. She needed help handling the chaos in Ponyville, yet, Canterlot wasn't any better. Then there was tonight. The silence vanished when Luna turned her ear towards the doors. Multiple hooves clacked together with the muffled voices of other ponies were heard from the other side. A solid banging sound echoed cleanly across the halls, a slow thud that periodically disrupted the shouts. Luna raised her wings, horn glowing, until Celestia's command rang out to the two guards at the doors. "OPEN the gates!" "Sister, what are you-" Two pony guards slumbered slowly to the princesses. One was carrying a pony with a slumped look and painful look on the eyes. The other bowed respectfully, removing his helmet to meet the princesses' gaze. "Your royal highness. I regret to inform you of an incident that happened just recently. Two guards near the library were attacked. One guard fled, and one was horribly injured." The other pony gently set down the guard to the ground. The guard looked up, and grunted as he tried to stand. Weakly, he moaned his testimony. "He ran, he was scared of somethin' but I don't know. I was tired, you see, and then I saw these weird cloud things, then I just passed out. Hurt even." "Who attacked you?" asked Celestia. "Don't know. But the guard, the one who ran, his name was. . .was. . . Something really cool! Like 'Spinning' or 'Slimy' Arrow. But he just ran away!" "Luna, go with the other guard and find who did this. I'll stand here and get a medic pony to tend to him." "But sister! Are you strong enough to handle this monster?" "The guards outside will need your help, just in case it happens again." "But how about YOU? It might just get every pony and-" A shriek was heard from outside. The one guard immediately galloped towards the source. Luna, unable to argue any longer, took flight. She soared high, darting her eyes from every piece of landscape. When she saw a little earth pony cradled to herself, a small rage kindled at how close she is in finding the dangerous piece of weapon. And judging by the condition of the little pony, she was close. Luna landed alongside the terrified pony, putting a gentle hoof on her shoulder. The guard stood tall, snarling at the surroundings as if to challenge an invisible beast. Luna lowered her head, remembering Twilight's advice to speak softly. "Do speak, and tell us what happened." The earth pony was a pale light color, with odd gray smudges spread across her fur. Her mane was shriveled, a black-brown color. Her eyes were yellow, and the cutie mark was warped. "I'm sick. I ran away and I'm sick. I hate it, I just want to get rid of it. It's gonna come, and you princesses are in danger!" "What's gonna come? Who did you run from?" The pony fumbled to the ground. Her sickly eyes were welling with tears. Her voice was meek now. "Just. . .help me. Protect your sister." "Just tell me, protect my sister from whom?" Fear dawned on Luna as much as mere shock. The yellow eyes turned into slits. Smoky clouds swallowed every pony in the vicinity. Luna's senses were alarmed as lightning crackled once and two shrieks were heard. One was Celestia's. Her horn lit up with defensive magic. The sickly pony was cloaked in the smoke as she stood unnaturally tall with a shadow of a horn and flared wings appeared for briefly a moment. "From me." 2Princess Luna was glued on the sight. That monstrous sight. That pony thing in front of her. The cloaked pony sank out of view, a sneer floating around in the magical smoke. Her horn lit again, and the smoke shrank back. It revealed the guard who accompanied her. He was knocked out hard, his body lying senseless. His eyes, she remembered, were rimmed with a fierce boldness. Now, they just hid submissively, afraid to show its fierceness again. Luna could feel the fierce eyes trailing into a dream, the images still indistinct to him. As the smoke around her spread around Canterlot, she felt many more eyes fade to their own dreams. The magic in the smoke darkened; it taunted of its power. The distress of the very first guard, Celestia's shriek, and the eyes of the "sick" pony gripped Luna. A surge of energy concentrated on her forehead. The grip of her own feelings lost her. Luna knew who the pony was now. She knows where she came from. She heard of it; everyone dealt with it. Every pony in Equestria had their nightmare form into the same thing. The Flames. The unknown. With task and task again, she attempted to soothe their fears, to guide them into controlling it. Then she was forced to come back to the same ponies. Her forehead started to hurt of the electrifying pain. She wobbled to her legs, seeing the smoke materialize to the pony it used to be. Unlike the first image, the pony seemed to keep red irises with her hooves and tail trailing with a smoke wisp behind. "I'm excited to see you like this, Luna," said the pony, grinning. "You made a little hiccup here and there, but you now you're JUST like the shadow of your sister! Again. Just like what Nightmare Moon said, right?" It was beginning to feel a little hard trying to see or stay up, but Luna was pretty sure she saw little fangs in the pony's mouth. The smoke was drawing in closer. . . Luna's voice was failing. ". . .Thou know not of thy own spoken words. . . ." The evil pony strode further forward. Luna, determined to stay conscious, dug her hooves in the ground. Her magic was yearning for an escape, a release from her horn. She tried to picture the sick pony here instead of the thing in front of her. The pony was warning her of herself. She was in dire need of help, but her sickness controlled her before she could do anything else. At last, the magic backed down in her horn, making the pain more bearable for Luna. Her eyes met its gaze. "Pony, stand down. That sickness that becometh of thee is dangerous for every pony." The evil pony seemed to ponder for a moment. Its malicious attitude was replaced with what only showed unmistakable conviction. "No, Luna. I know what I'm saying. I chose to do this. You, your sister, and every alicorn in Equestria must not rule anymore. No pony can really understand that yet. Just trust me. Trust The Flames." She chose to do this. Luna stopped herself. No, she didn't, she thought. The pony stood directly in front of her now, the smoke seem to barely lick around her, almost engulfing her whole body. Luna saw the pony's little fangs fully revealed as she smiled wide. Luna closed her eyes, letting her magic creep silently to her guard that previously collapsed into the unconscious. The sick pony became less real as her magic traveled and wedged open a little piece in the guard's dreamy atmosphere. A transparent, weak fragment of herself cascaded down the dream moon to flow down to the guard, gaping at her majestic entrance. "Greetings, sleeping pony." "Princess! I. . .uh. . .I'm supposed to be protecting you. What happened?" "An imminent danger has quickly come. Be ready with the event of your waking, because tis' the night you help save the country!" The guard swiftly nodded, when more magic leaked from her horn to her dream-self horn. Every soft surface