Incompleteby Teku SenpaiChapters1: Failed2: Not-So-Cutie Mark3: A Vow1: Failed"ROOK!" A stallion in a hat shouted out. Immediately, a large stallion appeared at a nearby doorway, standing at attention. Like every well-trained stallion, he stared off into the distance while he awaited orders. The stallion chuckled and in a gruff voice continued, "Ah, Rook. Do you know what today is?" Rook simply snorted and blew air out of his noise as a negative response. He did turn to look at the hatted stallion however. "Today is the big day. The day we finally get to see what becomes of your daughters." Rook felt a lump in his throat. He signed a contract to work under this stallion as his own personal peacekeeper in exchange that his family be kept safe. "With all do respect, sir. According to our contract, you -" "I what? Rook, I own you, and in extension... your family." The stallion got out of his leather chair and walked slowly and condescendingly toward Rook. He stopped a few centimeters away and continued, "The contract means nothing to me. I would come up with a bitter excuse like 'You did not read the fine print" but I give it to ponies straight. You've earned that much respect from me." Rook clenched his powerful jaws and contained his outrage. In this scenario, there was nothing he could really say. The rest of the ponies that worked in this facility offered their total allegiance to this mysterious leader, not even knowing what they were getting themselves into. Rook did not have a choice while the rest of the researchers here did. The hatted stallion waved his hoof and watched as Rook stepped aside to let him through. When the old stallion had left, Rook, try as he might, let a single tear through his defenses. A tear that his family would be safe throughout the diabolical schemes that the hatted stallion had for them. The bushes shook and the branches snapped as her hooves beat down on the cool dirt, sending little clouds of debris into the air with each stomp. Her deep pants of exasperation burned her lungs and her vision began to blur. She shook her head, clearing her thoughts and looked behind her. Sure enough, the menacing shadow tailed her. She coughed and felt the burn in her through, but pushed on. She knew what would happen if she stopped and no one enjoys the prospect of eternal slumber. Swerving around a clump of dense foliage and around a thick tree, she continued on down a path that had not been there before. She looked down at her hooves, thumping against the earth and back up at the dirt trail. The trail was clear and gave her some hope, but it was not much. Looking behind her again, she noticed that the shadow had vanished. Her pursuer was no where to be seen. She shoved her hooves into the dirt bringing her to an abrupt stop. She heaved, her body desperately begging for more air, for water, for a break. She desperately wanted to bunk down somewhere. She lowered her head and continued down the path. As she looked around, the forest around her seemed to look down upon her just like how her condescending mother used to. She could hear her mother, "You've brought home a failing grade, again. There seems to be no other choice. You will be -" The pony shook her head and tapped her head, clearing the painful memory. She whispered, "Not the cage" as a tear made its way to her eye before wetting the fur on her cheek. As she continued to trot down the rocky path, she happened upon a run-down cottage. It really was quite the eyesore, but to somepony being chased through the woods by a terrifying shadow, a cottage this run-down was nothing to be picky about. She quickly picked up the pace and made it to the front door, but when she put her hoof on it, the door dissolved into dust. She coughed on the dust as she let herself into the cottage. It was a quaint little place. If it was not so run-down, she could imagine that it would be a nice little place to get away from the city. A sense of nostalgia washed over her before an ear-piercing shriek shattered the silence. The pony quickly turned to the doorway to see a small pony, except it wasn't. This filly was missing a front leg and most of her coat was tattered and burned. Bits of her flesh were missing and her ribs poked out. The filly shook and screamed again, sending blood rushing out of her wounds before she turned away and ran away from the cottage. The pony within stood staring at where the filly had been, nothing more than a puddle of blood remained there. Snapping out of her trance, the pony bolted to the doorway, leaped over the crimson puddle and looked around. She saw fresh bloody tracks leading back down the trail from whence she came. She let out a gout of air and thought about her options. She eventually settled on going out to find the young filly who had been badly injured. She took off down the trail, making sure to follow the small red tracks. She galloped all the way back down where the shadow had initially been chasing her and hopped off the path. The bloody tracks led into the forest, but suddenly vanished. The pony trotted towards where the track ends and again looked around. That young filly couldn't have gotten far. She must be hiding in one of these bushes. I wonder if - A dying bush to her right rustled and the filly's head poked out. She offered a weak smile and shoved her way out of the bush. The filly trotted up to a tree and put her hoof on it. The tree immediately began shriveling and it's many leaves showered down to the earth. The pony gulped and stared wide-eyed at the filly who turned to look at her. The filly smirked and whispered, "Checkmate." The rest of the immediate bushes rustled violently and exploded into shadow fragments. The void entities convened together on the wounded filly. The pony took a step back and made herself ready to take off at a moment's notice, not wanting to sprint down the path yet. When all the fragments came together, they engulfed the young filly and another shriek accompanied the whooping wind. The small filly increased in size and her small figure disgustingly grew in a distorted manner. The sounds of bones snapping and flesh ripping was all that the pony needed to dash down the road without thinking about looking back. Running on pure adrenaline, she ran back down the path until she saw the cottage she had temporarily taken shelter in. This time, however, she did not stop for it. She darted past it, the bloody puddle mysteriously missing without a trace. Chancing a glance backwards, the shadow was already upon her. This time, it was too late. The pony released a quick sigh in between her pants before the ground gave in beneath her. She tumbled down a hillside and rolled down until she smashed into a tree. With dazed vision, she looked up the hill to see that the shadow had not let up chase. She swerved around the tree and began to run once more, but a sharp pain stabbed through her front left leg and she tumbled back to the ground. Looking down at her leg, something was stuck in it, but in the dimmed light she could not make out whether it was a stick or a bone. It did not matter, anyway. It was over. The shadow loomed over her and she closed her eyes for her final moments, but instead she heard a dreadful voice state, "Experiment number 404. Status: Experimentation Complete. Results: Failure. Expected Traits: Unknown." 404 looked away from her injured leg and up at the shadow being. It dissipated as her entire field of vision went bright white before everything went void black again. 404 felt her body jostling up and down, presumably from being on somepony's back. She had a blindfold on and couldn't see anything. She sniffed the air. Musty moldy air. She perked her ears to catch any noises that could help her identify her whereabouts, but the only thing responding were the clip clops of hooves against stone. Her transporter suddenly stopped, which sent a shock of pain through 404's body. She felt herself slide off the pony's back. She was sat up against a wall and her blindfold came off. It did not help at all though, her vision was fuzzy and she could only make out the fact that there was a light coming from somewhere. "Look, around here I am called Rook, and I can't tell you any more than that when it comes to who I am, but hear me out. Trust me when I say that I will get you out of here. Believe it or not, there is one other I need to grab if we are to escape here, but until then please hold out and promise that you will not give up, no matter what." 404 was still fairly dazed, but she understood the gist of what this stallion seemed to be saying. He's a rookie... He wants me to trust somepony he will grab so that we don't give up... Got it... The dazed look on 404's face did not give Rook hope about her, but he had to heed his own advice and not give up. Rook looked around the sewer that they were in. The nasty smell of the sewer keeps curious ponies out of the experimenting areas, or so Rook has been told. He looked back down at 404, who had passed out against the mossy cobblestone wall, and sighed. Breaking out of this place should not be too hard, but timing will mean everything The smell of sterilization filled the air. Experiment number 404 opened her eyes and still stared upon darkness. She flicked her ears here and there to pick up any noises or sounds. Any at all. She heard a faint beeping along with muffled voices. The voices seemed to talk for a while before hoofsteps. She tried listening harder and patiently waited until her hearing slowly cleared up in time for the new set of hooves to arrive. "How did it go?" A gruff voice. Deep and gruff. Like a grandfather. "Uh, the results came back as negative, sir. Another failure it seems." The second voice was a step above a whimper. It was almost like a son coming right out of a scolding. 