Ch: 8

A few minutes after the Displaced duo were summoned, princess Celestia, Twilight and Twilight's six closest friends were in the library; Celestia having chose to heal her leg of Equestria's first gunshot wound in spite the amount of history the scar would have told.

Although the alicorn had insisted she was fine standing, Twilight had brought some pillows and offered her softest one, labeled as such of course. While she was sitting down and looking at the mares and one dragon, the thought of such a weapon in the hands of a child unsettled her, the child herself unnerved the princess like few could. At the moment, they were discussing the pair who had left without a trace.

"Luna said she saw something similar after she had read a rather insulting sentence, she saw it again when she was tied to her bed, a hole in space, within which was an endless void that the strange doll Feast always carried with her disappeared into. I believe that they are no longer on Equus." Celestia stated.

"Great, so the huge monster is somepony else's problem." Rainbow replied, waving a hoof to illustrate her lack of concern. "If the problem solves itself, just saves me the trouble of beating that thing up, not that it would be all that hard." Celestia shook her head at Rainbow's dismissal of an enormous threat.

"Is that so? Did you not notice that the two other creatures also arrived, and departed, in a similar fashion as our two? How about the ability to summon allies like our's did to Luna? These are no longer simply roaming monsters that thrive on chaos, they're now thinking, feeling and learning creatures with weapons and abilities that even my sister and I could hardly match. Mister Cee himself took on two opponents of similar size with little more than his strength, I'd go so far as to quess he was even playing with them."

"That was playing? Whoa, I'm not sure I'd want to see how he parties! Ah who am I kidding, I'd like to see anypony party." Pinkie smiled as the thought of the massive monster with a party hat played pin the tail on the pony.

"Princess, what do we do?" Twilight asked, ignoring Pinkie's outburst. "If what Theresa told Luna in the dreamscape was true, then aren't they victims as well?"

Celestia shook her head with a weary sigh, "Twilight, I've seen the differences between Feast and Beast compared to Theresa and Mister Cee and while I can sympathize with them, they are much too dangerous to allow to wander freely doing what they did all those years ago. Beast was a monster in the truest sense of the word, Mister Cee has the same strengths and more than that simpleminded creature had all those years ago. As much as it pains me to condemn them, they had the opportunity to live peaceful lives and they chose to turn down my offer. I cannot allow them the chance to harm anymore of my ponies."

"So we're gonna have ta go and catch the varmints, right princess?" Applejack asked, uncomfortable at the thought of facing such a creature that toyed with it's opponents, "Ah'm sure we can get them ta at least understand that they don't need ta fight."

"No, it's not that I believe that you girls can't handle it, it's because..." She trailed off as she remembered a horrifying memory, Beast standing tall over a unicorn stallion who'd she had foalishly believed that he could best it. Posed to deliver the killing blow seconds before Celestia and her sister attempted to use the elements of harmony on Feast, only for Feast to scream a soul wrenching cry for her daddy to protect her. The monster instantly rushing over and pulling the girl into a soft, but no less loving embrace as it offered it's back to the princesses. It's drills crossing Feast's back as it carefully held her.

Shaking her head, she once more looked over those seated in front of her. Her secret weapon, her plans A through P, her first, last and many times only line of defense against all the things that the guard couldn't defend against with normal means. "...it's because Mister Cee and I have one similarity, both of us have only one family member left to us in the entire world and would fight anything or anypony who dares harms our loved one."

"Princess Celestia, if I may interrupt?" Rarity politely asked, receiving a nod in response, she continued. "Where did these two come from? I assume by your words that they are either the last of a native species that has never truly been encountered before except for their past, or they are from another world."

Celestia frowned as she remembered forming the Monster Prevention Agency after the two were captured, in order to prepare in case more were to follow their kin. After several hundred years of training, searching and researching, it was eventually believed to had been as Rarity had said, with no evidence to support either side, until today that is.

"Reports from the royal guard informed me of a creature similar to Theresa in appearance except without her illuminated eyes. She was causing enough chaos in the royal kitchen that I could easily believe her to be the very spawn of Discord, thankfully she seemed to have left sometime before your victory against him so he wasn't immediately freed once again. Not to mention the suit wearing, green skinned one who had effectively hypnotized over twenty guards with a mere speech." Celestia sighed as she looked over at the clock, noting the time for her to lower the sun fast approaching.

