My Little Portal: Testing is scientific advancement

Chapters

A Rude Awakening
The testing begins
An appearance
Troubled Memories
The Return of Freedom
The older test chambers
The beginning of the end
The Finale
Epilogue

A Rude Awakening

Star Whistle awoke; she glanced around the small room she had been asleep in. She remembered nothing other than her name. The room consisted of walls made from glass apart from a single door sized wall - made out of what appeared to be concrete - and a radio on a white square cube. However the scenery outside of the glass room looked like a disaster had occurred, the walls were covered in a thick layer of vines and various other plant life. The walls had crumbled over time, allowing dirt to fill the gaps and spill into the floor, overall the room looked a catastrophe and there was no way to escape this glass room she had awoken in. The square lights in the roof were either broken or flickering and the small area of wall previously mentioned had a thin metal frame around the edge of it, where in Equestria was she? There was a sudden noise, the sound of static filled the room followed by the sound of an unfamiliar voice

“Welcome to the Neigh Science Laboratory” began the now obviously pre-recorded announcement “If you are hearing this then it is more than likely that there has been some kind of catastrophic event which has affected the staff of this Laboratory. If, however, there is no disaster of any proportion then ignore this recording and resume with your work” Star Whistle listened closely to the recording, maybe this could be some kind of indication to why she was here

“The Neigh Science Laboratory has assembled a large testing facility for future generations to resume testing even in such an event as this, testing will commence in 5” Continued the voice, Star Whistle began to panic. The recording had given her little to no information as to where she was or what had happened, quickly looking around the room she tried to find a way out

“4” Resumed the voice. Star Whistle tried to charge up an ample amount of magic to shatter the glass, however she found herself unable to do so

“3” Rang the voice, echoing off of the walls of the broken room. Star whistle panicked more, why could she not charge her magic? She quickly ran towards the glass walls and began try to break them

“2” Stated the voice, yet again intruding upon Star Whistle’s thoughts. The glass had began to break, there was a slight crack. Star Whistle couldn’t help but form a small grin at this, she may be able to avoid this “testing”

“On—“ Began the voice but it was interrupted by further static and the recording seemed to rewind and fast forward.

Suddenly it stopped and all was silent again, frozen in fear Star Whistle looked around the room for the cause of this. Was it just a fault? Or was it some ponies idea of a sick joke? Suddenly a high pitch noise echoed through the room

“Hello, Star whistle” said the voice, a very deep voice began to speak

Star Whistle found herself unable to speak, what had happened while she was asleep?

“I see you’ve realised you can no longer speak” Continued the voice, slightly smug “We performed an operation to remove your vocal chords so you couldn’t argue to testing” Star Whistle was shocked, further fear flushed through her

“There was no other way you see...” Resumed the voice “I say removed but I use the term loosely. We simply used a device of ours to disable them until you complete the tests we have set out for you, after that you will be able to talk again. Just like nothing ever happened” Star Whistle thought to herself

“Is this some kind of sick joke?” She thought “Does Princess Celestia know about this ‘Neigh Science’ Laboratory?”

“Here’s an interesting fact for you, I have the controls to the device controlling your vocal chords right here” Ranted the voice, slightly grating on Star Whistle’s nerves now, if she could speak after the tests were complete then she would hurriedly complete them so she could leave the accursed lab

“Now” the voice started again, as if he had never talked to her before “Please walk through the portal on that wall before you” there was the sound of flicking switches and pressing buttons followed by an echoed twanging sound. An orange outlined portal had appeared on the wall with the metal outline around it. Star Whistles eyes widened, portal technology? Like teleportation? Wasn’t that a spell that a unicorn could learn? What was the point?

“Come on” Said the voice, in a mildly annoyed tone “Go through” Star Whistle closed her eyes and took a deep breath, she would only do this because she wanted to leave. As she stepped through the portal she appeared outside of the glass box, near one of the larger cracks in the broken wall

“Good... oh, but where are my manners” Resumed the voice “You may call me... well not really call me... but you may associate this voice with the name ‘Dark Cloud’” Star whistle blinked in disbelief

“And no, that’s not my actual name. Why in Equestria would I give you that? Wouldn’t want you telling anypony who I am...” Stated the voice “Anyway, walk down the hallway that’s about to appear. The first test chamber isn’t for quite a way, and you need to receive the dual portal device before performing any tests” Star Whistle nodded and looked around for said hallway, there were more tapping of keys and pulling of levers and a few panel walls pulled back and out to reveal a large iron walkway over the deepest hole she had ever seen, it went beyond how far she could actually see and the room she had just walked out of was only one of thousands of others, each wall covered in rooms with walkways just like this each leading to other areas.

“I remember the last pony that I brought down here” Began Dark Cloud “She looked quite similar to you but sadly she wasn’t up to the task of completing the tests I had set out for her. In fact, you’re going to exactly the same chambers she went to; which to be quite honest bores me a great deal considering I’ve seen them solved before... excuse me, I went off on a rant there didn’t I?” Star Whistle rolled her eyes and continued to walk down the walkway, still taken back by the surroundings. Suddenly a bridge from another room collapsed, falling into the abyss below

“Oh! There goes another one, let’s hope that doesn’t happen to you ‘eh? It would be pretty embarrassing to die before the first test even begins!” Started Dark Cloud, Star Whistle sighed. She knew he was going to be as obnoxious as possible to try and distract her from the task at hand “Reminds me of this Pegasus I had down here, she didn’t really react well to having a metal ring holding her wings against her... couldn’t hold the portal gun either! That’s why we’ve decided upon a Unicorn only policy” Ranted the voice “And then...” his voice trailed off as Star Whistle began to focus upon getting to her destination, it was going to be a long walk

Upon arriving at the entrance to the first test chamber Dark Cloud piped up once again, not that he ever piped down of course

“Before you enter the first chamber you’ll need to get the dual portal device... as I mentioned before” He began “So! All you have to do is...” the sound of buttons, keys and levers being pressed hit and pulled began

“Get it from over there” Dark Cloud chirped, some panels moved and there amongst the rubble and cracked walls laid the body of another unicorn, lifeless beneath a chunk of rubble “About the rubble, turns out that using explosives to distract test subjects is not the greatest idea! Such a shame to! She was almost on the second set of tests!”

Hesitantly and cautiously Star Whistle approached the body scared, and saddened, about the situation at hand

“I’ve granted you enough magic power to be able to not only hold but also to OPERATE the dual portal device, aren’t I nice?” Dark Cloud resumed tediously. And apparently he was telling the truth, Star Whistle was able to levitate the portal gun as well as fire it “Right then! Now you have the dual portal device you need only to test your advanced leg replacements” more buttons were being hit at the other end of the microphone. A claw grabbed Star Whistle, pulling her towards the roof

“Now, if they work you’ll be fine!” Explained Dark Cloud “But if not... then... well let’s just say I’ll have to find another test subject” Star Whistle tried to scream, but she couldn’t. She tried to struggle, but the claw held her tight. And then, the claw let go and sent Star Whistle plummeting towards the ground at full force.

The testing begins

Falling towards the floor Star Whistle felt fear overcome her, her life flashing before her eyes. And then she landed in a cloud of dust, causing an indent in the floor next to the body of the other test subject

“Looks like they work!” Chirped Dark Cloud “That was fun, it always is fun to test before testing. Wouldn’t you agree? Oh wait, you can’t talk...” and with that he chuckled. Star Whistle looked at the ground, she was alive? How was it possible?