404 felt a mark against both her flanks as if someone just drew a line across them with a marker. "Negative? This one is not allowed to be negative. She's the third Unknown we have had. We can't afford to lose any. Put her through it again." "Sir, I understand, but..." There was a shaky sigh. "She... It... It can't. No, it won't survive another experiment in this condition." I won't... survive? What condition? What's an Unknown..? These thoughts lingered in her mind for a while but scattered quickly as a sharp clank reverberated through the air. "Put her though... another test." The gruff voice seemed relatively friendly at first, but it began to emit a cruel and cold vibe. The younger experimenter audibly gulped loudly and whimpered. "Do it." That voice. So cruel. So demeaning. 404 clenched her teeth and growled. She wanted to say something. She wanted to combat that acrimonious voice. She wanted to strike down his air pipe and keep him from speaking again. Something about that voice filled her with a violent surge of power. The smell of burning fabrics invaded the scent of sterilization and the bed 404 was lying in caught fire and shattered, bursting the mattress and sending cindering wool shrapnel in every direction. She slowly opened her eyes to look at her aggressors, both of whom were wearing masks. The younger stallion was in a scientist's coat and had glasses while the older stallion hid his face under a hat. The older stallion grinned widely and began to chuckle as 404's shield of fire began to expand outwards. She hovered a few centimeters above the ground and floated toward the two stallions. Before she could do anything, however, another stallion, a bulkier one, leapt at her from the side and tackled her to the ground "Please. Don't," he whispered kindly. Almost immediately, 404's fiery rage was exhausted and the fires that had consumed half the sterilized room instantly puffed out of existence. The mark they have left, however, had not. 404 felt the weight of the bigger stallion on her and began to cry as her rage became sadness, unwarranted sadness. She slowly closed her eyes, as the large stallion picked himself up off her. Before she succumbed, however, she heard a single word. Blood... Author's Note Starting a new story. I actually planned a bunch of this story out and expect it to be quite long. For now though, if anyone wants to help me spell-check and edit or maybe you just want to pre-read and offer some sort of criticism, pm me and I'd be glad for the help! Cheers! 2: Not-So-Cutie MarkRook stared down at the newly-acquired mattress for 404 as he followed the hatted stallion and the quivering scientist down a hall. Experiment 404 rested on the mattress with a white sheet draped over her. The white sterilized sheet had blood stains splotched all over it turning about half the white to red. It was not for long before the small group of ponies made it to a specific door labeled Emergency. Rook had never been down here, but he knew it was not the type of emergency that a welcoming hospital would happily provide services for. When they pushed passed the door, multiple screens separated designated areas, all of which were empty except one. Another pony who looked unrealistically similar to Experiment 404 lay awake in a bed with machines hooked up to her. Noticing Rook's unease from entering the room, the hatted stallion laughed deeply and declared, "I guess you would want insight on what this room is. This room is here to keep certain experiments alive." Rook explored the room with his eyes alone and responded curiously, "Certain?" "The experiments that we have hope for and refuse to let die." Rook gulped silently. In each designated it appeared to be just another miniaturized hospital room, but separated by thin drapes rather than walls. Next to each white bed was an operating bench with a variety of tools at a "doctor's" disposal. At the far back of the room, large machines await use. They probably are used for keeping the ponies alive if they're critical... whether they want to live or not... Rook gulped down a newly-formed lump in his throat and turned his attention to Experiment 404. The white sheet that had been draped over her was wadded up and thrown in the corner and the younger meek stallion began hooking Experiment 404 up to machines that tell the vitals of the pony. Rook was never one to dabble in technology but almost felt bad for Experiment 404's situation. The hatted stallion is going to lengths to keep this pony alive. "Blood." The hatted stallion stared down at the 404th experiment which was lying on the ground, having just been tackled by his modified bodyguard. He sniffed and cleared his throat. Rook immediately returned to his hooves and backed away from the downed experiment, but did not take his eyes off it. The hatted stallion looked around the burnt room and acknowledged the many piles of dust and melted components that lay around the room. He trotted over to a bench that had metal tools laid out prior to the outburst. All that lay on the half-destroyed bench were small puddles of metal that were already hardening once more. The hatted stallion sighed and picked up one of the hardened puddles in his white magic. He brought it close to his face and spun it around to examine it. Finding nothing intriguing, the stallion tossed it aside, beckoning a resounding clank that echoed down the hall. "Well?" The hatted stallion did not turn his attention back to the clearly more important situation just yet. "... Well, what..? Sir?" The scientist looked up to meet the hatted stallion's gaze but did not get to meet eyes, which he was thankful for. Rook snorted and looked between the two. The silence built up until a mare appeared at the door, donning the same clothes that the young scientist was wearing. Rook had never seen this particular mare before, but scanned her for possible threats just to be sure. "Professor?" She referred to the hatted stallion and continued, "Do we have permission to move this experiment to the Emergency Room?" Her voice was soft, but it still had a stern and to-the-point aspect that nopony could ignore. The hatted stallion looked up at the mare without meeting her gaze and grunted. He motioned for the young stallion scientist to load Experiment 404 and follow him. The mare at the door turned and scampered down the hall, removing herself from sight and mind. Rook stared at where she used to be for a few more seconds and turned his attention back to Experiment 404 who was thrown upon an intact mattress and wheeled out the room. He muttered under his breath, "She doesn't work here..." and followed the scientist and hatted stallion through the doorway. Rook snapped out of his flashback and looked around the room again, an instinctual response to determine whether he had missed anything important or not. Evidently he had not missed much regarding Experiment 404. Rook thought back and tried to identify the mare that had referred to the professor. No scientist calls him the professor because it is only a name he calls himself when speaking to experiments. Rook raised an eyebrow and looked over at the Experiment 404 look-alike resting in the area next to theirs. The pony lying there was awake, but she was staring off in the distance, fixed on a point millions of miles away. Rook squinted, but returned his gaze to Experiment 404. She was alive, but barely. His plot to escape would have to wait for a while if things were not looking up soon. Ironically, Experiment 404's eyes shot open. The heart rate monitor began to go crazy as the beats per minute escalated exponentally. 