"Princess? What did you mean by them stealing magic?" Twilight asked as she fidgeted, "Because... it kinda sounded like they could just take a ponies magic, is that what they can do?"

Celestia sighed once more before getting more comfortable on her cushion. "Shortly after they were captured, I tasked Starswirl with finding out more about them and their possessions. Apparently, after he had used an advanced poison check spell (Royal Taster having been given the day off) on one of the bottles, he took a sip and absorbed something in it. I do not know what it was, but what was once a above average court mage eager to prove himself to my sister and I turned into a flurry of activity. He created hundreds of spells and theories right up till a few minutes after he'd passed."

Twilight seemed to have fizzled out at the implications of such a potion, thus allowing Spike a rare chance to speak. "Princess, did you say, after he passed?"

Celestia managed to keep from shuddering at another memory, "The elixir made him regrow brain cells, raised his IQ and burned through his life. Starswirl the bearded had lived almost three years after a mere tasting of the potion before his soul left him... several minutes before his body finally died. One of his very last theories was unaligned and ruleless magic, it stated that if one was to find a way to harness magic in such a form, then anything could happen from the slightest misinterpretation, while allowing almost anypony to learn any spell or magical school, by not having any restrictions on their inner magic. It was also the explanation behind why Mister Cee and Theresa were so hard to locate with magic considering that the ponies' whose blood she drank lost their individual frequency, unless somepony was specifically searching for magical energy without searching for somepony's frequency or what classification, than they're unnoticeable. Even if you were to search for them like that, it would be like searching for a grey spot in a world of grey."

"Princess?" All heads turned towards the soft speaker, even Twilight breaking out of her daze to turn to Fluttershy. She waited a moment until her confidence gained before continuing, "What Theresa said back there, did you really order guards to... kill her?"

Wordlessly, Celestia closed her eyes and nodded, the gasps from the room's occupants breaking the near total silence. After a minute of not saying anything, she opened her eyes, "We- I thought that... that she was under a curse, enslaved and chained to the monster's will. I figured that anypony would rather die than serve whatever sick pleasures Beast got from watching her... watching her drink blood."

Dr. Tenenbaum's research journal entry ##
Date ##/##/####

Today has been interesting, while we were testing the Adam slugs to find ways to improve their output, one of the assistants forgot to replace the specimen to its aquarium when we breaked for lunch. After promising to test the new injectable plasmid on him, I proceeded to take the specimen to the Adam refining machine but on the way. Before I could do so, I noted that the creature was still alive! Once I overcame my shock, I took it back to the examination table and dissected it.

To my repeated shock, it had evolved a pair of crude, but still very functional, lungs. In the amount of time it took me to walk to and from the cafeteria not a hundred yards away! My uneaten meal forgotten due to the assistant mentioning his mistake. Although I am incredibly joyous at this revelation, the fact that the Adam slug can not only create a pair of lungs but in such short time, I still had to punish the assistant for his mistake.

As I am writing this, one of the janitors is sweeping the fools ashes into a dustpan, thanks to that lucky moron we also know that the Incinerate Plasmid needs some work done to enable the user to endure the flames as well as practice for them to control their newfound powers. We may also need to devolve a Tonic to counteract the Plasmid if it was to be used offensively.

But I digress, who would've know that these mere slugs could do such a thing, even after their waste was discovered to be essential to genetic splicing. So far, I already have a few dozen tests planned for tomorrow; poison resistance, extreme temperature range testing, chemical tests, the list goes on. But the one I look forward to the most, starvation and alternative meals.

As anyone who has ever spliced before can tell you, an Adam slug consumes the blood and/or body of a deceased sea creature and converts its genetic make-up into Adam, I wish to find just what meals increase Adam output the highest as well as finding out if there are certain meals they dislike or prefer. I doubt apples will be something they'll like.

Oh! I almost forgot, the Adam slug I dissected, it survived three minutes longer then others of its kind, I conducted the dissection the same as the others; the slug pinned to the tray with a small layer of water covering the bottom. Through I believe it possibly broke the record due to the aid of it's newest adaption, I'm also certain we can also find a way to pass on their natural regenerative ability, hopefully without it needing water to work.

