//-------------------------------------------------------// The Fifth Species -by BlakFyre- //-------------------------------------------------------// //-------------------------------------------------------// Prologue //-------------------------------------------------------// Prologue "For the good of pony kind" Some consider it to be a phrase used to encourage ponies to devote their lives to a greater cause of some kind. While others label it as bullshit spouted to lure ponies into assisting psychopaths with their wild experiments. I happen to be a victim of the latter. I wanted to believe what we were doing was for a good cause. I wanted to justify HIS actions. I wanted things to turn out differently. Yet, here I am: hulled up in the place where it all started. A lot of fucked up things happened in this lab. We would have been sent straight to the gallows if ponies found out what went down here. But....it's not like any of that matters now. It's only a matter of time before...it...finds me and ends my worthless existence. If anything, I'm waiting for death's cold grip to encompass me. It's what I deserve for going against my better judgement and helping that low rate piece of shit with his "research". But before I die, I wanna write down all the events that led up to this point. Wouldn't be much of a story if I didn't tell you what all happened, right? Now, I'm sure you're all expecting  me to tell you that my name is classified and give you some piss poor reason for why that is. But screw confidentiality, I'm just gonna go ahead and give you my real name. There's no point in lying, seeing as I'm probably not gonna be of this world for very much longer. My name is Lighting Cherry (Yeah, I know it's sounds silly but it's the birth name I was given) and this is my story: It all happened a year ago. I was young, dumb, and full of ambition. I wanted to pursue a career in the field of science. At first glance, I don't look like the kind of guy who'd be into chemicals and experiments. I'm a middle-aged unicorn stallion with an average build (not skinny but not fat). My mane is orange and I have a distinct five o'clock shadow. You would think with an appearance like this, I should be a spy or something. But no, my inspiration was finding ways to better ponykind through science. I just wanted to change the world and make a difference. But my intentions were corrupted by that smug bastard. I suppose I should go ahead and talk a little about my colleagues since there were an integral part in all this too. Here's a list of all the ponies who worked alongside me: Pepper Fruit: She was the quiet one of the bunch. Every time you spoke to her, she would always look around the room and rub her arm timidly like she was hiding something. Apparently, her reason for being so unresponsive around us was that she felt awkward being the only pegasus mare in the building. She mostly kept to herself, but we would help her break out of her shell every so often. On a side note, she had one of the brightest smiles I've ever seen. Appearance-wise, she had butterscotch yellow fur with a gray mane. Juicy Almond: Now there's a pegasus who knows how to bring up a room. He was always making jokes and acting like he didn't have a care in the world. But he still buckled down and helped get a job done when the time called for it and that's what I liked about him. He knew when to have fun and when to get serious. His appearance was composed of a black coat with a emerald green mane. Velvet Paradise: Without a doubt, the hottest mare in our group. Her slender earth pony figure. Her flashy, yet unostentatious carmine-colored fur. The vibrant pools of green that were her eyes. And how can I forget her long, flowing cinnamon brown mane that seemed to cascade down the back her head. She was a looker. But she had one minor flaw: she was too damn obedient! Whenever we would work on something, she would always just go along with what we said and did it without voicing her own thoughts or opinions. The one pony she was obedient to the most was the guy who was in charge of this little project of ours (who I'll talk more about later). She was practically his lap dog. Every time he addressed us, she would cling to his words religiously like he was some kind of fucking prophet, no matter what he said. She wasn't always like this. When we were kids, she would always give her concise feedback. But now she just goes through the motions and does what everyone else is doing. Poor girl. Ember Blossom: What a women. She's the whole package (at least in my opinion). Intelligent, humorous, kind-hearted, dedicated, and beautiful. Very beautiful. She may have had some nerdy features, but she had the body of a model. Not to mention her rogue pink coat (pink is my favorite color, don't judge me), her shimmering brunette mane that was done up in a ponytail, her innocent-looking baby blue eyes, and her curves. Her voluptuous curves. I know I'm getting a little carried away, but she seriously looked too sexy to be a nerd. I felt more connected to her than the others because she was only unicorn there (with the exception of myself of course). And last but not least, Scarlet Snow: Just uttering that asshole's name makes me want to punch a hole in the nearest wall. He played us for fools. He tricked us into thinking we were doing something good when in actuality we were helping him with his mad science. I still can't believe we fell for his conspicuous lies, but I'll give the devil his dues. He was a professional at motivating others to do his bidding. He spoon-fed us all of his twisted concepts and theories, and we ate it up like the hungry, naive saps we were. I'll never forgive him for what he did. I hope he's burning in Tartarus right now. What more is there to say about the guy? He was a heartless, sadistic, egomaniacal son of a bitch that got what was coming to him. Even in death, he still managed to destroy life as we know it with his experiment. The abomination that WE helped him create. Our hooves are stained with the blood of the innocent, and we have no blame but ourselves for our incompetence. I pray that their souls will forgive us when they cross over to the other side. May whatever omnipotent being they go to have mercy on our souls, even though we don't deserve it. We tried to play God, but it backfired indefinitely. It wouldn't surprise me if we all ended in Tartarus for our crimes. It seems rather appropriate, given the circumstances. I guess Scarlet was right. He always said that if he went down, we were all going with him. I'll be sure to admit it to that scumbag when I see him. You're probably getting pretty bored by this point so I'll quit stalling and get to the actual story. Like I was saying earlier, it all started a year ago......