404 did not show any signs of increased heart rate though. There was no physical symptoms that could assist in the new bpm. Experiment 404 still lay quietly on the mattress not attempting to move. She simply stared up at the ceiling. "Uh oh..." The young scientist monitored multiple machines that Experiment 404 was hooked up to and looked at the specimen. "She... She's bleeding from her eyes again." The scientist unplugged all the machines off of her. They were clearly malfunctioning and would provide no assistance whatsoever. Rook stepped a little closer to the bed and noticed that blood had stained the experiment's light orange coat around her eyes and was trickling down to the mattress. He noticed something peculiar though. The experiment's left eye twitched once and a a thick blood red began to overwhelm the cyan iris. In moments, Experiment 404 vanished leaving nothing but a deep red blood stain on the mattress. The hatted stallion had sent off the male scientist to inform any staff he happens upon and told them to keep a sharp eye before hobbling out the door himself. Rook would have followed him to wherever he had in mind, but had a myth that he himself needed to confirm. He looked back at the stained mattress, trotting over to it. He heard a small giggle which turned into muffled maniacal laughter. Rook gulped and extended his hoof, prodding the spot where Experiment 404 had been and met resistance. All of a sudden the experiment reappeared on the bed, her left eye still blood red. She had an overly wide grin splayed across her face which revealed two intimidatingly long fangs. Rook leapt back a safe distance and analyzed Experiment 404, she had undergone more physical changes involving sharper ears, her wings were larger and she had claws extending from her hooves. 404 sat up on the mattress and licked her fangs. She whispered, "I want to play a game..." She dropped from the mattress and began sauntering towards Rook, who was slowly moving towards the doorway. Experiment 404 stopped and lowered herself. She's about to lunge. Rook steeled himself and prepared to defend himself. 404 leapt up at Rook, but before she could make contact, the young stallion scientist galloped back into the room just in time to have his neck shredded. His white coat stained red and the deep gashes in his neck gurgled as blood squirted from the open wounds. The scientist immediately dropped to the tiled floor and screamed at the top of his lungs, kicking around from the pain. Experiment 404 quickly dropped down upon the male scientist and grabbed his face in her claws. "Hush." With the soft command, she flexed her claws and crushed the poor scientist's head. The legs stopped kicking and the shrill scream ceased immediately. The white stallion quickly became engulfed in red as his blood trickled around the slightly uneven flooring to make a slightly distorted puddle of crimson and scarlet. Rook stared down at the gruesome and mangled sight, guilty for not doing anything to save him. He switched his gaze and stared at 404 again, who was looking at the corpse. She looked intrigued but still grinned. She let out a broken laugh, the splattered blood on her face assisting her with her manic look. 404 stared up at Rook and the two shared an intense stare-down before 404 retreated a bit and scraped the floor with her claws. The sound of hoofsteps fast approaching echoed into the room. 404's ears perked up and her left iris immediately reverted back to its original cyan color. For a second, she limped and appeared as lifeless as her victim. She fell to the ground immediately, out like a light. Rook quickly made his way over to 404 and held her in his hooves, checking her vitals as reinforcements arrived. 404 was still alive, but something still seemed wrong. The hatted stallion entered the room after two other scientists. The mangled corpse next to the doorway immediately drew their attention first. While one of the scientists dedicated his attention to the bloody pile of flesh, the other analyzed Rook's situation, turning back to whisper a few words to the hatted stallion every few minutes. Rook admitted, his position did seem suspicious in the eyes of a non-witness. The way it looks right now, with Rook holding 404 and a corpse laying on the ground, Rook may appear to be attempting to steal Experiment 404. It is plausible considering the fact that they have settled that she is one of the few Unknown in existence. "Rook, I'll want to hear your side of the story after these two complete their tasks." The hatted stallion kept his chin low, but his daunting aura remained to intimidate Rook. Rook gulped. He knew that he was not guilty, but would the rest of them believe it. It is not overheard of for an Unknown to possess destructive qualities, but Rook was still doubtful. The two "investigators" concluded their business promptly, whispered a few more words and moved themselves to the back of the room. A new pony that appeared to be a sanitary officer entered the room and began cleaning up the bloody mess that dirtied the floor as Rook turned slowly and gently laid Experiment 404 upon the stained bed that she had originally vanished from. The hatted pony took a step forward and cleared his throat. "Alright, Rook. Let's hear it. What have you uncovered?" The gruff voice lost all friendliness and warmth. Even if the warmth was used nothing for self-benefit, it was always reassuring for Rook. Rook's eyes darted from pony to pony before they landed on the hatted stallion once more. He considered and weighed his options. He let out a sigh and explained. The hatted stallion stared down intently at Rook, his own bodyguard. His modified bodyguard whose sole purpose here was to protect him from any unstable experiments that may overcome security precautions. He trusted Rook, but to an extent. As far as explanations and excuses came, Rook was not prioritized. Rook fidgeted a little, a hoof behind his back. He flinched back a little and looked up at his employer. He began with, "I immediately realized that Experiment 404 did not teleport anywhere. Teleportation magic looks different. You hear a pop and you see the magic. Experiment 404 simply vanished, so I concluded that she went invisible. However, when she reappeared, she was dripping with blood, so the scientist who... is no longer with us... attacked her and I fended him off with a knife. I know how much you cared about this experiment, so I did everything in my power to protect her." Rook revealed a knife in his hoof that he had kept behind is back until now. it was small, but there was blood on it - not a blood stain, but fresh blood from a recently sliced victim. The hatted stallion shifted his stance and nodded lightly. He knew. That blood was too fresh and the wounds. The wounds on the scientist victim were too large. The gashes were simply too large to be caused by a mere blade. Of course, that particular scientist would have anything but violence in mind. The hatted stallion did not know what Rook's aim was, but he had one detail right. That experiment, lying unconscious on the stained bed behind Rook meant everything to the hatted stallion. The third Unknown ever. The hatted stallion turned around and motioned for the two "investigators" to leave with him while the janitor stayed to finish cleaning up the gory mess. He looked back and, to no one really, said, "And erase her failure mark. We'll be changing it in due course." Rook watched the hatted stallion exit the room before looking back down at this own Cutie Mark. It had been replaced a while back when he was first hired. His original castle chess piece in front of a bronze shield replaced with nothing more than a dark circle with a line piercing it vertically, the mark of a successful experiment. 3: A Vow"You will, effective immediately, surrender your freedom and surrender your whole self to your employer, [ CENSORED ], so as to efficiently perform duties as a Bodyguard. In the event that any mishaps including, but not limited to, unexpected experimentation catastrophes, sudden laboratory invasions, treacherous plots, and self-inflicted harm, occur, the hired bodyguard will be tasked with and held complete responsibility for the protection of his or her employer, [ CENSORED ]. Do you agree to the terms, hereby set?" "... Yes." "Good. Proceed down the hallway." I went down the hallway, unaware of the possibilities of what might happen. The naivety... I was knocked unconscious and the next thing I knew, I was awake on a hospital bed, an unholy itch on my cutie mark, but when I sat up to look at it... it was gone. It only gets worse from there... "Proceed to testing." "Wait, testing? Wait, no. What? What testing? I don't -" Rook pained himself recalling the memory, but he felt it necessary to vent out to Experiment 404 if he were to trust her in his escape efforts. He planned to escape so he could save his family and the only way he would be able to achieve his goal is with Experiment 404. Even with his modified construct, Rook could not pull any operation off on his own. Rook had surrendered his might to the hatted stallion a long time ago under the agreement that the hatted stallion would not bring harm to his family. Rook, sitting solemnly against the wall next to 404's bed, looked up at the dull colorless ceiling. He muttered, "Lies." Rook himself used to have honor. He thought highly of honor and discipline, at least as much of it he can in his current predicament. Escaping and breaking his contract