Spike blinked before putting the weathered journal page back on the table, next to the unknown book titled Bioshock: Rapture where he found it. He knew it wasn't there a few moments ago when he walked through on his way to the kitchen. He also hoped it wasn't some elaborate prank by Rainbow Dash and/or Pinkie Pie. Shuddering, he did the one thing he knew would work.

"Twiliiiiight!"

It was several days after the defeat of Discord and for the first few days Twilight had questioned him relentlessly; what did Theresa say to him, what were her manners were like, how was Mister Cee's disposition towards him, did he say anything, did his groans sound like he was trying to speak, how do you think Theresa was able to understand him. All good questions that might affect future negotiations but there were also the less rational questions; what was the difference in length of the two drills, what was the dive suit made of and why was it's colouration a soft, underwater blue accented by it's bright red armoured parts, could you draw Theresa's dress including its state of disrepair. Admittedly, that last one was Raritiy's but that didn't bother Spike at all.

Needless to say, such questions simultaneously pleased and annoyed him, it wasn't that he was proud of meeting a dangerous killing machine, he had no idea how true that statement was, but being one of only a few and, sadly, at any point that Twilight had a question, she could ask him. She had a lot of questions for the young drake.

Questions that have intruded upon the two's sleep, thus earning the young drakecs ire, "Twilight!"

Dr. Tenenbaum's research journal entry ##
Date ##/##/####

Over the last few weeks, the Excavators and Constructors haven't been enough to build and maintain Rapture, so several weeks ago Ryan asked all of us in the Adam sector to aid the Excavator and Constructor design team with creating a new model. I have supplied the test subject almost two weeks ago and I must admit, the idea of another breed of those lumbering things has caught my interest. The name they've chosen was based off of the need for an all around unit, it must be able to clear the ocean floor for new buildings as well as build, maintain and repair Rapture; it must know how to do it all, so therefore it was decided that the beast shall be called the Foreman series.

An interesting occurrence has taken place today, the new Foreman was completed on time and has so far shown that it understands and follows orders. Subject Beta- Subject Alpha having been destroyed by a problem with it's programming that resulted in the deaths of three scientists, all because the stupid thing thought it didn't need it's helmet sealed or use an airlock to go outside and proved it by going through the wall, -was taken outside for a test run with it's drill, the Excavators that saw it immediately stopped what they were doing and stared at the intruder. After standing there for several minutes, ignoring the Rapture Repair and Maintenance System and threats to dismantle them, all of them simultaneously went back to work with the Foreman unit drilling right next to it's Constructor cousins.

So far, such a strange occurrence has never been seen before, the Excavators' didn't so much as turn their heads when the Constructors showed up, they simply continued working. It's almost as if... Bah! Such foolish thoughts. Tomorrow we'll be testing the Foreman's ability to handle it's rivet gun, sealing cracks and welding. Today has just been too strange, mindless machines looking towards their newest addition, I wish I could say that it was in fear but... I'd almost say they were revering Subject Beta.

From the upstairs came a tremendous groan, followed by the sound of something heavy hitting the floor. An ear fin perked, Spike turned from the disturbing piece of paper and smiled at the new comer, "Glad to see you're up, I'd thought you never wake up."

Standing not ten feet away was a terrifying sight, the beast stared through eyes of red and walked with heavy steps while a slightly angry expression was directed towards the young drake, "Spike, what is it?" The beast asked with a yawn while it rubbed it's eyes with a hoof.

Suppressing a snicker at his... something (sister, mother figure? Like I said, something), Spike pointed towards the newest addition to the library, "That book and a few loose pages showed up while I was getting lunch ready, it seems strange, I thought it was Rainbow Dash and Pinkie playing a prank until I read some of it."

Confused and very much unaware, Twilight yawned, "What makes you think Pinkie couldn't have made it? She could more likely than not write a book in under the hour I was asleep."

"I doubt she'd make something, especially as a prank, with someone casually killing something or somepony." He replied with a firm nod and a frown, "It doesn't have any of Pinkie's... energy, that feeling of hyperactivity either, ya know?"