faded away into the pitch black, and she opened her eyes to see the sick pony gaze sternly at the her being swallowed up by the smoke. In the thickened smoke, she saw a stallion hobble to his hooves. Light blue magic tore through Luna's horn; the energy engulfed the surroundings with exploding force. The sick pony was wrenched back and tossed away from the power, skidding on her side from her fall. The princess, glowing with a shimmering aura, soared high, and circled once above her guard companion before softly landing back down. Her horn shined more, circling the sick pony in a barrier of magic. It took a moment to figure out its situation. Standing with a radiating confidence that wasn't just from her alone, Luna's voice boomed with the old familiarity of the royal Canterlot voice. "REMOVE OF THYSELF FROM THY SICKLY VICTIM AND SURRENDER TO YOUR PRINCESS, OR THOU SHALL SUFFER IN THE HOOVES OF. . . LUNA!" The magical barrier around the pony was reinforced with a short horn flick, and Luna motioned the guard to follow her signal. Its eyes brewed a deeper red, the face shadowing a thin cover of mock fear. With a grin and a quick nod, Princess Luna and her companion galloped forward, holding feelings of certainty that victory was within their hooves. The morning that followed was awakened with the sunrise. Sunlit warmth was lathered over the beautiful greens in Ponyville. Ponies rose from their confining beds and started their day's work. Princess Twilight Sparkle prompted the start of her own day by the sweat of her own hooves pounding off the dirt while her magic gripped the bookmarked page of a fresh new book. Her wings arched wide as she pushed herself off the ground. The drifting clouds were at almost eye-level; alarm sparked inside of her as she remembered that clouds were solid. She weaved downwards as one huge-looking gray puff passed silently over her. With the wind mercilessly whipping her mane, she wondered if such a rushed exit was necessary for this. Besides, what would be so important if Princess Celestia wouldn't show up herself with her sister? The time whipped by like the merciless flowing of her mane hitting her muzzle. Soon, the regal tops of the Canterlot castle stood out from the clouds. Each pathway of its streets focused into sharpness as her wings altered its movements to land safely on her hooves. With a gallop and a missing book later, the castle gates swung open with a thundering echo. Three tea-sipping princesses spun their heads in mild surprise to the heavily exhausted alicorn at the edge of the hall. "Princesses! . . Whew, Princess Celestia. . . Luna. . . Cadence. . . Just wait a second here. . ." "Take your time," said Celestia gently. "I. . . .Okay, I'm fine now. I apologize for such an entrance, but princesses, what is so important for ALL of you to be here?" "I'm afraid a situation has gone too far for it to be ignored. The Flames has nearly succeeded in their most recent attack. Their greatest weapon ended up being an innocent earth pony who has some kind of dangerous disease, and Luna was the only pony who was successful into containing it." "But I don't understand. How did a sick pony make you look so bruised up like that, let alone affect all of Canterlot?" Celestia watched behind her as Luna telekinetically brought forward a pulsing orb of blue energy, containing a single pony swimming around in unconsciously in an odd calmness. "That's why we're ALL here." 3"Try again. We require more information about the condition of the disease." Twilight merely grunted as more magic poured from her horn, thoroughly coating the sphere with a sparkling-purple-over-blue. Her magic lacked its former power from all of the intensely concentrated energy used over and over again. "I-I can't penetrate the magic. Luna, we need you to-" "No. We shall try this together." Celestia's voice strung with stern determination as she strode with shimmering mane near the magical sphere. As each princess followed, Twilight Sparkle wondered about what was inside. This was the weapon. Something about the earth pony is lethal, and a sleep spell fused with a shield spell was the only means of having the pony safely here without being a source of danger to everyone. Still, questions coursed unceasingly through her exhausted mind. What would we even try to do without breaking the sphere? If it can break, that is, but she briefly threw the thought away. Of course they have to try, because if the weapon was even just imprisoned, it could still pose a danger. But is forcing themselves in an innocent pony's mind the best way to do this? She took one last look at the princesses. Luna's and Celestia's manes were unkempt, with all of their eyes sunken in their faces. She didn't really look at Princess Cadence's, since she knew that seeing her will only trigger past haunting memories of her like this. Twilight shook her head. She needed to focus. Each princess stood on a side of the sphere. With doubt lingering on her mind, she walked on slowly until she stood on her side of the sphere. Cadence faintly relieved Twilight with her caring tone. "Hey, it's going to be okay, Twilight. We can do this. Just try it differently this time, alright?" She sighed. Lack of sleep blocked her usual problem-solving skills. Twilight Sparkle found herself declaring yet another attempt to penetrate the sphere with magic, but this time, it simply had combined power from other powerful ponies. Everything but certainty weighted on her emotions. "Alright, every pony, let's start concentrating all of our magic in our horns, then after that Celestia can. . . ." Twilight droned on, secretly feeling horrified on the lack of preparation of this plan. It was a blind attempt, like leaping off a cliff with your eyes closed. She watched as different-colored auras glowed on each horn, growing in brightness as their faces burrowed harder. Twilight looked back at the sphere, charging her own horn with violet magic. Her eyes followed the earth pony's own closed ones which calmly drifted with the rest of the body in the prison. With a sudden flicker of the events of Lord Tirek entering her mind, Twilight immediately regretted choosing to do this without her best friends. "NOW!" yelled Celestia, and a bright explosion filled their eyes. Twilight's eyes squeezed shut, leaving her to only feel a small tug of her horn. Her magical energy touched and probed what felt like a concrete wall. It brushed farther and farther, until the walls slowly felt like it had a heartbeat. She quickly realizes that the other princesses must be pounding against the wall. Her magic pressed itself again on the walls. With each thud, the wall briefly felt thinner and more hollow. Twilight patiently waited. When the walls thudded again, her magic harshly rammed against the walls. A hole quickly shattered when she knew the other princesses must have gotten in too. She relaxed a little. Her magic was being gently pulled into some free moving space. Her energy gripped at random, attempting to feel for anything off the earth pony, preferably, a leg. When she was convinced that her probing