would damage his honor irreparably, but Rook reasoned that the hatted stallion had broken it before him so, though it's not fair game, it provides a loophole to go back on his word. Rook sighed and tossed a glance over to 404. She was resting peacefully in bed, almost as if she hadn't a worry in the world. Rook scoffed quietly and slumped a little lower down the wall. "These experiments are messed up things." Rook's eyes darted around while his ears swiveled, trying to pick up any trace of unwanted eavesdroppers. There were none as far as he could tell. He continued, "They damage a pony irreversibly in hopes that they will be granted with powerful magic that extends beyond our current way of thinking." Rook looked about again before starting again, "I reckon since your psychological experiment there have been another thirty or so new ponies who came in. There are the test subjects, and the contributors. It is a euphemism really. Contributing sounds like it is a selfless act. In a way it is I suppose, but it is cruel. They are only brought in to - " A series of clanks rang from down the hall and interrupted Rook. They almost sounded like the ruckus dropped pots and pans produce. He looked over at 404 and noticed that she had woken up and was staring intently at the doorway. She glanced back at Rook before sinking down into her bed covers, turning over on her side. Rook trotted out the doorway and peered down each end of the hallway. Nothing seemed out of place, but Rook still cantered on the cautious side of things and turned around to return back into the room, but the door had shut. What?! I hadn't shut the door! What? How? ... Rook's brain raced to figure out what happened. He danced in place until it donned on him. The other pony that was in there... The 404 look-alike. Oh no... He pressed his ear to the door and heard a muffled voice. It was muffled, but Rook could barely make out what it said. "Didn't see anything out of the ordinary. It's fine." Rook's eyes narrowed. It sounded like his own voice. He trotted around the hallway, tapping his head with a hoof hoping that a spontaneous idea would come to him. Nothing. I guess he had no choice but to bust the door down... There was a slam, 404 shot back up and peered at the door. Rook had returned back in. She raised an eyebrow in a questioning manner. Rook turned around and caught on. He answered, "Didn't see anything out of the ordinary. It's fine." Rook smiled maliciously at 404, the smile plastered on his face while he sauntered closer to 404's bed. Something was off. Rook's eyes were the wrong color. It's friendly sky-blue was now a piercing, deep magenta. 404 gulped. She felt the fur on the back of her neck stand on end. This was not Rook. It couldn't be. She growled and bared her teeth. There were no daunting fangs to accompany her growl this time around, however. Rook's smile disengaged and he raised both eyebrows in surprise. "Now, now. That's not how you treat your sister, is it? I am this lab's Experiment 405, and your blood-related sister. Well, we were before the experiments." Before 404 could react to her words, the door blew in, creating a massive cloud of dust that shot splintering wood shrapnel into the room. Most of which stuck to the walls, but the few that did not were embedded in the false Rook's behind. The false Rook's eye twitched. He turned around to meet the real Rook's gaze. Rook's sky-blue gaze burned into the false Rook's resolve, melting it. He took a few steps closer to the fake and snorted. The fake's body immediately let off a green flash and she became a different pony entirely in the blink of an eye. The fake had become the 404 look-alike again. She flashed a failing smile and blinked a few times. Rook coolly cast a glance over to the bed that the look-alike had been in and noticed that it was empty. I guess this must be her. Seems like she can shapeshift. He felt anger set it, seemingly arriving from no where. He shook his head and looked down upon Experiment 405. He snorted and trotted up to 404's bed, shoving the shapeshifter aside. As he inspected 404 for injuries, he asked 405, "Is that your true form, 405?" He concluded that 405 hadn't brought harm to 404. Gently, she asked, "How do you -" "I overheard your conversation with Experiment 404. You're her sister?" 405 looked away, hiding behind her rust-colored mane. She looked back up at Rook, nodding quietly. Rook repeated, "Is that your true form?" 405 nodded again, but looked away as she did. Rook scoffed and stared down at 405. "You sounded confident and more sturdy when you talked. What happened to you now?" He trotted past her back to the doorway to look down either hall. No one was approaching but that doesn't mean no one will notice the big empty space of where a door should have been. She quietly answered, "I imitate the voices of ponies as well..." Rook sighed. "Of course you do. What are you doing here? Why?" 404 pushed herself up and leaned against the wall. She, too, wanted to hear her sister's reason. She swiveled her ear to listen better. She head 405 take a deep breath. "Well, I was just thinking, that... I could get you two out of here..." Rook raised an eyebrow, "What makes you think we want to leave?" Without even pretending to think about it, 405 replied, "Because... I overheard you talking to 404 while she was asleep. I can shapeshift, uhh. What's your name?" Rook eyed 405 suspiciously but eventually gave in. "Rook." "I know you probably have your abilities too, being a successful experiment. I see your E-mark. It's streak is vertical." Rook looked down at his Experiment Mark. He had been a successful experiment. His components were not hard to modify and install after all... He glanced over at 405's E-mark. She seemed to be a success as well. Following his gaze, 405 shook her head. I'm not. I simply shifted my E-mark. I'm really a failure, but I don't want to die, so I used my ability to appear as a success. Rook grunted, he understood how she felt, not a personal level, but he still understood. Failure are sent to disposal where they are destroyed, and nopony wants to die. Returning back to 405's original question, he shook his head. "I won't be telling you my mods just yet. I don't trust you enough." "Well, then I will be waiting until the day you do." That was pretty sappy. "Alright. I can live with that answer." Rook looked back at 404, who had a questioning look on her face. "Oh, right." Rook looked back at 405. "404 wants to know how do you intend to help us?" "Well, I can just change shape and become a doppelganger of 404 and act as her while you guys just sneak out and escape..." Rook sighed and sat down. He buried his muzzle in his hooves and shook his head. "No, that won't work. That's not nearly enough. Speaking of failed things, 405, you should re-shift your E-mark so it looks like you're a success." 405 looked at her flank disgruntled, and shifted her mark. "Stop calling me 405 or Experiment 405. I have a name. It's Hex." Rook scoffed, "Hex? Since when? In my knowledge, I'm the only experiment that was allowed to keep his or her name and that is only because I work directly under the hatted stallion as his bodyguard." "Keep your name? No, I don't remember my name, I've been here for a while. I don't remember my name, or if I even had one, but I remember being a filly when I arrived here with my sister." "404?" Hex nodded jubilantly and continued, "We grew up here and the mean ponies that guarded the batch of fillies that I was in called me Hex, so I thought it was my name... Ever since then I thought my name was Hex..." Rook nodded in contemplation. Finally, he said, "But 404 did not get a name?" Hex shook her head. "Can she even talk?" "I have never heard her talk. She made faces and noises, but never talked..." Must be a mute... Sigh. Of course the third Unknown had to be a mute. What was I thinking..? Rook reburied his muzzle. He sat for a while, thinking long and hard. To escape, we'll need a plan. We'll need reconnaissance, a general layout of the laboratory, and the locations of all exits just in case. He groaned. Escaping was never easy, but for some reason, this escape felt like it was going to be hard. There is a reason no one has ever escaped this lab... He glanced up to see a scientist standing in the hall. The scientist had an extremely confused look on his face as he stared at the crumpling doorway. Rook's eyes grew wide as he realized that he had done that. He scanned the room for Hex and 404, noticing that they were both in their original beds. He exhaled in relief. "Uh, Rook. I hope you don't mind me talking to the head about this..." The scientist didn't give Rook a chance to rebuke, so he just hung his head and stood up. He looked up and trotted toward the doorway. "Great, now I have to explain what happened to the hatted stallion." Rook looked back at the two ponies he planned to plot with later and sighed. He continued out the doorway and hastily made his way to the hatted stallion's quarters.