“Well, off you go” Continued Dark Cloud “The test chamber doors should be open!” there was a sound of sliding doors, the test chamber doors had been opened and she trotted over to it

“Now before you start the test I should warn you that we do use deadly testing elements such as... well telling you isn’t as fun as seeing you find out” Explained Dark Cloud “So I guess you can find the first element we use in here!”

The test chamber was a peculiar looking square room with white panelling, similar to that of the room she had awoken in but it was surprisingly not overgrown and destroyed. It was fairly simple, a cube dispensing machine in one corner and a pressure plate on the floor in front of a door.

“Well that’s a no brainer...” Thought Star Whistle “Now how to dispense the cubes?”

“Oh! And to make things twice as interesting and fun, for science of course, we have removed the traceable wiring so you cannot tell which button does what!” Exclaimed Dark Cloud “Now go on! Enjoy the first of many wonderful tests!”

There was a row of seven buttons against the wall near the door, more disturbingly though there were a few patches of blood around the bases of the buttons stands so Star Whistle decided to take a generally more cautious approach, placing one orange portal on the wall near the cube dispenser she walked up to the buttons. First pressing the far right one, there was silence for a second and then a denying sound

“That’s the one everypony goes for” Smugly began Dark Cloud “Personally my favourite” the panelling behind her shifted and slid down, revealing a line of turrets. Quickly Star Whistle shot the blue portal beneath her hooves and appeared next to the cube dispenser

“Oh! Oh! She’s thought it through slightly!” Commentated Dark Cloud “But they can still see you” so quickly Star Whistle shot the blue portal behind the turrets and ran through the orange one

“Alright, now what...” she thought to herself, she began to kick the turrets over which caused them to explode

“You catch on fast” beamed Dark Cloud “Never doubted you for a second, not even when you were about to be filled with more holes than a changeling” rolling her eyes Star whistle returned to the buttons, she could now rule out the idea of using the far right button. Pondering over her next decision, and what on earth she would be faced with, she decided upon pressing the far left one instead. Doing so caused silence once again followed by yet another denying sound

“Bad luck there, really bad luck!” Chuckled Dark Cloud

The floor gave clicking sounds, sliding apart to create a chequered pattern of floor revealing an extremely deep moat with lava at the bottom

“That’s gonna prove difficult to navigate” he continued to commentate “And now it’s a... hold on...”

Star Whistle turned back to the buttons, there was only one now. The others had plunged into the depths of the lava below

“That’s not meant to happen... I don’t remember putting a chequered pattern floor” panicked Dark Cloud “Hmm... stay put for a second” there was a few moments of silence and all of a sudden the entire room went pitch black, lit only by the horrifying lava below. Suddenly a panel in the roof began to shake and through fell a cube, was this how cube dispensers worked? This was followed by some inaudible babbling, mutters and sounds of frustration.

Star Whistle was genuinely horrified, trapped in an unknown underground lab being forced to do tests and now there was a strange cube in the room and an even stranger sound of another pony in the roof.

After about 10 minutes of standing in darkness the lights began to flicker on again, the floor still chequered and the sounds of frustration had stopped and gone a while ago

“That was funny...” Began Dark Cloud “The entire power grid went down, meaning that you could have talked for that 10 minutes I was gone; speaking of which, did you miss me? I know my commentary is always valuable to every test subject” Star Whistle had done this many times already, but she rolled her eyes and sighed.

“Oh, I see you got a cube then” Continued Dark Cloud “Well that means we can go to the next test!” so Star Whistle began to cautiously hop along the chequered floor to the cube. All of a sudden the floor panel she stood on shook, Star Whistle slid to the edge of the panel and clung on for dear life

“Oh I’m sorry, I was just trying to distract you” Began Dark Cloud “Let me help you” surprisingly he actually did, a panel appeared below her and pushed her upwards. She then continued on her journey to the cube; taking the cube in her hooves she tossed it to the pressure plate, luckily it landed directly on it forcing open the doors to the next test chamber. The floor panels then returned to normal, and walking over to the cube she noticed that it had strange drawings on the side of it. Doodles and messy lettering all over it, thinking nothing of it she continued to the next test chamber which was surprisingly a library. Wait... a library? Why would they decorate a test chamber like this?

“This is a relaxing test to relieve you of the stress caused by the last one” Began Dark Cloud “Behind one of these book shelves is the button to open the door to the next test; I want you to find it. Each shelf has to have about 30 books removed before the back panel can be opened. Now while you’re doing that I’m going to go and get myself some coffee, because you wouldn’t believe how stressful it is watching an imbecile like you attempt to solve simple puzzles”

And with that Star Whistle began to search for the button.

After what seemed like hours Star Whistle finally found the button, but there was a twist. I mean, of course there was a twist there was an insane pony forcing her to perform scientific tests, and of course the button just had to be on the other side of a room full of turrets.

This was certainly going to be a challenge.

An appearance

Star Whistle stared at the button and the field of targeting lines emitting from the turrets

“Here” Offered Dark Cloud “I’ll help you!” Star Whistle began to feel extremely uneasy and nervous, Dark Cloud offering to help wasn’t the most reassuring thing you could ever hear, and with the tapping of a few buttons the turrets began to shift around on the panelled flooring below as did the button which of course just now had to be hanging from the roof

“There, I’ve moved the turrets around so it’s easier. But of course it’s equivalent exchange! I can’t help you for the sole purpose of helping you, it is a scientific test after all. So I kept it the same difficulty by adjusting the location of the button!” He rambled, during this Star Whistle was planning, portal surfaces surrounded the room except for the walls behind the turrets. How on earth could she get past them?

“You know, you are in a library” Mocked Dark Cloud “There could be something to help you in here, maybe some self help books. You seem like you have a short temper and an even shorter memory, you really do remind me of a goldfish. That’s mainly why I set this little test up! You could have read some of the books...” his voice trailed off as Star Whistle tried her hardest to concentrate fully on the task at hand and managed to quickly devise an idea, throwing a book into the targeting lines she timed how long it took for them to fire. Apparently they had a 3 second delay, helpful to her or not it was still nice to know. The sound of Dark Cloud’s gruelling voice over the speakers slowly halted and instead all was quiet, seems she managed to shut him up which allowed Star Whistle to concentrate for a few more moments in the glorious silence of the not so glorious lab. And then she devised an idea

As Star Whistle thought over her plan she became more and more hesitant to perform it; what if she didn’t have to destroy or disable the turrets? What she would do is placed a portal on the floor of the library and a portal on the floor under the button, jumping from the top of a bookshelf would allow her to maintain the speed she gained and throw her up and through the portal directly at the button. Which perhaps wasn’t the greatest idea as only her legs had been replaced to negate any harm from them, but she would continue with the plan nonetheless?

“Come on, just do something” Complained Dark Cloud “It’s so devastatingly simple that you’d have to have a shorter attention span than Derpy Hooves to not understand it!” Star Whistle began to contemplate stopping doing anything at all, but decided she’d rather escape and get her voice back, so firing the portals in the previously mentioned locations she clambered to the top of a book case and thought through her plan yet another time

“Oh... I see what you’re doing, very clever. Very clever.” Began Dark Cloud “But there are still the turrets to consider” Star Whistle smiled at this, she had already taken it into consideration, she would be in and out of the room in under 3 seconds so they wouldn’t be able to target her. Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath Star Whistle leant forward and allowed herself to drop directly into the portal below.