was useless, a weak yelp suddenly escaped her lips. Something felt like something was squeezing her magic somehow. It was yanking at it, she felt like it was being stretched. The foreign force felt wrong. It felt. . . .too ancient. Like it seemed to always be there in the inside, and it scared her. The squeezing feeling spread, until it also punctured her own energy, trickling all the way to her horn. It entered her body like a parasite, lounging around until it can eat at her. She whimpered softly, feeling helpless on the vice-like grip on her. Twilight lost the sense of privacy as if it sifted through all of her memories, emotions, thoughts and actions. She pictured all of her friends together in the sunny cover of the bright blue sky, enjoying a cheery picnic in Ponyville. This wasn't that. Twilight Sparkle felt like a failure. Instead of bringing her friends along, she decided to do something with only the princesses. It was such a mistake. She felt isolated. She didn't feel like a princess; Twilight felt more like when she saw Nightmare Night manifest before her eyes long ago. Sweat beads fell down with her small tears as she dared to open her eyes. Twilight was overwhelmed at the swelling mass of blackened smoky-magic filling her vision. She saw eyes, then a silhouette of a tall pony-like figure that was heavily reminiscent of Nightmare Moon, yet, she didn't feel like it was her. The image swirled away, replaced with a shadow of a stallion with bright orange tendrils shoot out of his sides like wings. A feminine yell echoed in her mind as flashes of prison-like bars appeared briefly with ponies glaring menacingly. Twilight felt alienated. She quickly gasped for air as the horrifying magic-grip let go, the feelings and smoke passing away like some ghost. The walls of Canterlot was what she first saw. The princesses were sprawled out differently on the floor. Their faces were haunted, with some tears dried on their cheeks. Twilight Sparkle shivered at the sight of the mighty alicorn rulers looking weak, even vulnerable. Celestia dropped her head, a slight shiver still possessing her body. "I. Saw. My. Sister. She-" Celestia stopped, apparently wanting to say something else. Her head shook slowly, a tear reflecting the off-putting sunlight outside. "Them. Canterlot. I saw the whole of Equestria. And-" her expression changed, "and trees. Trees were moving past me like-" "Like you were being chased by something!" finished Cadence. They looked at each other in shock; Twilight didn't know what to make of it. Her heart then bombed at what she saw next. Silence previously filled the air before breaking with the sound of hooves hitting hard ground. The princesses turned around. A relatively small mare was struggling to get up, a light blue aura still fading around her as she stared, sleepy-but-wide-eyed at the worn down princesses in front of her. 4To break, to kneel, to END. . . . . She remembered the metal hallways. She traveled through them time and time again, until she could figure out in a second where she could get out of the horrid building. There was a scraping sound her chains caused on the floor. A bright green stallion with a light scar over his eye followed her from behind. His steps were steady and rhythmic. Her eyes ran over to the right, and then there was a quick shortness of breath. The pony known as Subject 072 bolted. As the clopping of her hooves hit harder on the concrete, indistinct shouts rang out from all directions. The mare's chains were swinging wildly in the air, a clink sound singing out like rusty bells. Bells. A sudden sound interrupted her thoughts. Bells. It was a sweet sound, filled with a joyful ring, with some unicorn magic you can. . . . . . She paused. You can, what? a voice in her head pressed. Can what? With more than a tinge of sadness she realized that it was another memory that was repressed. It was almost forgotten, and because those dumb scientists keep using her for a "good" purpose, there was little hope she could retain them back. "Dumb scientists," 072 muttered under her breath. Her hooves skidded to the side as the corridor turned sharply to the side. Two menacing-looking ponies: an earth pony stallion and a young unicorn mare crouched, moving to further block her path. The mare smirked. They may have locked her memories, but she didn't forget her special talent. A low voice, amplified by magic, clawed through the halls like a desperate cry. "Experiment Capture INITIATE! Third Unit not sealed. . . . Third Unit NOT . . . ." She was running faster now, the occasional chain-lash stinging her underside. The two ponies grew larger; she soaked in the sight of her cutie mark: a dotted line ending in a small flea leaping from a tree. She stared at the two ponies one more time, and she leaped. The amplified voice screeched through her ears. "Subject 0-7-2 escaped. GUARDS! REPORT IMMEDIATELY!" She shifted her weight off a wall, and she felt weightless. It's not something slow; it all happened in a second. 072's hooves brushed past the tops of their manes. Her body was like an arrow, pinpointed to the ground. Before she knew it, she was back on the floor, her legs moving like machines. "Where. Is. THE EXIT?" she breathed. Her eyes fell on a door to the far end. "They're are NOT gonna call me that all over again!" "Then what should we call you, my little pony?" A slender pink unicorn emerged from behind. The green, scarred stallion from before crept from behind, slightly hung low but nevertheless, still looking disdainfully at the mare. "My name. I HAVE A NAME. I'm not your prisoner!" "A name you don't identify with anymore." "WHAT?" "How can you not see your purpose? Our leader needs you, and YOU, alone can help her." Her tone was deceptively alluring. She merely rolled her eyes. "Because, I don't WANT to help. I just wanted my friend back! And now you dragged me into, whatever this is?" She gestured at her chains. "I'm just a darn tool for you ponies! A tool for whatever the hey you plan for in your deluded, dumb, misguided-" WHUMP. Her words spewed out as a groan as her chin hit first on the floor. She looked back to see her chain tugged by a red aura of magic. "Enough of this, get 072 back into her unit, and give her back to us as usual. I have more than a feeling that I need to work on this a bit longer." "I won't fail you anymore, Miss I. . . ." 