Equestrian Alliance: Project Oblivion

by Jack Hammer

Chapter 29: A Knight's Weapon

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Chapter 29: A Knight's Weapon

"Big news today!" Celestia and Twilight Sparkle stood near a very excited Dr. Hardy.

"Yeah, uh, it took us some time, but we were able to imbue some of Rarity's gems with a containment spell that keeps the plasma discharge controlled," Twilight said, pointing a hoof towards the metal tube lying on the table.

Dr. Hardy grinned. "I removed the glass lens and installed the Equestrian magic control gem. You're gonna love this." He motioned everyone to stand back, then picked up the plasma emitter tube and held it thoughtfully for a moment. He then shoved the tube under his arm for several seconds while he did something on his holographic wrist interface.

"Hang on a minute, I got something for this..."

The time stretched out as he fiddled around.

"Uh, what are you doing?" Sanchez asked. "And why are you wearing a bath robe?"

Dr. Hardy held up a hand. "Patience you must have, important this is! Also, this is not a bath robe, these are my Jedi robes. Now if I can just... ah, there we go!"

The lights dimmed and the Star Wars theme began to play loudly through the lab sound system. Dr. Hardy pulled the plasma emitter and held it in front of himself dramatically. With a buzzing hiss a narrow purple energy beam extended. He brandished the glowing blade, sweeping it back and forth in large arcs.

"Nice light show, DJ Pon3 would love you. But is it any good as a weapon?" Hamilton asked, arms crossed.

"Observe, young padawan." Dr. Hardy sidestepped and swung the blade swiftly at a metal pipe laying across a set of benches. It fell to the ground in two pieces amidst a shower of sparks. As the glowing metal cooled, he pressed the button again and the blade retracted rapidly.

"It... it really works." Sanchez was in shock. "I didn't really think you guys could pull it off. But it works."

"I couldn't have done it without these two fine ladies," Dr. Hardy said. "They helped me complete a project I doubted I would ever finish on my own."

Celestia smiled. "The fusion between your technology of steel and electricity, and ours of magic and crystal, brings hope to all."

"And it's damn awesome! Can I have one?" McAllister asked excitedly.

"With this prototype working I can run several off the assemblers and manually fix magic crystals in relatively short order. In the meantime, we will finish the rifle and pistol upgrades."

Twilight nodded in agreement. "We are still trying to modify our container spell to work with your weapon cartridges. Building the plasma blade has helped our understanding of how to tweak a magic spell to work here. Using this knowledge, I am sure we will figure it out quickly. But I have to take a break. My magical ability is suffering right now. Figuring out how to set up the containment crystal for the plasma blade was a lot of work."

"Uh, by the way..." Hamilton asked, "I noticed the blade was purple. Can you make it a custom color?"

"In a manner of speaking," Celestia answered. "The crystal and blade take on the color of the spell caster's aura. Purple, in this case, because Twilight cast it. If I cast it, the effect will be yellow."

"And there may be some other colors soon. Now that we've created the spell, it doesn't take a very powerful Unicorn to cast it, just a little time."

Emmy raised a hoof. "I can help! I have some mid level spell training."

Twilight looked at Celestia, who nodded assent. "She can cast this, easily. Rarity, I am sorry but this is slightly beyond your capability."

Rarity lowered her hoof looked at the floor. "I... I see..."

Dr. Hardy smiled at Rarity. "I have something that I think you can help with, if you don't mind. In fact, I believe your skills will be a great asset."

Rarity looked up quickly. "Tell me what I can do?"

"In another bay I have a team working on the beam tank lasers and a frequency oscillator system. We are experimenting with a new crystal channel circuit, but are having issues with micro-manipulation. I've heard tell of the perfect stitching on your clothing, you are said to be a master of tiny miracles. I think your telekinetic skill can be of great assistance there."

Rarity beamed. "I will do my best!"

"Excellent then! Please follow Hendricks."
Dr. Hardy motioned at one of his lab assistants, a pretty young woman with Asian features and a bright smile.

"Hi, I'm Rena Hendricks. Please come this way, Miss Rarity."

Marky leaned over to McAllister. "I'd let her lead me away any day."

McAllister licked his lips conspiratorially.

"Ask her out."