Dark Cloud watched on the monitor before him as the test subject he insulted so much had figured out the library puzzle in a quicker time than any other subject. Usually they wouldn’t have even found the button yet, thinking over this he decided that he would require another cup of coffee if he were to resume watching the subject move at an alarmingly fast rate, despite whatever he had said to Star Whistle before she had been the most promising subject of the entire project.

Trotting over to the rusted and worn coffee machine he glanced around the room he sat in, nothing but monitors lighting it and nothing but test tubes, vats and general scientific apparatus surrounding the room, beside the coffee machine was a rusty remote control. Dark Clouds mind rushing back to him, the test subject which had shown equally as much potential as his current one, and the one who he assumed was behind the stunt pulled in the first chamber; however not even he could have predicted he would have interfered with the previous test subject so much that it would result in an untimely demise.

Not that it bothered Dark Cloud at all, his bloodshot eyes had grown weary of watching the foolish unicorn before blunder its way through the test chambers out of sheer luck as he longed for a new subject. One that would actually be interesting to watch; one like his current test subject, he took the coffee pot in his hooves and examined it, his chaotically tangled black mane swinging in the way of his eyes before he could get a glimpse of the contents, his mind rushing back to the first test chamber that Star Whistle had passed. Why would he want to interfere in a test like that, especially the first test. He wouldn't usually obtain interference until around the 6th test chamber and even then not of that level; maybe he saw what Dark Cloud also saw in this test subject and a feeling of fear rushed over him. He wouldn’t let him steal Dark Cloud's only hope. Not after all that he’d been through. Not after all he had lost.

Lowering his head and closing his eyes he began to curse under his breath, trotting back to the monitors with the coffee pot still in his hooves and watched as the test subject pressed the button and fell back through the portal with enough time to avoid being shot by the turrets.

“Impressive indeed” he thought, a smile appearing on his face “I may be able to leave after all”

Turning his attention to the monitor which showed the next test chamber his smile disappeared, the room was dark and in the middle stood the outline of him. This was not what Dark Cloud wanted to happen.

Star Whistle stood at the test door as it slid open hastily still shaken from the experience of narrowly avoiding a timely demise at the hands of the turrets, as the doors opened the next room was dark and around her the panelled floor moved and formed a box, ensuring the only way she could walk would be forward. The doors slid shut behind her, leaving her in complete darkness

“NO!” Yelled Dark Cloud over the speakers “DON’T YOU INTERF...” he was cut short by the electricity being turned off. Star Whistle thought to herself, the power was off. So could she talk?

“If you’re thinking it, yes you can talk now” Croaked a voice from within the chamber, Star Whistle staggered back “I mean you no harm or else I would have killed you by now” the voice added trivially. It was extremely hard to tell if the voice came from a male or female but Star Whistle decided upon it being a male.

“Who are you...” Began Star Whistle, the sound of her own voice was music to her ears. Still the same as always, it appeared as if Dark Cloud was telling the truth, a light and caring voice that seemed welcoming “And why am I here?”

“I refuse to tell you the first part, however I can explain briefly why you are here, no doubt Dark Cloud is trying to restore power as quickly as possible” Croaked the voice “For the purpose of identification I will allow you to call me by the name of ‘Freedom’ for that is what I intend to give you” taken back by this Star Whistle stood in disbelief

“Why don’t you show me your face? It would allow me to trust you more than I do” She asked as politely as possible

“I cannot. The lights are out” Smugly replied Freedom “Now, you wanted an explanation as to why you were here, that I can understand. I desired an explanation when I was first called here”

“You’re...” Began Star Whistle

“The Neigh Science Laboratory started shortly after Celestia began her rule, only lasting for a matter of years before more technology companies and labs began to establish around Equestria. Being the least advanced and least staffed the Neigh Science Laboratory had its funding cut off completely as Celestia felt that other companies had the potential to go further than Neigh Science. But life and work at Neigh Science Labs continued, though not as pleasantly as before, they wanted to produce something that would impress Celestia and everypony in Equestria so they began to develop the basic understanding and concept of AI and robotics. But of course as nice as it sounds the ideals of Neigh Science Laboratory had been out-dated and shunned over the course of the 100 years they had been running however that never stopped them, continually working on an AI which would be able to perform all of the ponies jobs from Weather Management to raising the moon and sun.

But sadly the owner of Neigh Science Laboratory passed away a matter of months after the project began, slowly but surely the entire company began to pass away whether that be from exposure to radioactive chemicals or from the new turret AIs turning rogue. Leaving only one earth pony in control of the entire facility, allowing him to do as he saw fit without consequence or responsibility for his actions, Neigh Science was now an officially dead concept, long forgotten under the toll of time.

The only pony left began to go by the name of Dark Cloud rather recently, of course no records of anypony called “Dark Cloud” appeared in any of the Equestrian censuses and therefore he was officially labelled a filly’s tale, one to scare children from being bad in fear the Dark Cloud would use his evil machinery to take them away. But Dark Cloud had something more sinister in mind than taking filly’s away. He began to blame Celestia for his problems, cursing her as she cut off the companies funding which resulted in all of this, rumour has it that Dark Clouds father was the previous owner of Neigh Science Laboratory.

I know what you’re thinking ‘Wouldn’t that make Dark Cloud over 100 years old?’ and you would be right in saying that. But as I mentioned before, ‘Dark Cloud’ only made an appearance quite recently. In fact so recently it’s almost as if he had also died along with the other members of the Neigh Science Laboratories. But Dark Cloud had thought about this, he decided to wait for the next intelligent generation of ponies and unicorns, freezing himself for 100 years and barely being able to survive. If what I say is correct then it matches up exactly with the time of ‘Dark Cloud’s’ reappearance, just after the elements of harmony were harnessed to defeat Nightmare Moon.

I hope I haven’t confused you” Finished Freedom

Star Whistle’s head spun, overwhelmed by the sudden flow on information,

“But wh..” she began, finding herself unable to speak

“The power is returning” Contemplated Freedom “I will talk with you later” and with that the sound of trotting and a roof panel falling marked the departure of Freedom. And so the lights flickered back on and Dark Clouds voice rang over the speakers yet again

“Pesky... very pesky...” Began Dark Cloud in a frustrated tone “Just get on with the next test, subject. I need to see to some things”

Authors Note;

Just a quick note to say that I'll be releasing chapters on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and possibly the weekends. Thanks for all the support and views you guys have given ^^

Hope you enjoyed this chapter anyway!