072 rolled back on her side, cradling at her hurt muzzle. She saw as the two ponies glanced occasionally at her, treating her no more as some thing. Some experiment. A subject. She was determined to escape, to succeed, ever since she failed to find her friend. She never thought it would end like this. To fight, to stand, to STRIKE! There was a whisper that brushed at her thoughts. She heard it sometimes before, but the voice in her head never talked this much. She listened as the voice got angrier and louder; even a slight mumble jumbled her thoughts too much. The mare didn't notice her vision darkening as she was almost overwhelmingly flooded with powerfully moving words. They made her feel angry at what the words contained. The sight of the hallways slipped from her mind as her emotions were concentrated into one simple mindset: pure rage. But it was too quick. It already fell from her hold the moment she clung to her emotions. She felt like she was flying; her mind hung onto nothing. The mare wanted to stop. She needed to stop, so she opened her eyes. Her body was aching, as if she used them too much, but it was strange, because she was only sleeping. She tried to get up, but her legs shook at the mere thought of it. Enough of this, thought 072, echoing the unicorn mare's voice. She grit her teeth as her aching muscles forced her to focus entirely on standing up. Her ears gave no thought at the sound of the voices murmuring in her midst. She only took notice when she saw the four great alicorn princesses gazing at her with a horrified awe. The glum moment of realization prompted her voice to shrink to almost a tearful squeak. "Did. . . . I. . .do this?" The princess she encountered earlier walked towards her with a face that's unreadable. With every step, 072 took notice of the messy mane and her baggy eyes. She was convinced they were going to harshly rebuke her. Instead, she felt a hoof gently lift her face up to meet Princess Luna's eyes. They shone with a sense of kind understanding. "I saw. . . experienced your dreams. Pony, where did you come from?" Maybe if this was a different circumstance, she may have reacted differently, but as her mind flooded with memories of her imprisonment, her face was pouring with tears. She bowed her head in shame. "I'm-they. . . " She took a breath, letting her thoughts settle before cracking apart, wiping a tear before continuing. "I was imprisoned by them. The Flames or whatever dumb name they call themselves. They kept on doing weird tests and experiments with some virus or something that they put in me." She sniffed. "I wasn't safe to other ponies anymore. It made me do all of this to you ponies. I just want to be cured." "Do you remember how you got there?" Princess Twilight inquired. 072 shook her head, angry for her repressed memories. "I really wish I do, but I don't." "But we can know how, now that you're here," said Princess Luna. "Yeah, I guess," she murmured. "Then it's settled! We will all do what it takes to find this group, and stop them once and for all!" 072 felt the stirrings of a familiar feeling, full of awe at the princesses. Part of her mind was secretly leaping for joy when she was at the company all four princesses, but it aware that that side can never really come out. She was mildly startled when a different voice broke. "Uh, Twilight?" asked Princess Cadance. "Yes?" said Twilight. Cadance went closer to Twilight and started to whisper. She gestured to everyone in this room, followed by a nod by Twilight as if she realized something. "Oh right. Then we will stop The Flames, after a good sleep." 072 slightly nodded as she felt her legs being replaced by lead. As the princesses walked away talking to some sleeping quarters, 072 ignored the brief stares as she stretched to make herself comfy on the floor. With the pictures of all four princesses in mind, she fell asleep, caught on the familiar feeling of her hidden joy that was unearthed inside of her.
PrologueThe moon was lifted from the yellow tinges of sky to the coating of the night. Of course, the transition was as seamless and smooth as the texture of a silk dress, but a secret edginess was lodged in each and every pony who has heard of the messages. The signs. It made the daily life of Equestria uncomfortable, like as if the silk dress didn't fit right. Like it still had that weird feeling in the back that couldn't seem to be changed no matter how many times you move it. Even so, life was still peaceful for all, except for the other ponies who were needed to act on every pony's panic. Guards watched over every corner in Canterlot, their staggering numbers struggling to convey the message that everything was still fine. That it was still okay. "Seriously, I still feel like I just need a break. I mean, every pony can't sleep, or do anything because of these dumb ponies who think they so 'great' or whatever. These shifts feel all exhausting." Copper Blue paced on his hooves, the armor sparking itches in every unreachable place. At the start of the evening, he was informed that he was going to be spending another shift until relieved. To aid in his night watch, another guard was sent to him, a dull brown pegasus with a quiet alertness. Probably because he got a nap, Copper thought hastily. "Remember when, you know, the good ole' days were here? Before Celestia read that darn letter, before they got more? Before some ponies decided to disappear and come back all. . .you know." Pleasantly alert, the pegasus noticed his companion gibbering under his breath. Since the earth pony was the only source of noise that was close to him, he craned one ear to listen. The pegasus caught the words, "crazy group of foals," and "some fancy-worded princess mail." At this, he was convinced to join the "conversation." "I'm sure the princesses have a lot on their minds." "OH yeah, how do you know? They're probably affected by these things, too. Why do you think they doubled the guards and made me go on TWO shifts?" Slightly confused with Copper's accusing tone, he hesitated to reveal his whole answer. "I'm still not entirely sure." "Really, well, I figured it out. Can't you SEE?" "well, I can fly." "Buddy, I think I know. Anyway. . .What's the name? Mine's Copper Blue." "Spiny Arrow." "Pfft. . .You have the name, 'Spiny?' Every pony having cool names. Especially you pegasi. And my name is a TYPE OF METAL, for ponies' sake. . . ." The night went on and on with Copper reverting back to muttering under his breath. Spiny Arrow wondered how such a pony was trusted to be in charge of such a task. Maybe there is a reason, he thought, but he didn't trust his own judgement. Not when it was dark, anyway. Spiny wasn't used to night. He didn't like the way it messes up with his thinking. The darkness gets into him like when he was a little colt. He remembered when he had to take out the trash at night, and all of the stories of scary beasts haunted his little body. Especially the stories about the ones in the Everfree Forest. The almost perfect timing of the rustling bushes snapped himself back to his senses. His perfectly rational senses and logic, but also his instincts. Like fear. Spiny caught a glance at Copper, who was looking away still muttering, so he took a quick second to shake his head. His body eased. His fears fled. It worked well enough for him so that he can grow up, at least, like any normal stallion. He was fine with it too, since he was mostly put on guard in the daylight, but he hoped his secret fear would just stay in the dark. But then there was that group. The Flames. Spiny relaxed; a laugh escaped his mouth loud enough for Copper to notice. Spiny quickly pushed away his train of thoughts; he didn't want it to grow strong and make his fellow co-worker catch it. Or course, he could be just silly. Spiny leaped back into the actual reality. It