1: Failed"ROOK!" A stallion in a hat shouted out. Immediately, a large stallion appeared at a nearby doorway, standing at attention. Like every well-trained stallion, he stared off into the distance while he awaited orders. The stallion chuckled and in a gruff voice continued, "Ah, Rook. Do you know what today is?" Rook simply snorted and blew air out of his noise as a negative response. He did turn to look at the hatted stallion however. "Today is the big day. The day we finally get to see what becomes of your daughters." Rook felt a lump in his throat. He signed a contract to work under this stallion as his own personal peacekeeper in exchange that his family be kept safe. "With all do respect, sir. According to our contract, you -" "I what? Rook, I own you, and in extension... your family." The stallion got out of his leather chair and walked slowly and condescendingly toward Rook. He stopped a few centimeters away and continued, "The contract means nothing to me. I would come up with a bitter excuse like 'You did not read the fine print" but I give it to ponies straight. You've earned that much respect from me." Rook clenched his powerful jaws and contained his outrage. In this scenario, there was nothing he could really say. The rest of the ponies that worked in this facility offered their total allegiance to this mysterious leader, not even knowing what they were getting themselves into. Rook did not have a choice while the rest of the researchers here did. The hatted stallion waved his hoof and watched as Rook stepped aside to let him through. When the old stallion had left, Rook, try as he might, let a single tear through his defenses. A tear that his family would be safe throughout the diabolical schemes that the hatted stallion had for them. The bushes shook and the branches snapped as her hooves beat down on the cool dirt, sending little clouds of debris into the air with each stomp. Her deep pants of exasperation burned her lungs and her vision began to blur. She shook her head, clearing her thoughts and looked behind her. Sure enough, the menacing shadow tailed her. She coughed and felt the burn in her through, but pushed on. She knew what would happen if she stopped and no one enjoys the prospect of eternal slumber. Swerving around a clump of dense foliage and around a thick tree, she continued on down a path that had not been there before. She looked down at her hooves, thumping against the earth and back up at the dirt trail. The trail was clear and gave her some hope, but it was not much. Looking behind her again, she noticed that the shadow had vanished. Her pursuer was no where to be seen. She shoved her hooves into the dirt bringing her to an abrupt stop. She heaved, her body desperately begging for more air, for water, for a break. She desperately wanted to bunk down somewhere. She lowered her head and continued down the path. As she looked around, the forest around her seemed to look down upon her just like how her condescending mother used to. She could hear her mother, "You've brought home a failing grade, again. There seems to be no other choice. You will be -" The pony shook her head and tapped her head, clearing the painful memory. She whispered, "Not the cage" as a tear made its way to her eye before wetting the fur on her cheek. As she continued to trot down the rocky path, she happened upon a run-down cottage. It really was quite the eyesore, but to somepony being chased through the woods by a terrifying shadow, a cottage this run-down was nothing to be picky about. She quickly picked up the pace and made it to the front door, but when she put her hoof on it, the door dissolved into dust. She coughed on the dust as she let herself into the cottage. It was a quaint little place. If it was not so run-down, she could imagine that it would be a nice little place to get away from the city. A sense of nostalgia washed over her before an ear-piercing shriek shattered the silence. The pony quickly turned to the doorway to see a small pony, except it wasn't. This filly was missing a front leg and most of her coat was tattered and burned. Bits of her flesh were missing and her ribs poked out. The filly shook and screamed again, sending blood rushing out of her wounds before she turned away and ran away from the cottage. The pony within stood staring at where the filly had been, nothing more than a puddle of blood remained there. Snapping out of her trance, the pony bolted to the doorway, leaped over the crimson puddle and looked around. She saw fresh bloody tracks leading back down the trail from whence she came. She let out a gout of air and thought about her options. She eventually settled on going out to find the young filly who had been badly injured. She took off down the trail, making sure to follow the small red tracks. She galloped all the way back down where the shadow had initially been chasing her and hopped off the path. The bloody tracks led into the forest, but suddenly vanished. The pony trotted towards where the track ends and again looked around. That young filly couldn't have gotten far. She must be hiding in one of these bushes. I wonder if - A dying bush to her right rustled and the filly's head poked out. She offered a weak smile and shoved her way out of the bush. The filly trotted up to a tree and put her hoof on it. The tree immediately began shriveling and it's many leaves showered down to the earth. The pony gulped and stared wide-eyed at the filly who turned to look at her. The filly smirked and whispered, "Checkmate." The rest of the immediate bushes rustled violently and exploded into shadow fragments. The void entities convened together on the wounded filly. The pony took a step back and made herself ready to take off at a moment's notice, not wanting to sprint down the path yet. When all the fragments came together, they engulfed the young filly and another shriek accompanied the whooping wind. The small filly increased in size and her small figure disgustingly grew in a distorted manner. The sounds of bones snapping and flesh ripping was all that the pony needed to dash down the road without thinking about looking back. Running on pure adrenaline, she ran back down the path until she saw the cottage she had temporarily taken shelter in. This time, however, she did not stop for it. She darted past it, the bloody puddle mysteriously missing without a trace. Chancing a glance backwards, the shadow was already upon her. This time, it was too late. The pony released a quick sigh in between her pants before the ground gave in beneath her. She tumbled down a hillside and rolled down until she smashed into a tree. With dazed vision, she looked up the hill to see that the shadow had not let up chase. She swerved around the tree and began to run once more, but a sharp pain stabbed through her front left leg and she tumbled back to the ground. Looking down at her leg, something was stuck in it, but in the dimmed light she could not make out whether it was a stick or a bone. It did not matter, anyway. It was over. The shadow loomed over her and she closed her eyes for her final moments, but instead she heard a dreadful voice state, "Experiment number 404. Status: Experimentation Complete. Results: Failure. Expected Traits: Unknown." 404 looked away from her injured leg and up at the shadow being. It dissipated as her entire field of vision went bright white before everything went void black again. 404 felt her body jostling up and down, presumably from being on somepony's back. She had a blindfold on and couldn't see anything. She sniffed the air. Musty moldy air. She perked her ears to catch any noises that could help her identify her whereabouts, but the only thing responding were the clip clops of hooves against stone. Her transporter suddenly stopped, which sent a shock of pain through 404's body. She felt herself slide off the pony's back. She was sat up against a wall and her blindfold came off. It did not help at all though, her vision was fuzzy and she could only make out the fact that there was a light coming from somewhere. "Look, around here I am called Rook, and I can't tell you any more than that when it comes to who I am, but hear me out. Trust me when I say that I will get you out of here. Believe it or not, there is one other I need to grab if we are to escape here, but until then please hold out and promise that you will not give up, no matter what." 404 was still fairly dazed, but she understood the gist of what this stallion seemed to be saying. He's a rookie... He wants me to trust somepony he will grab so that we don't give up... Got it... The dazed look on 404's face did not give Rook hope about her, but he had to heed his own advice and not give up. Rook looked around the sewer that they were in. The nasty smell of the sewer keeps curious ponies out of the experimenting areas, or so Rook has been told. He looked back down at 404, who had passed out against the mossy cobblestone wall, and sighed. Breaking out of this place should not be too hard, but timing will mean everything The smell of sterilization filled the air. Experiment number 404 opened her eyes and still stared upon darkness. She flicked her ears here and there to pick up any noises or sounds. Any at all. She heard a faint beeping along with muffled voices. The voices seemed to talk for a while before hoofsteps. She tried listening harder and patiently waited until her hearing slowly cleared up in time for the new set of hooves to arrive. "How did it go?" A gruff voice. Deep and gruff. Like a grandfather. "Uh, the results came back as negative, sir. Another failure it seems." The second voice was a step above a whimper. It was almost like a son coming right out of a scolding. 