Skull

Troubled Memories

Authors note:

Just thought I'd put this here to say it's a flashback chapter, as to not cause confusion :3

Smiling and walking down the stretching hallway Dark Cloud made his way to the central research office as he was required to inform the leading board members of progress on the new turret AI he had been issued to program. As he passed his work mates he nodded or widened his smile, it had always been his dream to work in a place like this. Even if Equestria had ceased funding the workers hadn't at all given up, and his friends in the leading board had reassured him that the threat of being shut down was zero to none. As the door at the end of the hall drew closer he ensured he was standing as straight as possible and his lab coat was tidy, he didn't want to make a bad appearance in front of his bosses after all. The doors before him moved open slowly as he approached revealing an array of ponies in suits looking towards the door with a look of slight concern

"Ah! Dark Cloud" Began the leading member Acid Vats "I take it you're here to report on your most recent task?" nodding and nervously approaching the center of the room Dark Cloud though over what he was about to say, as to not stutter or pause during his sentence

"I am indeed" Beamed Dark Cloud "The turret AI is coming along brilliantly, in fact you'll be able to see a demonstration if you will allow me to use the screen" this caused a few ponies in the room to murmur to one another and gain some odd looks

"Well, I can't see the harm" Replied Acid Vats passing him the controller, the screen flickered and switched to the camera of the AI test chamber, placed in the center was a single turret, with the press of a button a few panels moved and produced a test dummy which triggered the turret to fire rapidly at it. The ponies in the room murmured once again and was given more approving looks to which Dark Cloud grinned, happy that the leading board members enjoyed his work

"Outstanding!" Exclaimed one member

"Unbelievable!" Added another

"You've outdone yourself again, Dark Cloud" Grinned Acid Vats "Now off you go, you deserve a break" Dark Cloud smiled and trotted out of the doors

"I wonder what they're saying" He thought "I bet they're discussing using it as the leading design idea of this year" and then an idea formed, he would fuse the door system to hear what they were saying and he would be able to finally find out what the board thought of his inventions. Grinning wildly at this idea Dark Cloud began to work on fusing the doors automatic opening system

After a few minutes of tedious circuitry work Dark Cloud had finally managed to fuse the door mechanism which would only work for a matter of minutes, pressing the side of his head against the door and keenly listening he began to fathom what they were saying

"Acid, I just don't think that it meets standards of the company..." Began a voice "He's out slowest worker and he produces nothing that is particularly different in any way shape or form. Several other workers created an equally as effective turret AI and did so in only a few hours... Dark Cloud took a few weeks..."

"I know but we can't just tell him that straight out..." Began Acid in a regretful tone "I'm not sure hiring him was a great idea"

pulling his head away from the door Dark Cloud frowned, a few tears in his eyes as he began to think over what had been said in the meeting. A tear began to roll down his cheek as he closed his eyes and turned away, starting to run as fast as possible to escape the door. Escape what had been said; to escape reality. His dreams had been shattered, hopes destroyed and the will to carry on completely taken away from him. Running into an unidentified room he closed the door tight behind him, fusing the wiring the same way he had done with the leading board members and sinking down a wall he began to break down into tears.

As a colt Dark Cloud had always dreamed he would one day be a renowned scientist for creating something like a self functioning facility of sorts, something that could be completely controlled by a single pony and Neigh Science Labs did exactly that. Everything in the facility bound to a control room:

Floor and Wall paneling, liquid dispensing, doors, distribution of food and equipment and even access to the workers personal work accounts with the ability to make changes and even completely erase a ponies identity with the press of a button, it was like a heaven for Dark Cloud, and on top of all that he was even able to refuse using his own name for his nickname 'Dark Cloud'

But after hearing what the leading board had said, all confidence had left Dark Cloud degrading him to nothing but another pony who had no idea what they wanted to achieve.

The Leading Board had finished it's meeting, leaving the room. Dark Cloud watched on the monitor as they left; the ones who mocked him behind his back one thought going through his mind

"Revenge"

After he had finished crying he had found out that this was the central control room and he had performed his fusing incorrectly, sealing the door permanently. But there was no other place Dark Cloud would rather be than in the control room of the facility of his dreams. Pressing a few buttons and shifting a few panels Dark Cloud gave the most horrifyingly large grin any pony had ever seen as the wall panels began to close in on the members of the board. Laughing manically as this happened Dark Cloud wandered around the room, knocking over test tubes and vials

"They thought that I wasn't good enough..." He yelled "I'll prove them wrong! I'll test as many new inventions as I possibly can and... and I will become the most renowned scientist in all of Equestria!" adding a dramatic laugh at the end of this he glanced back at the screen, thinking over what he had just done. And it hit him like a tonne of bricks, he had just killed his friends. His workmates. His eyes grew wider as he thought about this, and his heart sunk; heavy with grief as the realization of this continued to shock him. Slamming his hooves down onto the keyboard he let out a scream of rage and sorrow, tears running down his cheeks as sheer anger took him over, wanting to leave this life behind and all to do with it.

The less sane part of his mind began to pipe up, urging him to leave everything behind by deleting everyponies identity, including his own. Starting a new life simply known as Dark Cloud, he nodded to himself slowly at first

"Yes..." he murmured under his breath, tapping a few keys "I'll remove everyone..." and so Neigh Science Labs was left with no employees, all dead with the only one surviving known simply as Dark Cloud. Which of course, there was no actual Equestrian records of as it wasn't Dark Clouds real name.

He had started a new life, a new fate. This facility was now his, all he had to do was remove the workers. Pulling the microphone towards him he spoke

"All members of the Neigh Science Lab..." He began, his voice in a grim tone "You are all fired... you are to never mention this facility to anypony in Equestria... this is Dark Cloud speaking, the owner of this facility as of now" the workers were confused to say the least, gradually making their way to the exit of the facility which was located below the Everfree Forest. And as the final worker left the doors slammed shut alarmingly fast as the tree hiding the facilities entrance began to collapse, covering the door completely.

******

Dark Cloud opened his eyes, the facilities power had been cut out again. He was more than likely conversing with Star Whistle as he was napping.

Dark Cloud had began to nap as he decided that Star Whistle would find out about what ample knowledge he had with him. And he hadn't slept in who knows how long, tapping a few buttons on the keyboard the backup generator began to whir and slowly power the facility

"This facility is mine" he thought to himself, closing his eyes "It is mine and always will be" slowly the monitors turned back on and Star Whistle was soon visible. Slowly pulling the mic closer to himself he began to speak. He might as well fool him into believing he had been hard at work after the power went out

"Pesky..." he began in a convincingly frustrated tone "Very pesky..."

The Return of Freedom

Star Whistle glanced around the room she was in, after all of this she had only just realised how tired she was. She sat and closed her eyes for a moment and for a full second there was silence, however this was interrupted by the sound of Dark Cloud tapping keys

“I’ve decided to bring you to me” Began Dark Cloud “Don’t get to excited, you won’t be able to see my magnificent face” Star Whistle rolled her eyes. Of course Dark Cloud just had to make a comment which made him seem more powerful than her. A matter of seconds later the wall panels began to shift and form a passage

“Also, don’t think I won’t be testing you on the way. It’s not a straight walk here, but it’s not plain testing either” Explained Dark Cloud. There was silence for once, complete silence which was uninterrupted. Star Whistle smiled, she could think and relax. Something that she was unable to do since the beginning of this, and just when she was about to completely relax and think about what to do next she was interrupted

“This is far too boring” Sighed Dark Cloud “I’m more than likely going to regret this...” Star Whistle felt something in her neck loosen had he done what she thought he’d done?

“I’m going to allow you to speak, you see I’d rather make petty conversation with a moron rather than sit in complete silence while sitting still like a moron myself” Elaborated Dark Cloud “So ask me anything, anything at all...”