"What?"

"Ask her out. See if she wants to hang out with you."

"She's a... a human."

"Whatever man, you think she's cute, you're a cool guy, maybe you can be friends or something."

"I guess it doesn't hurt to try."

"Just go follow Rarity and ask some questions, I'm sure there'll be plenty."

McAllister patted Marky on the shoulder as he followed the girls out.

***

"Well, I'm gonna take a break also," Dr Hardy said after Twilight left the room. "We've been hitting it hard all day. Anyone want to take a walk or something?

"A walk? Would you guys like to see my animal friend?" Fluttershy asked. "I met him near the edge of the jungle."

Dr. Hardy shrugged. "I'm game. Anyone else?"

"Sure, why not," Chris agreed. "I'm feeling like a walk too."

"Yeah why not," Jeff added.

"I'm too hungry for that," McAllister said.

"I'm going to have to go with McAllister on this one," Sanchez added. "It's definitely snack time."

"Fine, be party poopers," Hamilton said jokingly.

Together the humans and Fluttershy walked through and then exited the building, and she led them across the street and into the field.

Chris, Jeff, Hamilton, and Dr. Hardy followed her across and into the jungle on a narrow path. Insect sounds and bird calls surrounded them, and the human's heads swung around nervously, except for Dr. Hardy who seemed not to have a care in the world as he gaily chatted with Fluttershy..

She trotted cheerily ahead of them, confidently leading the way further into the thick jungle.

"What about snakes?" Hamilton muttered, looking around his boots in the thick plant growth.

"Don't worry," Fluttershy said. "There are no mean snakes here right now. Okay, wait a moment!" She threw her head back and raised her voice, which was reminiscent of someone talking at restaurant volume. "Fluffy! Hello, Fluffy?"

There was silence.

Chris and Jeff shared an uncomfortable glance. Hamilton scanned the foliage, still not entirely convinced that there were no snakes waiting to chomp his shins.

Dr. Hardy just grinned.

Soon there came the sound of something large stealing through the brush, and a monstrous black jaguar sprang into view.

Before he could think, Chris had his pistol out and aimed at it. Jeff and Hamilton aimed as well.

Dr. Hardy hissed at them. "Don't shoot! Lower your weapons, just watch!"

The trio glanced at each other, and at the giant cat, who stared at them like they were a tasty group of field mice. The jaguar hissed.

"Stop that now!" Fluttershy's eyes narrowed, and her voice took on a commanding edge.

The cat immediately shifted his focus to her, and relaxed.

She put a hoof on his head, stroking him behind the ears.

His eyes closed and he purred in contentment.

Chris exhaled shakily. "He's... As tame as a kitten."

Dr. Hardy glanced at him. "Outside the range of Fluttershy's influence, it's still a deadly wild beast."

Jeff snickered. "Alright Dr. Morbias."

Dr Hardy smiled. "I'm surprised you caught that reference."

Jeff grinned back. "Forbidden Planet is a gold-plated science fiction classic."

Hamilton and Chris looked at each other.

Chris spoke first. "Uh, whenever you guys are through stroking each others nerdy nostalgia boners, we are still standing about ten feet from a hungry-looking wild jungle cat."

"I know! Isn't he beautiful?" Fluttershy said, happily petting and stroking the magnificent beast.

Dr. Hardy looked on approvingly. "Don't worry, guys. That girl is magic, alright? Oh yes. With her here, you are as safe in this jungle as you would be sleeping in your own bed."

Chris looked around again. His gun was lowered, but he had not yet returned it to the holster. He spoke in a low, thoughtful tone, thinking of the video they had seen the other day. "Provided the only thing out here is animals like this one, perhaps..."

The sun felt a little colder at his words.

***

Fluffy followed Fluttershy as they left the jungle and headed back towards the lodging facility. He seemed a bit nervous heading into the foreign, paved territory of humans, but Fluttershy's unique influence egged him on.

"Fluffy, do you want to come play with me for awhile? Fluffy?"

The jaguar calmed and followed her to the lawn of the residential building. The humans stood around on the grass, watching as Fluttershy played with Fluffy.

"Still not used to this," Chris commented. "I find I'm not worried though. It somehow seems so natural around her."