404 felt a mark against both her flanks as if someone just drew a line across them with a marker. "Negative? This one is not allowed to be negative. She's the third Unknown we have had. We can't afford to lose any. Put her through it again." "Sir, I understand, but..." There was a shaky sigh. "She... It... It can't. No, it won't survive another experiment in this condition." I won't... survive? What condition? What's an Unknown..? These thoughts lingered in her mind for a while but scattered quickly as a sharp clank reverberated through the air. "Put her though... another test." The gruff voice seemed relatively friendly at first, but it began to emit a cruel and cold vibe. The younger experimenter audibly gulped loudly and whimpered. "Do it." That voice. So cruel. So demeaning. 404 clenched her teeth and growled. She wanted to say something. She wanted to combat that acrimonious voice. She wanted to strike down his air pipe and keep him from speaking again. Something about that voice filled her with a violent surge of power. The smell of burning fabrics invaded the scent of sterilization and the bed 404 was lying in caught fire and shattered, bursting the mattress and sending cindering wool shrapnel in every direction. She slowly opened her eyes to look at her aggressors, both of whom were wearing masks. The younger stallion was in a scientist's coat and had glasses while the older stallion hid his face under a hat. The older stallion grinned widely and began to chuckle as 404's shield of fire began to expand outwards. She hovered a few centimeters above the ground and floated toward the two stallions. Before she could do anything, however, another stallion, a bulkier one, leapt at her from the side and tackled her to the ground "Please. Don't," he whispered kindly. Almost immediately, 404's fiery rage was exhausted and the fires that had consumed half the sterilized room instantly puffed out of existence. The mark they have left, however, had not. 404 felt the weight of the bigger stallion on her and began to cry as her rage became sadness, unwarranted sadness. She slowly closed her eyes, as the large stallion picked himself up off her. Before she succumbed, however, she heard a single word. Blood... Author's Note Starting a new story. I actually planned a bunch of this story out and expect it to be quite long. For now though, if anyone wants to help me spell-check and edit or maybe you just want to pre-read and offer some sort of criticism, pm me and I'd be glad for the help! Cheers!
2: Not-So-Cutie MarkRook stared down at the newly-acquired mattress for 404 as he followed the hatted stallion and the quivering scientist down a hall. Experiment 404 rested on the mattress with a white sheet draped over her. The white sterilized sheet had blood stains splotched all over it turning about half the white to red. It was not for long before the small group of ponies made it to a specific door labeled Emergency. Rook had never been down here, but he knew it was not the type of emergency that a welcoming hospital would happily provide services for. When they pushed passed the door, multiple screens separated designated areas, all of which were empty except one. Another pony who looked unrealistically similar to Experiment 404 lay awake in a bed with machines hooked up to her. Noticing Rook's unease from entering the room, the hatted stallion laughed deeply and declared, "I guess you would want insight on what this room is. This room is here to keep certain experiments alive." Rook explored the room with his eyes alone and responded curiously, "Certain?" "The experiments that we have hope for and refuse to let die." Rook gulped silently. In each designated it appeared to be just another miniaturized hospital room, but separated by thin drapes rather than walls. Next to each white bed was an operating bench with a variety of tools at a "doctor's" disposal. At the far back of the room, large machines await use. They probably are used for keeping the ponies alive if they're critical... whether they want to live or not... Rook gulped down a newly-formed lump in his throat and turned his attention to Experiment 404. The white sheet that had been draped over her was wadded up and thrown in the corner and the younger meek stallion began hooking Experiment 404 up to machines that tell the vitals of the pony. Rook was never one to dabble in technology but almost felt bad for Experiment 404's situation. The hatted stallion is going to lengths to keep this pony alive. "Blood." The hatted stallion stared down at the 404th experiment which was lying on the ground, having just been tackled by his modified bodyguard. He sniffed and cleared his throat. Rook immediately returned to his hooves and backed away from the downed experiment, but did not take his eyes off it. The hatted stallion looked around the burnt room and acknowledged the many piles of dust and melted components that lay around the room. He trotted over to a bench that had metal tools laid out prior to the outburst. All that lay on the half-destroyed bench were small puddles of metal that were already hardening once more. The hatted stallion sighed and picked up one of the hardened puddles in his white magic. He brought it close to his face and spun it around to examine it. Finding nothing intriguing, the stallion tossed it aside, beckoning a resounding clank that echoed down the hall. "Well?" The hatted stallion did not turn his attention back to the clearly more important situation just yet. "... Well, what..? Sir?" The scientist looked up to meet the hatted stallion's gaze but did not get to meet eyes, which he was thankful for. Rook snorted and looked between the two. The silence built up until a mare appeared at the door, donning the same clothes that the young scientist was wearing. Rook had never seen this particular mare before, but scanned her for possible threats just to be sure. "Professor?" She referred to the hatted stallion and continued, "Do we have permission to move this experiment to the Emergency Room?" Her voice was soft, but it still had a stern and to-the-point aspect that nopony could ignore. The hatted stallion looked up at the mare without meeting her gaze and grunted. He motioned for the young stallion scientist to load Experiment 404 and follow him. The mare at the door turned and scampered down the hall, removing herself from sight and mind. Rook stared at where she used to be for a few more seconds and turned his attention back to Experiment 404 who was thrown upon an intact mattress and wheeled out the room. He muttered under his breath, "She doesn't work here..." and followed the scientist and hatted stallion through the doorway. Rook snapped out of his flashback and looked around the room again, an instinctual response to determine whether he had missed anything important or not. Evidently he had not missed much regarding Experiment 404. Rook thought back and tried to identify the mare that had referred to the professor. No scientist calls him the professor because it is only a name he calls himself when speaking to experiments. Rook raised an eyebrow and looked over at the Experiment 404 look-alike resting in the area next to theirs. The pony lying there was awake, but she was staring off in the distance, fixed on a point millions of miles away. Rook squinted, but returned his gaze to Experiment 404. She was alive, but barely. His plot to escape would have to wait for a while if things were not looking up soon. Ironically, Experiment 404's eyes shot open. The heart rate monitor began to go crazy as the beats per minute escalated exponentally. 