was strangely silent. He swung his head to the side. Copper was sleeping. His fears were trying to climb up again. Stop it, Spiny, he scolded to himself. "Hey! hey. . .uh, Copper. Can't you just get up? Do your duty to the princesses!" Nervousness crept at his throat with his uncertainty of Copper suddenly waking up. "Wait. Wha-what you say?" "You heard me! You. . .your duty is your shift! Can't believe you were even sleeping. Geez." Copper Blue's words wobbled unsteady in the air. His voice was more or less, exhausted. "Woah buddy, you awfully talkative. Di-didn't you hear me earlier? Two shifts, buddy. That's one too much to me. And what you screaming for? Scared or something?" Copper, still dazed, observed as Spiny turned around and stared at something. It was odd. Spiny's ears were pressed back, while his eyes were squinted shut. He was sitting with both back legs, with one fore-hoof seeming to shield him of a terror Copper couldn't see. Even with dreary eyelids, he observed how weird it looked when a grown pegasus guard was frozen in place. It reminded him of the way young foals were scared when they were out too long on Nightmare Night. With Copper was so caught up in the sight, it startled him when Spiny turned around to look at him and shriek,"THEY WERE REAL, COPPER. THEY WERE ALWAYS REAL." Confused, Copper stared dumbly as Spiny Arrow burst out galloping, leaving him into a surprisingly pleasant quietness. Around him, murky clouds of dark magic flooded his surroundings. Copper slumped back further. He dismissed it mostly to the fact that he didn't care. A slight pain crept up his entire body. It turned sharp when he tried to move. A little desire to wake up sparked somewhere inside, but maybe his paralysis will help him sleep. Then again, there was a raging headache building. It became hard to fall asleep. When Copper Blue gave in to the intensifying pain, his eyes shut close. At least he got the sleep he needed.
1Outside, the moon was raised to its highest tonight. The mere presence was haunting, like the eerie pause that marked the interlude between furious battles. It's pale light glazed through the window with a fuzzy white cascading on the hard floors inside. The two regal sisters, who reign the whole of Equestria, stared at the massive doors that should abruptly swing open anytime in the night. Luna broke their weighted gazes, her tone speaking more of worry than urgency. "Dear sister, I understand your concerns about tonight, by why with thee requesting such little help on the matter? We could've gained some help with this mass panic, and you would sleep in relative peace." "All of the other princesses have gained their own problems to deal with. I don't blame them. And if this weapon is as worse as they claim, it's best for us to be the only ones to be affected." The princesses stood high on their hooves, wings arched and heads straight forward. This was the supposed night, the night when everything that the anonymous pony group, The Flames, said that their greatest weapon will be here. It was such an enormous threat to have been sent. It caused news to erupt into Equestria like numerous sonic rainbooms. Their mail was suddenly crammed with voices of their panicked subjects. Normal life was desperately urged to continue, yet news of the outrageous threat even reached The Crystal Empire. Princess Celestia can vividly remember when the first piece of "prophecy" suddenly floated in. It was written with the best cursive, graceful with a poetic feel all through out, yet, it felt simplified with a clear message in her head. Others will join us, and we all will agree that we should remove you and your sister. Then we'll go to the other princesses. Maybe they'll join us. The message was so taunting, so evil, the second thing she did was show it to her sister, Princess Luna. Soon after, Twilight sent other letters too. She needed help handling the chaos in Ponyville, yet, Canterlot wasn't any better. Then there was tonight. The silence vanished when Luna turned her ear towards the doors. Multiple hooves clacked together with the muffled voices of other ponies were heard from the other side. A solid banging sound echoed cleanly across the halls, a slow thud that periodically disrupted the shouts. Luna raised her wings, horn glowing, until Celestia's command rang out to the two guards at the doors. "OPEN the gates!" "Sister, what are you-" Two pony guards slumbered slowly to the princesses. One was carrying a pony with a slumped look and painful look on the eyes. The other bowed respectfully, removing his helmet to meet the princesses' gaze. "Your royal highness. I regret to inform you of an incident that happened just recently. Two guards near the library were attacked. One guard fled, and one was horribly injured." The other pony gently set down the guard to the ground. The guard looked up, and grunted as he tried to stand. Weakly, he moaned his testimony. "He ran, he was scared of somethin' but I don't know. I was tired, you see, and then I saw these weird cloud things, then I just passed out. Hurt even." "Who attacked you?" asked Celestia. "Don't know. But the guard, the one who ran, his name was. . .was. . . Something really cool! Like 'Spinning' or 'Slimy' Arrow. But he just ran away!" "Luna, go with the other guard and find who did this. I'll stand here and get a medic pony to tend to him." "But sister! Are you strong enough to handle this monster?" "The guards outside will need your help, just in case it happens again." "But how about YOU? It might just get every pony and-" A shriek was heard from outside. The one guard immediately galloped towards the source. Luna, unable to argue any longer, took flight. She soared high, darting her eyes from every piece of landscape. When she saw a little earth pony cradled to herself, a small rage kindled at how close she is in finding the dangerous piece of weapon. And judging by the condition of the little pony, she was close. Luna landed alongside the terrified pony, putting a gentle hoof on her shoulder. The guard stood tall, snarling at the surroundings as if to challenge an invisible beast. Luna lowered her head, remembering Twilight's advice to speak softly. "Do speak, and tell us what happened." The earth pony was a pale light color, with odd gray smudges spread across her fur. Her mane was shriveled, a black-brown color. Her eyes were yellow, and the cutie mark was warped. "I'm sick. I ran away and I'm sick. I hate it, I just want to get rid of it. It's gonna come, and you princesses are in danger!" "What's gonna come? Who did you run from?" The pony fumbled to the ground. Her sickly eyes were welling with tears. Her voice was meek now. "Just. . .help me. Protect your sister." "Just tell me, protect my sister from whom?" Fear dawned on Luna as much as mere shock. The yellow eyes turned into slits. Smoky clouds swallowed every pony in the vicinity. Luna's senses were alarmed as lightning crackled once and two shrieks were heard. One was Celestia's. Her horn lit up with defensive magic. The sickly pony was cloaked in the smoke as she stood unnaturally tall with a shadow of a horn and flared wings appeared for briefly a moment. "From me."