“Who is Freedom?” She asked nonchalantly, there was silence again and she could hear the sound of Dark Cloud sighing

“Anything except that” He stated with no apparent emotion

“Alright then... why turn to forcing ponies to test?” Star Whistle inquired

“I have my reasons...” Began Dark Cloud “And now let me ask you a question, have you ever been talked about behind your back?” Star Whistle took a moment to think

“Well once... but it wasn’t that bad...” Replied Star Whistle, slightly confused as to why he was asking this question

“Then you wouldn’t understand what it’s like to be mocked to the degree I was” revealed Dark Cloud “How it felt to lose friends in a matter of a millisecond”

“That’s not necessarily true” Replied Star Whistle “When I was a little filly I lost more than just friends” she closed her eyes again, thinking about how Dark Cloud would respond

“What did you lose?” Asked Dark Cloud, sounding genuinely interested

“It doesn’t matter...” Replied Star Whistle “I won’t ask any more questions” and everything fell into silence again, Dark Cloud wondering what in Equestria could have happened to Star Whistle and Star Whistle wondering what in Equestria could have happened to Dark Cloud. And in the vents above Star Whistle was Freedom, watching her every move and listening to every word spoken eagerly.

After a large walk down a seemingly never ending hallway she reached a test chamber, strangely set out as well.

Several buttons dotted around the room connected each to a various dispenser or turret, there was a track built into the wall and a sphere suspended above it. The exit was connected to a button at the end of the track, so in theory the sphere would press against the button opening the door.

However there was no wiring connecting the sphere to any other button or device in the room but there was a way to push the ball off of the suspension but it would require a staircase to be built.

“I’ll leave you testing, the generators have backups and there are several generators not hooked up to the grid yet. So in short; there is no way to fuse this test” Stated Dark Cloud in a distant tone

Star Whistle smiled, she could think during a test now instead of having abuse hurled at her by a cocky pony whom she had never met. So experimenting with the buttons she began to try and figure out the challenge laid ahead of her

Silently Star Whistle began to solve the puzzle, just the way she liked it. In silence, allowing herself a moment to appreciate her work she looked at the makeshift staircase which had been constructed from various cubes and boxes. It didn’t look stable, if at all in any way shape or form safe. But she had gotten used to taking risks like this after the short time she had been in the facility. She hopped to the top box and began to push the sphere when Dark Cloud’s voice rang over the speakers again

“I’m back, I see you’ve made ample progress” Stated Dark Cloud. Star Whistle ignored him and continued to push the sphere from the suspended platform. It finally gave way sliding along the track to the button providing a satisfying ding to accompany the door opening. As she wandered down the next hallway Dark Cloud piped up again

“So you’re choosing to ignore me despite the fact you can talk” Began Dark Cloud, and yet again Star Whistle ignored him allowing herself to smile smugly as he said this. “Can you please just talk? As much as I hate you it’s boring watching somepony walk down a hallway for minutes on end and you, sadly, are the only one I can talk to right now” Still ignoring him Star Whistle reached the next test chamber, a sigh could be heard over the speakers

“I’ll be back” He uttered as all fell silent again. The chamber flashed with light and the surroundings changed. The chamber being surrounded by turrets and in the centre sat a shadowed figure

“What in Equestria is going on here?” Asked Star Whistle

“It is me again” Began a familiar voice

“Freedom?” Inquired Star Whistle “Back so soon?”

“I wanted to tell you something, something that couldn’t wait” Continued Freedom “Star Whistle, Dark Cloud is only calling you to him as he wants to kill you” Star Whistle didn’t feel he was lying, in fact she had expected to be told this sooner

“I could have guessed” Began Star Whistle “But you as well have an equal potential to kill me”

“And what in Equestria do you think I’m here for? Besides petty conversation with an un-intellectual individual such as yourself” Stated Freedom blandly “I don’t want anypony to be put what I’ve been put through, so I kill all the test subjects quickly and efficiently rather than letting Dark Cloud manipulate them” the turrets surrounding the room all whirred and the laser target lines all pointed towards Star Whistle. Her mind processed a million thoughts, mainly fear and thoughts of escape. But she knew even if she tried to move so much as a millimetre she would be killed instantly.

“Is there anything you want to say?” Demanded Freedom, he began to move from the shadows of where he sat, revealing a burnt and scarred hoof

“I... I don’t have anything to say...” Stuttered Star Whistle, she closed her eyes ready to embrace death. And then there was a number of bangs followed by the feeling of falling.

Authors note;

Sorry it's a late upload, was a tad busy yesterday. New chapter tomorrow though :D

The older test chambers

The falling sensation began to fade away as she felt herself hitting the floor feeling colder than usual. Opening her eyes she noticed she was in darkness, was this what it was like to be dead? Suddenly there was a flash of light and she managed to make out the room she was in. The walls were the panels of the testing facility and a familiar voice echoed through the small box she was in

“What?! I was supposed to be in control of this room!” Exclaimed the voice of freedom

“This is my facility” Replied the voice of Dark Cloud simply “You really thought you could kill my test subject like THAT?”

Star whistle thought for a moment and tried to speak

“What happened?” She asked, so she could actually talk. That was nice to know

“She’s still alive?” Sighed Freedom “And I was so close too...”

“I managed to raise some panels and protect you from the bullets... 3 second delay remember?” Inquired Dark Cloud in a relieved tone, and to this Star Whistle actually smiled at something Dark Cloud had said. During this Freedom had decided to break a roof panel and escape into the vents again

“Can you let me out of this box now?” Asked Star Whistle, returning to the matter at hand as the sound of buttons being pressed echoed throughout the box

“Nope” Replied Dark Cloud, the floor beneath Star Whistle slid open and she fell into a seemingly bottomless pit, lit only by a few in-wall lights which might as well not have been there because they were so dim.

As the lights flew past Star Whistle she rolled her eyes, what was she expecting from a mysterious voice that wanted to kill her

“I’m taking you to the older test chambers, ones that don’t require any electricity or panels to operate and therefore cannot be interrupted by the one that tried to kill you” Explained Dark Cloud as the seemingly endless fall continued there was a tangle of loose wiring flying past her as she fell. Clinging to her portal gun she straightened herself up in able to fall on her invulnerable legs so she wouldn’t die from this fall. As she glanced down and the floor approached, it was a mess of broken metal walls and doors with wiring exposed and lighting smashed, the floor had been overgrown with a incredible amount of bushes, grass and large leaved plants. As Star Whistle began to walk towards what looked like an entrance to a test chamber a few of the bushes moved and shook as if somepony was in them, choosing to ignore this and hurry on towards the chamber doors the movement approached her. Speeding up her walking she found herself at the door

“Push the doors open” Stated Dark Cloud, Star Whistle didn’t reply and simply put full force into pushing the large doors open. The doors swung open surprisingly fast and she fell flat on her face attempting to scramble to her feet in fear the mysterious thing in the plant life would leap out and strike her down. And suddenly something launched itself from the plant life, swooping over Star Whistle as she ducked in fear.

“What are you hiding from?” Sighed Dark Cloud “It’s only a crow...”

Star Whistle looked up, sunlight was flooding from the collapsed roof above her, outside was what looked like the everfree forest. And then it hit her, she could escape. She could fire a portal onto the branch of the tree outside and simply escape. But for some reason she felt as though she didn’t want to, so many questions were still left unanswered. Why did Freedom want to kill her? Who was Dark Cloud? Why was Dark Cloud trying to kill her? She shook her head and trotted into the test chamber ahead.