Fluttershy pranced about, and treated him like a big house cat. Oddly enough he behaved like one, purring and rolling on his back so she could rub his stomach.

Suddenly he froze, and stood up, facing back towards the jungle.

"Hello, something's wrong," Jeff said.

"Fluffy? Are you okay?" Fluttershy's voice was gently concerned.

Fluffy's ears went back, and he hissed at the jungle.

"Fluffy what is it?" Fluttershy was starting to sound truly worried. The cat took a halting step towards the jungle, as if he was being dragged towards it by an unseen force.

Fluttershy went to the cat and put a hoof on his head. The spell seemed to break at her touch, and he turned back to her, purring slightly. She stroked him under the chin as he closed his eyes and laid next to her, a bemused expression on her face. "I wonder what got into him?" she asked, puzzled.

Chris looked out towards the jungle, and for a moment he felt a strange temptation to go check it out. He rubbed a hand across his face and the feeling was gone. "Huh. Who knows. He's a wild animal after all."

He looked back at Fluttershy and the purring giant cat, and winked. "Or he WAS, until you got your hooves on him."

None of them noticed the rats and mice running up out of the nearby sewer and rushing headlong into the jungle, or the flocks of birds in the treetops falling onto the ground and joining the rush, flying low and even running on the ground in their hurry to head in the same direction.
***

Deeper in the jungle, a slimy, tentacled worm the size of a rotting skunk waited in the soggy dampness at the bottom of a ditch. Days ago it had affixed itself to the bottom of the single boat fleeing the island where Gate 2 had been overrun, and had hitched a ride with the survivors, hiding beneath the waterline in a cocoon. It had spent several days slowly creeping through the underbrush under cover of darkness, hiding during the day. Now it was ready to make its move. It waved its tentacles around, transmitting the telepathic Call that would bring the Lesser Lifeforms for it to utilize, and waited patiently for the reply. As expected, the first organized proteins to arrive were winged creatures. They eagerly rushed down and leapt upon each other in a flurry of feathers, insistent in their hurry to become a part of the Call, crawling and pressing in until the tendrils snaked through their pliable flesh and gripped their nervous tissues, causing them to tremble in pain but removing their ability to cry out. They were soon joined by numerous rodents, the pile of wet, urinating animal flesh growing larger as more species leapt onto the mound, eager to feed themselves to the enthralling power of the Call. The heat of their suffering bodies comforted the larval worm, the warmth of their blood and their life force and their agony nourished it and allowed it to become so much more. Squirming in satisfaction, It absorbed some of their proteins and nutrients, and began to excrete a slime that crept slowly over their bodies.

As the mound of trembling, whimpering animals grew, so did the chrysalis forming around them.

***

Hours later, as dusk fell, Twilight Sparkle took a break from research at the desk in her room. It wasn't so much that she was tired of the act of reading, but the subject matter was wearing deeply on her nerves. A cloak of darkness and fear seemed to wrap itself around her the longer she focused on the creatures and tales of HP Lovecraft, and the waning evening light was deepening her depression. She shifted over to the messaging function in her ARHUD and jumped into the group chat, hoping her friends could help her mood.

Twilight Sparkle rolled her eyes and logged out of the chat. "Too much distraction and silliness, I have important research to do," she mumbled to herself, but she definitely felt better. She picked up her reading tablet again and tapped the screen to activate it, bringing up a page from one of HP Lovecraft's many terrifying writings.

She shuddered a little. The material in these stories was leaving her a little sick in the pit of her stomach. "And almost no mention of this Shub-Niggurath thing in his work, after all this." The sound of the name alone made her uncomfortable, and she instantly regretted speaking it at all, even to herself. Earlier she had pulled up some artistic renditions of the creature on the Web, but the vile images were enough to curdle the blood in her veins and she had learned little of use from them, other than that the humans really had no idea what this thing looked like, or what it could do.

"There's just not much information at all, let alone anything I can use," she despaired finally, overcome with unease. The night seemed foreboding, thanks no doubt to the subject matter she had immersed herself in for so long. She got up and checked to make sure the doors to her suite patio were locked, and drew the curtains against the staring darkness.

She took a hot shower to relax, glad for the ability to dial up the lights in her room to high brightness.

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