404 did not show any signs of increased heart rate though. There was no physical symptoms that could assist in the new bpm. Experiment 404 still lay quietly on the mattress not attempting to move. She simply stared up at the ceiling. "Uh oh..." The young scientist monitored multiple machines that Experiment 404 was hooked up to and looked at the specimen. "She... She's bleeding from her eyes again." The scientist unplugged all the machines off of her. They were clearly malfunctioning and would provide no assistance whatsoever. Rook stepped a little closer to the bed and noticed that blood had stained the experiment's light orange coat around her eyes and was trickling down to the mattress. He noticed something peculiar though. The experiment's left eye twitched once and a a thick blood red began to overwhelm the cyan iris. In moments, Experiment 404 vanished leaving nothing but a deep red blood stain on the mattress. The hatted stallion had sent off the male scientist to inform any staff he happens upon and told them to keep a sharp eye before hobbling out the door himself. Rook would have followed him to wherever he had in mind, but had a myth that he himself needed to confirm. He looked back at the stained mattress, trotting over to it. He heard a small giggle which turned into muffled maniacal laughter. Rook gulped and extended his hoof, prodding the spot where Experiment 404 had been and met resistance. All of a sudden the experiment reappeared on the bed, her left eye still blood red. She had an overly wide grin splayed across her face which revealed two intimidatingly long fangs. Rook leapt back a safe distance and analyzed Experiment 404, she had undergone more physical changes involving sharper ears, her wings were larger and she had claws extending from her hooves. 404 sat up on the mattress and licked her fangs. She whispered, "I want to play a game..." She dropped from the mattress and began sauntering towards Rook, who was slowly moving towards the doorway. Experiment 404 stopped and lowered herself. She's about to lunge. Rook steeled himself and prepared to defend himself. 404 leapt up at Rook, but before she could make contact, the young stallion scientist galloped back into the room just in time to have his neck shredded. His white coat stained red and the deep gashes in his neck gurgled as blood squirted from the open wounds. The scientist immediately dropped to the tiled floor and screamed at the top of his lungs, kicking around from the pain. Experiment 404 quickly dropped down upon the male scientist and grabbed his face in her claws. "Hush." With the soft command, she flexed her claws and crushed the poor scientist's head. The legs stopped kicking and the shrill scream ceased immediately. The white stallion quickly became engulfed in red as his blood trickled around the slightly uneven flooring to make a slightly distorted puddle of crimson and scarlet. Rook stared down at the gruesome and mangled sight, guilty for not doing anything to save him. He switched his gaze and stared at 404 again, who was looking at the corpse. She looked intrigued but still grinned. She let out a broken laugh, the splattered blood on her face assisting her with her manic look. 404 stared up at Rook and the two shared an intense stare-down before 404 retreated a bit and scraped the floor with her claws. The sound of hoofsteps fast approaching echoed into the room. 404's ears perked up and her left iris immediately reverted back to its original cyan color. For a second, she limped and appeared as lifeless as her victim. She fell to the ground immediately, out like a light. Rook quickly made his way over to 404 and held her in his hooves, checking her vitals as reinforcements arrived. 404 was still alive, but something still seemed wrong. The hatted stallion entered the room after two other scientists. The mangled corpse next to the doorway immediately drew their attention first. While one of the scientists dedicated his attention to the bloody pile of flesh, the other analyzed Rook's situation, turning back to whisper a few words to the hatted stallion every few minutes. Rook admitted, his position did seem suspicious in the eyes of a non-witness. The way it looks right now, with Rook holding 404 and a corpse laying on the ground, Rook may appear to be attempting to steal Experiment 404. It is plausible considering the fact that they have settled that she is one of the few Unknown in existence. "Rook, I'll want to hear your side of the story after these two complete their tasks." The hatted stallion kept his chin low, but his daunting aura remained to intimidate Rook. Rook gulped. He knew that he was not guilty, but would the rest of them believe it. It is not overheard of for an Unknown to possess destructive qualities, but Rook was still doubtful. The two "investigators" concluded their business promptly, whispered a few more words and moved themselves to the back of the room. A new pony that appeared to be a sanitary officer entered the room and began cleaning up the bloody mess that dirtied the floor as Rook turned slowly and gently laid Experiment 404 upon the stained bed that she had originally vanished from. The hatted pony took a step forward and cleared his throat. "Alright, Rook. Let's hear it. What have you uncovered?" The gruff voice lost all friendliness and warmth. Even if the warmth was used nothing for self-benefit, it was always reassuring for Rook. Rook's eyes darted from pony to pony before they landed on the hatted stallion once more. He considered and weighed his options. He let out a sigh and explained. The hatted stallion stared down intently at Rook, his own bodyguard. His modified bodyguard whose sole purpose here was to protect him from any unstable experiments that may overcome security precautions. He trusted Rook, but to an extent. As far as explanations and excuses came, Rook was not prioritized. Rook fidgeted a little, a hoof behind his back. He flinched back a little and looked up at his employer. He began with, "I immediately realized that Experiment 404 did not teleport anywhere. Teleportation magic looks different. You hear a pop and you see the magic. Experiment 404 simply vanished, so I concluded that she went invisible. However, when she reappeared, she was dripping with blood, so the scientist who... is no longer with us... attacked her and I fended him off with a knife. I know how much you cared about this experiment, so I did everything in my power to protect her." Rook revealed a knife in his hoof that he had kept behind is back until now. it was small, but there was blood on it - not a blood stain, but fresh blood from a recently sliced victim. The hatted stallion shifted his stance and nodded lightly. He knew. That blood was too fresh and the wounds. The wounds on the scientist victim were too large. The gashes were simply too large to be caused by a mere blade. Of course, that particular scientist would have anything but violence in mind. The hatted stallion did not know what Rook's aim was, but he had one detail right. That experiment, lying unconscious on the stained bed behind Rook meant everything to the hatted stallion. The third Unknown ever. The hatted stallion turned around and motioned for the two "investigators" to leave with him while the janitor stayed to finish cleaning up the gory mess. He looked back and, to no one really, said, "And erase her failure mark. We'll be changing it in due course." Rook watched the hatted stallion exit the room before looking back down at this own Cutie Mark. It had been replaced a while back when he was first hired. His original castle chess piece in front of a bronze shield replaced with nothing more than a dark circle with a line piercing it vertically, the mark of a successful experiment.
3: A Vow"You will, effective immediately, surrender your freedom and surrender your whole self to your employer, [ CENSORED ], so as to efficiently perform duties as a Bodyguard. In the event that any mishaps including, but not limited to, unexpected experimentation catastrophes, sudden laboratory invasions, treacherous plots, and self-inflicted harm, occur, the hired bodyguard will be tasked with and held complete responsibility for the protection of his or her employer, [ CENSORED ]. Do you agree to the terms, hereby set?" "... Yes." "Good. Proceed down the hallway." I went down the hallway, unaware of the possibilities of what might happen. The naivety... I was knocked unconscious and the next thing I knew, I was awake on a hospital bed, an unholy itch on my cutie mark, but when I sat up to look at it... it was gone. It only gets worse from there... "Proceed to testing." "Wait, testing? Wait, no. What? What testing? I don't -" Rook pained himself recalling the memory, but he felt it necessary to vent out to Experiment 404 if he were to trust her in his escape efforts. He planned to escape so he could save his family and the only way he would be able to achieve his goal is with Experiment 404. Even with his modified construct, Rook could not pull any operation off on his own. Rook had surrendered his might to the hatted stallion a long time ago under the agreement that the hatted stallion would not bring harm to his family. Rook, sitting solemnly against the wall next to 404's bed, looked up at the dull colorless ceiling. He muttered, "Lies." Rook himself used to have honor. He thought highly of honor and discipline, at least as much of it he can in his current predicament. Escaping and breaking his contract would damage his honor irreparably, but