The test chamber looked fairly simple, an impossible jump with no portal surfaces but under a manually operated dispenser which consisted of having to pull a plank of wood blocking a large container of murky green liquid from falling. And so Star Whistle hesitantly pulled away the plank which caused a large amount of the liquid to spill out on the floor making it look as though someone had been sick there. She stood and stared at the liquid for a few seconds until Dark Cloud spoke

“It’s a type of repulsion gel. We decided to make our own as a rival company decided to try make some, but ours didn’t turn out to well...” Began Dark Cloud “But it’s fine for testing purposes”

Star Whistle rolled her eyes

“And so I have to use it?” She asked

“Yeah... you kind of have to” Replied Dark Cloud much to Star Whistle’s demise, she trotted up to the gel and hopped on to it which sent her flying into the sky. She thought quickly and hung onto the ledge for dear life; the term ‘dear’ being used loosely.

“Well that’s the first test chamber down...” Began Dark Cloud “I’m still bringing you to me by the way, but this time not as directly because it appears as though the one who tried to kill you noticed the test chambers you were going towards and managed to change the room around to try and kill you”

“So won’t he go ahead in these chambers and try to kill me?” Inquired Star Whistle

“Probably, but he won’t be able to change anything unless he carries around the turrets with him” Elaborated Dark Cloud “And even then you would probably be able to beat him with your dual portal device but the fact the you look extremely weak will deceive him into thinking he can go easy... hopefully...” once more Star Whistle rolled her eyes, this was becoming a habit of hers and an annoying one to say the least. As she wandered through the test door she found the next room to be a seemingly easier one. Too easy to actually be a test, how in Equestria could it be a test?

She was in the middle of a field with many apple trees

“Once again, this is like a break test. And the one most test subjects lost the will to live at, the key to the door to the next test chamber is actually inside one of the apples on one of these trees. After this long of being in charge of the facility I’ve learned that there is about... 250 apples in total in this field. So you have a 1 in 250 chance of finding the key” Stated Dark Cloud “I’m going to get a coffee, have fun with your test”

Star Whistle stood there, shaking in anger. She closed her eyes and sighed, allowing herself to calm down as she wandered towards the first tree. At least she could eat now.

The beginning of the end

Taking a bite out of next apple Star Whistle realised that there was something inside of this apple, there was a metal key. Pulling the key from the apple she allowed a moment to herself, she had finally found this cursed key after Celestia knows how long.

“About time...” Muttered Dark Cloud followed by the sound of him taking another sip from his coffee “2 hours and 45 minutes... you’re so slow at these puzzles...” Star Whistle trotted over to the door and opened it using the key which immediately disappeared after she turned it

“I’ll put the key back in one of the apples while you begin to walk to the next test” Began Dark Cloud “Just don’t take that long on the next test...”

“It’s your fault for dropping me in a field full of apple trees and asking me to find the key...” Replied Star Whistle making her way down the corridor to the next test

“The next test is kind of simple” Began Dark Cloud “And there’s about 2 more chambers before you reach where I am, but I would think ‘Freedom’ would try and stop you from getting to me at any opportunity he gets. And that’s why you don’t spend 2 hours on a simple test”

“Oh shut up...” Moaned Star Whistle as the test chamber door approached, she pushed it pen to reveal a fairly simple looking chamber.

The room was a small box room, there was an exit but no apparent means to access said exit.

“You seem puzzled, just look carefully and you’ll find the exit. I did say this one was simple...” Stated Dark Cloud, Star Whistle took another careful look around the room.

Oh, the roof panel was open... how could she have missed that?

“How...” Muttered Star Whistle “How in Equestria did I miss that?”

“Maybe you really do have the intelligence of a brick” Suggested Dark Cloud in his usual mocking manner , confused and annoyed Star Whistle climbed up into the roof. She was in the vents

“Wait... doesn’t Freedom use the vents?” Thought Star Whistle slightly panicking

“There see, and now the door is open” Began Dark Cloud

“What?” thought Star Whistle more “Why is he...? Oh...”

“Now hurry to the next test” Stated Dark Cloud, he was trying to fool Freedom. Star Whistle smiled, so Dark Cloud was helping her now? This was really suspicious but slightly kind. So Star Whistle began to crawl along the vents, it was like an entirely different place even if it wasn’t very well lit but they were surprisingly spacious for a vent system. After about 5 minutes of crawling she started looking through the floor grates, and she stopped over a certain chamber. Once again the same setup, a dark room with turrets surrounding it and a pony sitting in the centre. In a sudden rush of anger and adrenaline Star Whistle kicked the grate open and jumped down into the room.

“That was quite the entrance...” Stated Freedom, Star Whistle looked at him with a look of utter hatred. She quickly placed a portal underneath one of the turrets and a portal above another, causing a domino effect on them sending them all toppling to the floor. She sprinted towards the figure in the centre at full force, adrenaline still rushing through her. She grabbed the pony by the neck and slammed him into the floor so she could clearly see his face.

Oh what a horrible mistake that was.

Star Whistle backed away in horror, the face of ‘Freedom’ was burnt, cut and bandaged. She felt as though she was going to be sick, she had the sudden yearning for Dark Cloud to hide her in another box, away from this monster.

“I see my physical appearance has thrown your intent to kill right off” Stated Freedom, his mane was beyond messy with strands of hair covering parts of his face and ears “I suppose you’d like to know how I’m like this...” Star Whistle gave a sheepish nod, backing away. She could hear Dark Cloud tapping at keys frantically trying to change the room to no avail

“You said it yourself ‘Dark Cloud’, there’s no power down here so nopony can interfere” Stated Freedom followed by a manic laugh “It works two ways!”

“Star Whistle, don’t listen to anything he says!” Yelled Dark Cloud over the microphone “He’s going to lie!” still laughing manically Freedom trotted closer to Star Whistle

“My name is Acid Vats, a previous co-worker of Dark Clouds” He began to explain “That’s why I know so much about this facility... this facility was supposed to be mine” Star whistle was taken aback by this, a co-worker of Dark Cloud? Didn’t they all disappear? Didn’t Freedom himself say that?

“Dark Cloud decided it would be a great idea to control the facility and try to kill the leading board...” Elaborated Acid “I was Dark Cloud’s closest friend, and this is what I get in return” he gestured to his entire body, horribly burnt, scarred and bandaged

“In fact, I was the original test subject...” continued Acid in the hypnotic tone he had began to speak in “And I will grant you freedom. For that is what you call me” Star Whistle felt funny. The room began spinning around her, she took that time to note that this ‘Acid Vats’ was a unicorn and his horn was glowing.

“Aren’t you going to stop me Dark Cloud?” Questioned Acid Vats looking around the room victoriously as Star Whistle fell to the floor still able to see but unable to move “Aren’t you going to stop me from ending this one’s life?” the test room door opened and a shadowed figure wandered in

“Of course I am, you’re dirtying the name of my friend and trying to kill my test subject... that isn’t nice” said the figure, that voice... could it be?