2Princess Luna was glued on the sight. That monstrous sight. That pony thing in front of her. The cloaked pony sank out of view, a sneer floating around in the magical smoke. Her horn lit again, and the smoke shrank back. It revealed the guard who accompanied her. He was knocked out hard, his body lying senseless. His eyes, she remembered, were rimmed with a fierce boldness. Now, they just hid submissively, afraid to show its fierceness again. Luna could feel the fierce eyes trailing into a dream, the images still indistinct to him. As the smoke around her spread around Canterlot, she felt many more eyes fade to their own dreams. The magic in the smoke darkened; it taunted of its power. The distress of the very first guard, Celestia's shriek, and the eyes of the "sick" pony gripped Luna. A surge of energy concentrated on her forehead. The grip of her own feelings lost her. Luna knew who the pony was now. She knows where she came from. She heard of it; everyone dealt with it. Every pony in Equestria had their nightmare form into the same thing. The Flames. The unknown. With task and task again, she attempted to soothe their fears, to guide them into controlling it. Then she was forced to come back to the same ponies. Her forehead started to hurt of the electrifying pain. She wobbled to her legs, seeing the smoke materialize to the pony it used to be. Unlike the first image, the pony seemed to keep red irises with her hooves and tail trailing with a smoke wisp behind. "I'm excited to see you like this, Luna," said the pony, grinning. "You made a little hiccup here and there, but you now you're JUST like the shadow of your sister! Again. Just like what Nightmare Moon said, right?" It was beginning to feel a little hard trying to see or stay up, but Luna was pretty sure she saw little fangs in the pony's mouth. The smoke was drawing in closer. . . Luna's voice was failing. ". . .Thou know not of thy own spoken words. . . ." The evil pony strode further forward. Luna, determined to stay conscious, dug her hooves in the ground. Her magic was yearning for an escape, a release from her horn. She tried to picture the sick pony here instead of the thing in front of her. The pony was warning her of herself. She was in dire need of help, but her sickness controlled her before she could do anything else. At last, the magic backed down in her horn, making the pain more bearable for Luna. Her eyes met its gaze. "Pony, stand down. That sickness that becometh of thee is dangerous for every pony." The evil pony seemed to ponder for a moment. Its malicious attitude was replaced with what only showed unmistakable conviction. "No, Luna. I know what I'm saying. I chose to do this. You, your sister, and every alicorn in Equestria must not rule anymore. No pony can really understand that yet. Just trust me. Trust The Flames." She chose to do this. Luna stopped herself. No, she didn't, she thought. The pony stood directly in front of her now, the smoke seem to barely lick around her, almost engulfing her whole body. Luna saw the pony's little fangs fully revealed as she smiled wide. Luna closed her eyes, letting her magic creep silently to her guard that previously collapsed into the unconscious. The sick pony became less real as her magic traveled and wedged open a little piece in the guard's dreamy atmosphere. A transparent, weak fragment of herself cascaded down the dream moon to flow down to the guard, gaping at her majestic entrance. "Greetings, sleeping pony." "Princess! I. . .uh. . .I'm supposed to be protecting you. What happened?" "An imminent danger has quickly come. Be ready with the event of your waking, because tis' the night you help save the country!" The guard swiftly nodded, when more magic leaked from her horn to her dream-self horn. Every soft surface faded away into the pitch black, and she opened her eyes to see the sick pony gaze sternly at the her being swallowed up by the smoke. In the thickened smoke, she saw a stallion hobble to his hooves. Light blue magic tore through Luna's horn; the energy engulfed the surroundings with exploding force. The sick pony was wrenched back and tossed away from the power, skidding on her side from her fall. The princess, glowing with a shimmering aura, soared high, and circled once above her guard companion before softly landing back down. Her horn shined more, circling the sick pony in a barrier of magic. It took a moment to figure out its situation. Standing with a radiating confidence that wasn't just from her alone, Luna's voice boomed with the old familiarity of the royal Canterlot voice. "REMOVE OF THYSELF FROM THY SICKLY VICTIM AND SURRENDER TO YOUR PRINCESS, OR THOU SHALL SUFFER IN THE HOOVES OF. . . LUNA!" The magical barrier around the pony was reinforced with a short horn flick, and Luna motioned the guard to follow her signal. Its eyes brewed a deeper red, the face shadowing a thin cover of mock fear. With a grin and a quick nod, Princess Luna and her companion galloped forward, holding feelings of certainty that victory was within their hooves. The morning that followed was awakened with the sunrise. Sunlit warmth was lathered over the beautiful greens in Ponyville. Ponies rose from their confining beds and started their day's work. Princess Twilight Sparkle prompted the start of her own day by the sweat of her own hooves pounding off the dirt while her magic gripped the bookmarked page of a fresh new book. Her wings arched wide as she pushed herself off the ground. The drifting clouds were at almost eye-level; alarm sparked inside of her as she remembered that clouds were solid. She weaved downwards as one huge-looking gray puff passed silently over her. With the wind mercilessly whipping her mane, she wondered if such a rushed exit was necessary for this. Besides, what would be so important if Princess Celestia wouldn't show up herself with her sister? The time whipped by like the merciless flowing of her mane hitting her muzzle. Soon, the regal tops of the Canterlot castle stood out from the clouds. Each pathway of its streets focused into sharpness as her wings altered its movements to land safely on her hooves. With a gallop and a missing book later, the castle gates swung open with a thundering echo. Three tea-sipping princesses spun their heads in mild surprise to the heavily exhausted alicorn at the edge of the hall. "Princesses! . . Whew, Princess Celestia. . . Luna. . . Cadence. . . Just wait a second here. . ." "Take your time," said Celestia gently. "I. . . .Okay, I'm fine now. I apologize for such an entrance, but princesses, what is so important for ALL of you to be here?" "I'm afraid a situation has gone too far for it to be ignored. The Flames has nearly succeeded in their most recent attack. Their greatest weapon ended up being an innocent earth pony who has some kind of dangerous disease, and Luna was the only pony who was successful into containing it." "But I don't understand. How did a sick pony make you look so bruised up like that, let alone affect all of Canterlot?" Celestia watched behind her as Luna telekinetically brought forward a pulsing orb of blue energy, containing a single pony swimming around in unconsciously in an odd calmness. "That's why we're ALL here."