Confused further, Twilight approached the worn journal pages, "Maybe it's a mystery or science fiction... written in a journal format?" She asked perplexed while looking over some of pages while sneaking glances at the new book, pausing at a familiar name. "Subject Cee has been approved for combat programming, while this Foreman wasn't trained in repair and maintenance, it has been increasingly aggressive whenever the RRM System has been running for extended periods, even going so far as to kill one of the Excavators."

Twilight and Spike grimaced before she continued, "This Foreman is nothing like its fellows, it seems to seek out fights and hasn't even been programmed or bonded yet! If we don't pair-bond that beast soon, it'll rip Rapture down around our heads. Luckily, the little one that came with the anomaly is almost ready for the pair bonding, she'll love him like none other. Since the Foreman isn't going to even act like a Foreman, the modal name has been changed to the Alpha Series, in honour of the three who were killed by Subject Alpha in the creation of the original Foreman series. Curiously, we have yet to note any real difference between the Constructors and Excavators and this new creation, they almost ignore it; finally we can put such strange happenings to rest."

Giving a shudder, Spike turned around and made to go back to the kitchen, "I highly doubt Pinkie made that thing, it just isn't like her." Twilight merely had an eye twitch, than another.

Several days after Spike had found the journal pages and the book, he finally had enough and tried to kicked Twilight out of the library, almost literally, "Twilight, your friends are going to have a picnic at the park today and you're just gonna stay here?"

"Hmm."

"Just because of a few old, water stained journal entries?"

"Uh-huh."

"Why don't you go ask the others what their thoughts are on that?"

"Nah."

"Ugh! Rainbow Dash is gonna go destroy something of Applejack's."

"...That's nice Spike."

Spike simply slammed a claw into his face and moaned as he walked into the kitchen, less than a few minutes later, he walked back in front of Twilight with a smug grin, "Hey Twilight, did you ever send a letter to Celestia about what you learned about friendship?"

Her eyes widened as she bolted up, "Oh no, oh no, oh no! I can't believe believe I haven't reported to the Princess yet, she's going to be so disappointed with me, Spike!"

"Don't worry about it Twilight, she already told you those aren't mandatory. Besides, she'd probably be more interested in the letter I sent her about the book than some non-existent friendship problem." Spike informed her seconds before he belched up a scroll, "Now let's see- Hey!"

Twilight grabbed the scroll from him with her magic, quickly unfurling it and reading it aloud, "To my faithful student Twilight, Spike has informed me that you have come into the possession of a book as well as a few pages that could shine some light on Mister Cee and Theresa's illness. I trust that you'll keep this safely on your pony until an agent from the MPA can obtain it for further study, expect to also be questioned as to the nature of the items in questioned contents as you have, no doubt, been reading it. Sincerely, Princess Celestia."

Twilight sighed before realising something, "Did I freak out about a deadline, in spite being told that there never was a deadline in the first place?" She pondered out loud before suddenly glaring at her little brother (that's what I'm going to go with), "And you used that to break me out of a reading frenzy?"

Spike held a claw up to reply but before he was able to, a loud screech rended the air, sending the two of them to the ground with their respective appendages over their respective hearing extremities. But even that was not enough, to block out the rasping, metallic threat, "Iah'm. Gohing. To-ah. Rip-ah. You. Ah-part!" (2:25)

Author's Note

If you did not use the link, do so now... I'll wait.

I bet some of you even read the comments to find out what else Big Sisters say, I actually feel pretty bad about how mercilessly I killed them, Big Sisters are only in their early teenage years after all... damn. Rather depressing, the funnest enemy in the game is also the youngest, but that's another's tale.

Anyway, this was something I've been cooking for a while now, and I still can't wait for the you guys to see the next fight, it's going to be epic! Also, I'm sorry about how the DK and GB fight went down, things felt bad, I just couldn't get into a fight that was going to be against such low leveled bad guys. Sorry, again, for all of the rewriting I've also been doing, it hasn't been easy. That's kinda why I'm posting this, due to me rewriting the last chapter into two. I hope you guys enjoy the brawl that will soon come, no spoilers if you know what I mean.