“So you show yourself then Dark Cloud...” Replied Acid Vats

“You’re not Acid Vats...” Began Dark Cloud, slowly coming towards the light “Acid Vats is dead, I crushed him with a wall panel along with the other board members”

“Of course I’m not” Laughed Freedom leaving Star Whistle confused of his identity “But I am the first test subject you ever brought here. And since then I’ve been plotting my revenge... killing this subject that gave you hope... that would completely shatter your emotions”

“I’m sorry...” Began Dark Cloud, picking up a broken piece of piping in his brown hooves “You can’t shatter what’s already broken”

Authors Note;

Won't be releasing a chapter on Thursday, but possibly at the weekend, as I'm finishing off a little project of mine. Sorry!

The Finale

Dark Cloud swung the pipe and hit Freedom directly on the side of the head sending him toppling to the floor to which Freedom simply grinned cockily

“If that’s all you’ve got then this should be a simple task to kill both of you and destroy the facility” Grinned Freedom the realisation of what Freedom had been doing all the time he was in the facility hit Dark Cloud harder than any punch Freedom could throw his way leaving him standing wide open and unable to do anything. In that instant Freedom swung around kicking Dark Cloud’s legs away from the floor and sending him into the ground while also disarming him. He grabbed the pipe Dark Cloud once held and raised it high about to strike Dark Cloud with it. The scene was slow in Star Whistle’s vision Dark Cloud was on the floor being beaten with a length of piping sheer anger at this drove her to her hooves as she picked up the portal gun, it was the first time Star Whistle had ever got angry about anything in this facility. Firing a portal beneath freedom and one above him she sent Freedom into an infinite loop as she helped Dark Cloud to his hooves

“We need to get out of here” Muttered Dark Cloud “All this time when he could have attacked, he was... he was rigging this place to blow” Star Whistle shot the bottom portal away from freedom as Dark Cloud explained this causing him to smash into the ground with a large amount of force, so much that it actually dented the floor as he landed.

“Got it” Replied Star Whistle simply “Which way?” Freedom was struggling to get back on his hooves not only because of the dizziness caused by the infinite looping but also the fact he had just been thrown full force into concrete flooring

“If we can get back to the entrance to this old testing track we could try and find a route from there” Stated Dark Cloud, Star Whistle remembered the hole in the roof from when she first landed in the lower chambers. Supporting Dark Cloud as they ran Star Whistle constantly glanced back to check if Freedom was after them.

They had been running for what seemed like decades as they entered the chamber where Star Whistle had to find the key inside the apple when a horrifying announcement was made over the intercom

“Power to lower levels authorised” Chimed the robotic voice from when Star Whistle had first awoke in this facility “Turrets, traps and panels now useable” suddenly the walls around them shook and a group of panels was smashed to produce a large pipe with an open end

“Neurotoxin levels high” The robotic voice stated as the sound of Freedoms laughter echoed over the speakers

“This is the end of the line for you it seems... and you thought I’d waste my time chasing you when the control room was unlocked and left empty” Chuckled Freedom “It’s been quite enjoyable, maybe you can survive the little bit longer if you hold your breath” and with that the pipe began spewing a green mist into the room as a few panels blocked the exits. Dark Clouds mind began to work at an incomprehensible speed, the memories of the entire facility rushed through his mind as he tried to create a plan of escape. The seconds passed as his mind struggled to think of an idea, Turrets, Panels, Gels, Portals everything rushed through his mind to no avail when all of a sudden he remembered it.

“Star Whistle!” He exclaimed “The panels near the exits, try and look through the gaps!” Star Whistle nodded and broke into a sprint over to the panels, sticking her head through the gap she saw a large turning sphere with many layers all turning along with each other.

“Pull out the wire!” Screamed Dark Cloud as the neurotoxin began to fill the entire room, Star Whistle quickly tugged out a large red wire from the machine causing it to turn even faster and let off multiple sparks and let off extreme heat as she backed away instinctively the area it was in exploded and opened the exit to the other chambers

“No...” Started Freedom “YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO DIE HERE!” the sound of a hoof smashing into the desk echoed through the chamber as Star Whistle took a deep breath, ran over to Dark Cloud to support him and ran through the hallway to the previous test chamber

The two ponies managed to make it to the entrance of the lower testing track with the hole in the roof, they looked up at it formulating a plan

“The tree isn’t a registered portal surface...” Explained Dark Cloud “Give me the gun and I’ll try to tweak it” Star Whistle quickly handed the gun to Dark Cloud as he produced a screwdriver and began to open the circuitry of the portal gun. Star Whistle waited impatiently as she ran back to the testing track entrance and sealed the doors closed in hope of the neurotoxin stopping its pursuit of them. Star Whistle glanced at the opposite side of the room as the sound of a pony walking towards them invaded Star Whistles ears and there stood Freedom completely out of breath and holding the same length of piping he had previously. He began to laugh in a disturbingly calm manner a laugh which would haunt Star Whistle until her dying day

“You foil my plans not only once, but twice” He started “You escape my clutches and neurotoxin... and then you try and escape the death I so generously was going to give you?” he began to laugh more

“Star Whistle, I need more time to optimize the gun!” Exclaimed Dark Cloud “Buy me some time” Star Whistle nodded

“You think you can beat an idea?” Laughed Freedom “I am Freedom! I will give to you that which you so desire! I am an idea, an idea of Freedom... you can’t so much as lay a hoof on me” Star Whistle grinned

“Is that a challenge?” She stated simply, after all she had been through today she assured herself the feeling of beating Freedom to a pulp would bring her a great sense of satisfaction

“It is one many have rose to, and one your parents also did” Replied Freedom with a cocky smile, Star Whistle’s eyes widened... her parents? They had gone missing a few years ago and she was left alone for all this time

“You lie” Spat Star Whistle coldly

“I don’t” Replied Freedom with the biggest grin ever “They arrived here 3 years ago and were the fifth and sixth test subjects... they were the first to fall by my hoof... you see, they began to listen to Dark Cloud’s false promise of freedom if they completed the tests and with that I decided to confront them and offer them freedom in my own way. And obviously, they declined the offer but they were still given freedom by me” Dark Cloud nervously looked at Star Whistle her face blank of any emotion but he could tell inside she was angrier than ever

“You killed them” Stated Star Whistle in a distant tone “You killed my parents... all of the pain I’ve experienced these last few years... was... was because of you...” Freedom laughed wickedly at this

“Isn’t it wonderful, we were destined to meet at some point!” he cackled

“I...” Stuttered Star Whistle “I...”

“Yes?” Inquired Freedom as a single tear ran down Star Whistle’s cheek

“I’LL KILL YOU!” She screeched, charging towards Freedom as he simply smiled and welcomed the idea of Star Whistle attacking him

“Go on then” Began Freedom “I’ll give you the first hit, not that it will do anything to me!” he stood up on his back legs and spread his front hooves out

Star Whistle neared Freedom at a rapid pace as she jumped and turned around so her back was facing him, kicking out her back legs she landed a blow directly into Freedom’s stomach which sent him flying into the wall and indenting him into the wall as dust and debris flew everywhere

“I-Impossible...” Thought Freedom “She’s... she’s just a normal mare... she shouldn’t be able to do this...”

Star Whistle became visible in the cloud of dust with the intent to kill on visible on her face she stared directly into Freedoms eyes and into his soul. And on this one occasion, Freedom was scared. He raised his pipe and swung towards Star Whistle, she side stepped and swing and landed a second kick into his head sending him spinning to the ground as his length of pipe bounced to the floor making a satisfying sound as it did so. Freedom backed into a corner and looked on at his attacker in utter horror, he wasn’t supposed to die... he didn’t want to die...