3"Try again. We require more information about the condition of the disease." Twilight merely grunted as more magic poured from her horn, thoroughly coating the sphere with a sparkling-purple-over-blue. Her magic lacked its former power from all of the intensely concentrated energy used over and over again. "I-I can't penetrate the magic. Luna, we need you to-" "No. We shall try this together." Celestia's voice strung with stern determination as she strode with shimmering mane near the magical sphere. As each princess followed, Twilight Sparkle wondered about what was inside. This was the weapon. Something about the earth pony is lethal, and a sleep spell fused with a shield spell was the only means of having the pony safely here without being a source of danger to everyone. Still, questions coursed unceasingly through her exhausted mind. What would we even try to do without breaking the sphere? If it can break, that is, but she briefly threw the thought away. Of course they have to try, because if the weapon was even just imprisoned, it could still pose a danger. But is forcing themselves in an innocent pony's mind the best way to do this? She took one last look at the princesses. Luna's and Celestia's manes were unkempt, with all of their eyes sunken in their faces. She didn't really look at Princess Cadence's, since she knew that seeing her will only trigger past haunting memories of her like this. Twilight shook her head. She needed to focus. Each princess stood on a side of the sphere. With doubt lingering on her mind, she walked on slowly until she stood on her side of the sphere. Cadence faintly relieved Twilight with her caring tone. "Hey, it's going to be okay, Twilight. We can do this. Just try it differently this time, alright?" She sighed. Lack of sleep blocked her usual problem-solving skills. Twilight Sparkle found herself declaring yet another attempt to penetrate the sphere with magic, but this time, it simply had combined power from other powerful ponies. Everything but certainty weighted on her emotions. "Alright, every pony, let's start concentrating all of our magic in our horns, then after that Celestia can. . . ." Twilight droned on, secretly feeling horrified on the lack of preparation of this plan. It was a blind attempt, like leaping off a cliff with your eyes closed. She watched as different-colored auras glowed on each horn, growing in brightness as their faces burrowed harder. Twilight looked back at the sphere, charging her own horn with violet magic. Her eyes followed the earth pony's own closed ones which calmly drifted with the rest of the body in the prison. With a sudden flicker of the events of Lord Tirek entering her mind, Twilight immediately regretted choosing to do this without her best friends. "NOW!" yelled Celestia, and a bright explosion filled their eyes. Twilight's eyes squeezed shut, leaving her to only feel a small tug of her horn. Her magical energy touched and probed what felt like a concrete wall. It brushed farther and farther, until the walls slowly felt like it had a heartbeat. She quickly realizes that the other princesses must be pounding against the wall. Her magic pressed itself again on the walls. With each thud, the wall briefly felt thinner and more hollow. Twilight patiently waited. When the walls thudded again, her magic harshly rammed against the walls. A hole quickly shattered when she knew the other princesses must have gotten in too. She relaxed a little. Her magic was being gently pulled into some free moving space. Her energy gripped at random, attempting to feel for anything off the earth pony, preferably, a leg. When she was convinced that her probing was useless, a weak yelp suddenly escaped her lips. Something felt like something was squeezing her magic somehow. It was yanking at it, she felt like it was being stretched. The foreign force felt wrong. It felt. . . .too ancient. Like it seemed to always be there in the inside, and it scared her. The squeezing feeling spread, until it also punctured her own energy, trickling all the way to her horn. It entered her body like a parasite, lounging around until it can eat at her. She whimpered softly, feeling helpless on the vice-like grip on her. Twilight lost the sense of privacy as if it sifted through all of her memories, emotions, thoughts and actions. She pictured all of her friends together in the sunny cover of the bright blue sky, enjoying a cheery picnic in Ponyville. This wasn't that. Twilight Sparkle felt like a failure. Instead of bringing her friends along, she decided to do something with only the princesses. It was such a mistake. She felt isolated. She didn't feel like a princess; Twilight felt more like when she saw Nightmare Night manifest before her eyes long ago. Sweat beads fell down with her small tears as she dared to open her eyes. Twilight was overwhelmed at the swelling mass of blackened smoky-magic filling her vision. She saw eyes, then a silhouette of a tall pony-like figure that was heavily reminiscent of Nightmare Moon, yet, she didn't feel like it was her. The image swirled away, replaced with a shadow of a stallion with bright orange tendrils shoot out of his sides like wings. A feminine yell echoed in her mind as flashes of prison-like bars appeared briefly with ponies glaring menacingly. Twilight felt alienated. She quickly gasped for air as the horrifying magic-grip let go, the feelings and smoke passing away like some ghost. The walls of Canterlot was what she first saw. The princesses were sprawled out differently on the floor. Their faces were haunted, with some tears dried on their cheeks. Twilight Sparkle shivered at the sight of the mighty alicorn rulers looking weak, even vulnerable. Celestia dropped her head, a slight shiver still possessing her body. "I. Saw. My. Sister. She-" Celestia stopped, apparently wanting to say something else. Her head shook slowly, a tear reflecting the off-putting sunlight outside. "Them. Canterlot. I saw the whole of Equestria. And-" her expression changed, "and trees. Trees were moving past me like-" "Like you were being chased by something!" finished Cadence. They looked at each other in shock; Twilight didn't know what to make of it. Her heart then bombed at what she saw next. Silence previously filled the air before breaking with the sound of hooves hitting hard ground. The princesses turned around. A relatively small mare was struggling to get up, a light blue aura still fading around her as she stared, sleepy-but-wide-eyed at the worn down princesses in front of her.