Rook reasoned that the hatted stallion had broken it before him so, though it's not fair game, it provides a loophole to go back on his word. Rook sighed and tossed a glance over to 404. She was resting peacefully in bed, almost as if she hadn't a worry in the world. Rook scoffed quietly and slumped a little lower down the wall. "These experiments are messed up things." Rook's eyes darted around while his ears swiveled, trying to pick up any trace of unwanted eavesdroppers. There were none as far as he could tell. He continued, "They damage a pony irreversibly in hopes that they will be granted with powerful magic that extends beyond our current way of thinking." Rook looked about again before starting again, "I reckon since your psychological experiment there have been another thirty or so new ponies who came in. There are the test subjects, and the contributors. It is a euphemism really. Contributing sounds like it is a selfless act. In a way it is I suppose, but it is cruel. They are only brought in to - " A series of clanks rang from down the hall and interrupted Rook. They almost sounded like the ruckus dropped pots and pans produce. He looked over at 404 and noticed that she had woken up and was staring intently at the doorway. She glanced back at Rook before sinking down into her bed covers, turning over on her side. Rook trotted out the doorway and peered down each end of the hallway. Nothing seemed out of place, but Rook still cantered on the cautious side of things and turned around to return back into the room, but the door had shut. What?! I hadn't shut the door! What? How? ... Rook's brain raced to figure out what happened. He danced in place until it donned on him. The other pony that was in there... The 404 look-alike. Oh no... He pressed his ear to the door and heard a muffled voice. It was muffled, but Rook could barely make out what it said. "Didn't see anything out of the ordinary. It's fine." Rook's eyes narrowed. It sounded like his own voice. He trotted around the hallway, tapping his head with a hoof hoping that a spontaneous idea would come to him. Nothing. I guess he had no choice but to bust the door down... There was a slam, 404 shot back up and peered at the door. Rook had returned back in. She raised an eyebrow in a questioning manner. Rook turned around and caught on. He answered, "Didn't see anything out of the ordinary. It's fine." Rook smiled maliciously at 404, the smile plastered on his face while he sauntered closer to 404's bed. Something was off. Rook's eyes were the wrong color. It's friendly sky-blue was now a piercing, deep magenta. 404 gulped. She felt the fur on the back of her neck stand on end. This was not Rook. It couldn't be. She growled and bared her teeth. There were no daunting fangs to accompany her growl this time around, however. Rook's smile disengaged and he raised both eyebrows in surprise. "Now, now. That's not how you treat your sister, is it? I am this lab's Experiment 405, and your blood-related sister. Well, we were before the experiments." Before 404 could react to her words, the door blew in, creating a massive cloud of dust that shot splintering wood shrapnel into the room. Most of which stuck to the walls, but the few that did not were embedded in the false Rook's behind. The false Rook's eye twitched. He turned around to meet the real Rook's gaze. Rook's sky-blue gaze burned into the false Rook's resolve, melting it. He took a few steps closer to the fake and snorted. The fake's body immediately let off a green flash and she became a different pony entirely in the blink of an eye. The fake had become the 404 look-alike again. She flashed a failing smile and blinked a few times. Rook coolly cast a glance over to the bed that the look-alike had been in and noticed that it was empty. I guess this must be her. Seems like she can shapeshift. He felt anger set it, seemingly arriving from no where. He shook his head and looked down upon Experiment 405. He snorted and trotted up to 404's bed, shoving the shapeshifter aside. As he inspected 404 for injuries, he asked 405, "Is that your true form, 405?" He concluded that 405 hadn't brought harm to 404. Gently, she asked, "How do you -" "I overheard your conversation with Experiment 404. You're her sister?" 405 looked away, hiding behind her rust-colored mane. She looked back up at Rook, nodding quietly. Rook repeated, "Is that your true form?" 405 nodded again, but looked away as she did. Rook scoffed and stared down at 405. "You sounded confident and more sturdy when you talked. What happened to you now?" He trotted past her back to the doorway to look down either hall. No one was approaching but that doesn't mean no one will notice the big empty space of where a door should have been. She quietly answered, "I imitate the voices of ponies as well..." Rook sighed. "Of course you do. What are you doing here? Why?" 404 pushed herself up and leaned against the wall. She, too, wanted to hear her sister's reason. She swiveled her ear to listen better. She head 405 take a deep breath. "Well, I was just thinking, that... I could get you two out of here..." Rook raised an eyebrow, "What makes you think we want to leave?" Without even pretending to think about it, 405 replied, "Because... I overheard you talking to 404 while she was asleep. I can shapeshift, uhh. What's your name?" Rook eyed 405 suspiciously but eventually gave in. "Rook." "I know you probably have your abilities too, being a successful experiment. I see your E-mark. It's streak is vertical." Rook looked down at his Experiment Mark. He had been a successful experiment. His components were not hard to modify and install after all... He glanced over at 405's E-mark. She seemed to be a success as well. Following his gaze, 405 shook her head. I'm not. I simply shifted my E-mark. I'm really a failure, but I don't want to die, so I used my ability to appear as a success. Rook grunted, he understood how she felt, not a personal level, but he still understood. Failure are sent to disposal where they are destroyed, and nopony wants to die. Returning back to 405's original question, he shook his head. "I won't be telling you my mods just yet. I don't trust you enough." "Well, then I will be waiting until the day you do." That was pretty sappy. "Alright. I can live with that answer." Rook looked back at 404, who had a questioning look on her face. "Oh, right." Rook looked back at 405. "404 wants to know how do you intend to help us?" "Well, I can just change shape and become a doppelganger of 404 and act as her while you guys just sneak out and escape..." Rook sighed and sat down. He buried his muzzle in his hooves and shook his head. "No, that won't work. That's not nearly enough. Speaking of failed things, 405, you should re-shift your E-mark so it looks like you're a success." 405 looked at her flank disgruntled, and shifted her mark. "Stop calling me 405 or Experiment 405. I have a name. It's Hex." Rook scoffed, "Hex? Since when? In my knowledge, I'm the only experiment that was allowed to keep his or her name and that is only because I work directly under the hatted stallion as his bodyguard." "Keep your name? No, I don't remember my name, I've been here for a while. I don't remember my name, or if I even had one, but I remember being a filly when I arrived here with my sister." "404?" Hex nodded jubilantly and continued, "We grew up here and the mean ponies that guarded the batch of fillies that I was in called me Hex, so I thought it was my name... Ever since then I thought my name was Hex..." Rook nodded in contemplation. Finally, he said, "But 404 did not get a name?" Hex shook her head. "Can she even talk?" "I have never heard her talk. She made faces and noises, but never talked..." Must be a mute... Sigh. Of course the third Unknown had to be a mute. What was I thinking..? Rook reburied his muzzle. He sat for a while, thinking long and hard. To escape, we'll need a plan. We'll need reconnaissance, a general layout of the laboratory, and the locations of all exits just in case. He groaned. Escaping was never easy, but for some reason, this escape felt like it was going to be hard. There is a reason no one has ever escaped this lab... He glanced up to see a scientist standing in the hall. The scientist had an extremely confused look on his face as he stared at the crumpling doorway. Rook's eyes grew wide as he realized that he had done that. He scanned the room for Hex and 404, noticing that they were both in their original beds. He exhaled in relief. "Uh, Rook. I hope you don't mind me talking to the head about this..." The scientist didn't give Rook a chance to rebuke, so he just hung his head and stood up. He looked up and trotted toward the doorway. "Great, now I have to explain what happened to the hatted stallion." Rook looked back at the two ponies he planned to plot with later and sighed. He continued out the doorway and hastily made his way to the hatted stallion's quarters.