“Look! We’ve both said some things that...” He began, only to be cut off by the length of pipe he once used as a weapon hit him directly across the head. Star Whistle glared down at Freedom about to strike a lethal blow as Freedom produced a brick from behind him and threw it towards her sending her toppling backwards as he got back up, wandering over to a small black device with a red button atop it as he held it in his hooves and pressed the button a voice sounded over the speakers

“1 minute until detonation” Stated the robotic voice as Star Whistle to raised to her hooves.

Meanwhile Dark Cloud was still tweaking the portal gun as the fight raged on and the countdown echoed throughout the place, he finished adjusting some circuitry and fired a single portal at the tree outside. Success, their escape would become a reality after all.

“10 seconds” Chimed the voice

Dark Cloud ran into the dust and swept Star Whistle from her hooves as he placed a portal a small distance away from them

“7 Seconds” Continued the voice

Freedom emerged from the dust cloud, coughing and bleeding from his forehead as he began to limp towards the portal Dark Cloud was making his way gradually to

“4 Seconds” Resumed the voice

Dark Cloud reached the portal and threw Star Whistle through it, turning to face Freedom

“What are you doing?!” Exclaimed Star Whistle “Hurry and get through the portal!”

“Somepony has to stop Freedom from getting through the portal” Stated Dark Cloud

“3 Seconds” Stated the voice

“I’m sorry for everything” Apologised Dark Cloud “Especially about your parents”

“2 Seconds” The voice counted down

“Get through the portal already!” Screamed Star Whistle as another tear ran down her cheek “I don’t want to lose anypony else!” Dark Cloud turned and looked into Star Whistle’s eyes

“I’m sorry” He repeated “But I can’t...”

“1...” Finalised the voice

Star Whistle leapt through the portal and pushed Dark Cloud through and swiftly jumped in after him just as Freedom neared

“No...” Began Freedom, he began to screech as the ground where Dark Cloud and Star Whistle stood as it began to give way, the entire section of the everfree forest was hollow beneath and the shaking caused it to slowly collapse in on itself. Desperately Dark Cloud and Star Whistle began to run along the cracking ground as gaping holes were formed, Star Whistle leapt across the border of the last few metres of the unstable forest area and turned to watch Dark Cloud only to find the hole had grown considerably larger in the leap across, Dark Cloud stood on the border of the area knowing he wouldn’t make it across. He turned back to look at the collapsing forest and then turned to Star Whistle looking directly into her eyes as his mane covered one of his eyes, the scene went silent for Star Whistle as Dark Cloud mouthed a sentence which was the last sight Star Whistle caught of him before he fell down into the mess of trees, stone and wiring and how the engulfed his silhouette. Star Whistle closed her eyes as she began to cry, the pony which had once seemed to be her enemy was really her closest friend in all of this.

And she had just lost him.

Authors Note;

Sorry about the lateness of the post and stuff! There will be a little epilogue I'll put out at some point though :)

Until then :3

Epilogue

Many months after the previous chapter...

Star Whistle trotted lazily down the stairs to the kitchen and prepared herself a small breakfast of hay and oats as she looked out of the window into the rolling acres of land, she had moved into a small house a few miles outside of Ponyville, nopony lived nearby and the views were fantastic. There had been no funeral for Dark Cloud or Freedom and nopony had believed her stories of the large facility under the everfree forest and the situations she was faced with and even when she had a meeting with Princess Celestia after months of waiting she denied ever knowing a company named “Neigh Science” and had refused to admit the existence of anypony named “Dark Cloud” or “Freedom” although she admitted that Dark Cloud was an old ponies tale used to scare fillies and colts. And upon inquiring if she could examine the older economical records of Equestria to verify that there was once funding for Neigh Science Laboratories she was immediately refused any and all access to any historical document in Canterlot regarding previous funding or birth and death records.

On top of all of this she had to face the fact the nopony would organised or go through with a proper funeral for Dark Cloud and was forced to make her own small gravestone and had to engrave it herself placing it in the small garden she had made, she even made a stone for Freedom despite all he had done to her she decided it would be horrible of her to ignore that she had been responsible for killing Dark Cloud who in turn killed Freedom with her assistance.

Sighing and finishing her breakfast Star Whistle began her daily walk to the Everfree Forest. Of course the evening she had escaped everypony had gone to investigate but somehow the Princesses Royal Guard had managed to show up before everypony else could and also removed Star Whistle from the immediate area. The memory of that day was not one she enjoyed having and after figuring out what Dark Cloud had managed to say only pained her more when she engraved it upon his gravestone as his final words, she glanced at the gravestone with no dates except the current year and names with a small phrase at the bottom of either the first reading

“Dark Cloud” and beneath it “I’m sorry for everything” while the other one read

“Freedom” and beneath that “I am Freedom, for that is what I shall give you”

Despite everything that had happened Star Whistle had tried to remain strong after the loss of Dark Cloud she was taken in by Ponyville’s resident animal caretaker Fluttershy who listened to everything she had to say and comforted her during her time of grieving.

As Star Whistle approached the everfree forest she trotted along the faded dirt pathway which was covered in leaves, the season was Autumn and the leaves were gently falling off of the trees covering the pathways in a beautiful pattern of orange and red. The large crater where the facility had exploded was never entirely fixed and to was covered in the pattern that the path had staring distantly into the crater she sighed deeply and sat down and produced a small notepad and pencil and began drawing the scene. This had become somewhat of a tradition to her when the area had a noticeable change she would sketch it to pass time seen as she had nothing much to do the leaves which had covered the facility was also another reason she had decided to draw that day, they made the scene seem so peaceful as if the crater had always been there and as if nopony had died. A good 30 minutes passed and the sketch was nearing completion as the light Autumn rain began to fall around her, she glanced up to see a Pegasus with a rainbow mane positioning clouds. One of the only downsides of living so far from Ponyville was that she never got any weather schedules so she had to estimate the weather, sheltering the notepad as she began to trot away after taking a final look at the crater. The scene was ominously quiet despite the weather team shifting clouds everywhere above her, blocking out the sun and leaving a lack of lighting in the everfree forest.

The crater was then avoided for the rest of the day, as Star Whistle walked away there was a slight crackling beneath the leaves and rubble as a faint and crackling transmission played through a worn out loudspeaker which failed to create any loud volume and instead produced what seemed like a murmur

“This is an emergency broadcast” Began the robotic voice “The Neigh Science Laboratory has an alarming lack of subjects and is willing to pay a high salary to anypony willing to throw themselves into near death situations, no health insurance included, so if you’re interested....”the recording began to distort and crackle

“Listen, this is an important message” Said another voice “The Southern wing of the facility is still operational and I am trapped there, I need help. If anypony is listening, anypony at all then send help I need help. I repeat, I am alive and I’m not sure how much longer I can hold out under here. There is hope still, I am Dark Cloud and I need help”

Authors note;

So, SO sorry I didn't get this out quickly, I went on holiday a few days after the last chapter and forgot to put this up.

So anyway! Thank you to everyone that has bothered to thumbs up this story, comment on it and generally read it and I hope you've all enjoyed reading this as much as I have writing it. It's my first fic so it's a learning experience for me c:

Thanks once again!

Skull