4To break, to kneel, to END. . . . . She remembered the metal hallways. She traveled through them time and time again, until she could figure out in a second where she could get out of the horrid building. There was a scraping sound her chains caused on the floor. A bright green stallion with a light scar over his eye followed her from behind. His steps were steady and rhythmic. Her eyes ran over to the right, and then there was a quick shortness of breath. The pony known as Subject 072 bolted. As the clopping of her hooves hit harder on the concrete, indistinct shouts rang out from all directions. The mare's chains were swinging wildly in the air, a clink sound singing out like rusty bells. Bells. A sudden sound interrupted her thoughts. Bells. It was a sweet sound, filled with a joyful ring, with some unicorn magic you can. . . . . . She paused. You can, what? a voice in her head pressed. Can what? With more than a tinge of sadness she realized that it was another memory that was repressed. It was almost forgotten, and because those dumb scientists keep using her for a "good" purpose, there was little hope she could retain them back. "Dumb scientists," 072 muttered under her breath. Her hooves skidded to the side as the corridor turned sharply to the side. Two menacing-looking ponies: an earth pony stallion and a young unicorn mare crouched, moving to further block her path. The mare smirked. They may have locked her memories, but she didn't forget her special talent. A low voice, amplified by magic, clawed through the halls like a desperate cry. "Experiment Capture INITIATE! Third Unit not sealed. . . . Third Unit NOT . . . ." She was running faster now, the occasional chain-lash stinging her underside. The two ponies grew larger; she soaked in the sight of her cutie mark: a dotted line ending in a small flea leaping from a tree. She stared at the two ponies one more time, and she leaped. The amplified voice screeched through her ears. "Subject 0-7-2 escaped. GUARDS! REPORT IMMEDIATELY!" She shifted her weight off a wall, and she felt weightless. It's not something slow; it all happened in a second. 072's hooves brushed past the tops of their manes. Her body was like an arrow, pinpointed to the ground. Before she knew it, she was back on the floor, her legs moving like machines. "Where. Is. THE EXIT?" she breathed. Her eyes fell on a door to the far end. "They're are NOT gonna call me that all over again!" "Then what should we call you, my little pony?" A slender pink unicorn emerged from behind. The green, scarred stallion from before crept from behind, slightly hung low but nevertheless, still looking disdainfully at the mare. "My name. I HAVE A NAME. I'm not your prisoner!" "A name you don't identify with anymore." "WHAT?" "How can you not see your purpose? Our leader needs you, and YOU, alone can help her." Her tone was deceptively alluring. She merely rolled her eyes. "Because, I don't WANT to help. I just wanted my friend back! And now you dragged me into, whatever this is?" She gestured at her chains. "I'm just a darn tool for you ponies! A tool for whatever the hey you plan for in your deluded, dumb, misguided-" WHUMP. Her words spewed out as a groan as her chin hit first on the floor. She looked back to see her chain tugged by a red aura of magic. "Enough of this, get 072 back into her unit, and give her back to us as usual. I have more than a feeling that I need to work on this a bit longer." "I won't fail you anymore, Miss I. . . ." 072 rolled back on her side, cradling at her hurt muzzle. She saw as the two ponies glanced occasionally at her, treating her no more as some thing. Some experiment. A subject. She was determined to escape, to succeed, ever since she failed to find her friend. She never thought it would end like this. To fight, to stand, to STRIKE! There was a whisper that brushed at her thoughts. She heard it sometimes before, but the voice in her head never talked this much. She listened as the voice got angrier and louder; even a slight mumble jumbled her thoughts too much. The mare didn't notice her vision darkening as she was almost overwhelmingly flooded with powerfully moving words. They made her feel angry at what the words contained. The sight of the hallways slipped from her mind as her emotions were concentrated into one simple mindset: pure rage. But it was too quick. It already fell from her hold the moment she clung to her emotions. She felt like she was flying; her mind hung onto nothing. The mare wanted to stop. She needed to stop, so she opened her eyes. Her body was aching, as if she used them too much, but it was strange, because she was only sleeping. She tried to get up, but her legs shook at the mere thought of it. Enough of this, thought 072, echoing the unicorn mare's voice. She grit her teeth as her aching muscles forced her to focus entirely on standing up. Her ears gave no thought at the sound of the voices murmuring in her midst. She only took notice when she saw the four great alicorn princesses gazing at her with a horrified awe. The glum moment of realization prompted her voice to shrink to almost a tearful squeak. "Did. . . . I. . .do this?" The princess she encountered earlier walked towards her with a face that's unreadable. With every step, 072 took notice of the messy mane and her baggy eyes. She was convinced they were going to harshly rebuke her. Instead, she felt a hoof gently lift her face up to meet Princess Luna's eyes. They shone with a sense of kind understanding. "I saw. . . experienced your dreams. Pony, where did you come from?" Maybe if this was a different circumstance, she may have reacted differently, but as her mind flooded with memories of her imprisonment, her face was pouring with tears. She bowed her head in shame. "I'm-they. . . " She took a breath, letting her thoughts settle before cracking apart, wiping a tear before continuing. "I was imprisoned by them. The Flames or whatever dumb name they call themselves. They kept on doing weird tests and experiments with some virus or something that they put in me." She sniffed. "I wasn't safe to other ponies anymore. It made me do all of this to you ponies. I just want to be cured." "Do you remember how you got there?" Princess Twilight inquired. 072 shook her head, angry for her repressed memories. "I really wish I do, but I don't." "But we can know how, now that you're here," said Princess Luna. "Yeah, I guess," she murmured. "Then it's settled! We will all do what it takes to find this group, and stop them once and for all!" 072 felt the stirrings of a familiar feeling, full of awe at the princesses. Part of her mind was secretly leaping for joy when she was at the company all four princesses, but it aware that that side can never really come out. She was mildly startled when a different voice broke. "Uh, Twilight?" asked Princess Cadance. "Yes?" said Twilight. Cadance went closer to Twilight and started to whisper. She gestured to everyone in this room, followed by a nod by Twilight as if she realized something. "Oh right. Then we will stop The Flames, after a good sleep." 072 slightly nodded as she felt her legs being replaced by lead. As the princesses walked away talking to some sleeping quarters, 072 ignored the brief stares as she stretched to make herself comfy on the floor. With the pictures of all four princesses in mind, she fell asleep, caught on the familiar feeling of her hidden joy that was unearthed inside of her.
