Wolfahya, White Wolf: Hybrids Awaken

"Make sure that nothing intereferes the research. Surely that should be easy enough?"

"..."

"...what?! All of the scientists are gone...?!

...mmmph...?!"

[PoV ID: 3]
"Fluttershy? Surprising to see you here. Is something the matter?"

Fluttershy usually doesn't come around these parts on regular days like this, so I wonder why she's here.

"Y-yes... well, not exactly, but um..."

She has someone with her wearing a large cloak, I can't see well who it i-

"AAAAAH! Fluttershy! Wha-"

"Shhh! Tw-twilight, please! Don't draw anymore attention to us than there already is..."

"P-please! I come in peace..."

"It... it can talk?"

"Yes I can talk."

"Twilight, this is um, 'Wolfahya'... did I get the name right?"

"Yes, yes that would be what I wish to be called."

"Oh, your name is really a mouthful to remember...
That pony in front of you would be Twilight Sparkle. She lives in this library."

"..."

W-why is he staring at me like that...?

"U-uuhhh, p-please stop looking at me so vi-viciously..."

"!
S-sorry! I was just a bit curious."

"Curious? About what?"

"I could swear your name sounds familiar in my head, but I don't know where and when I came across it."

That's weird. I don't know anypony with this name, let alone a wolf. And it's really a white wolf, wandering in inappropriate climate. It's impossible that we've met before. Maybe he has read about me or something? Well, I did kind of save the world twice.

"We-well, that sounds great, I must be getting popular or something.
I'd like to ask though. You're a genuine white wolf, yes?"

"Of course I am. What... what else would I be?"

"Then aren't you sweating like mad here or something? Shouldn't you be so dehydrated with your body being fit for cold climates?"

"Ah, I see where you're getting at. I've been to many places enough in that my body has already adapted to a lot of other temperatures. I'll be fine."

"So Fluttershy. Why exactly are you here again?"

"It's by his request. Actually, Twilight, come over here for a second."

Fluttershy pulled me to one corner and whispered.

"He was wounded badly when I found him, and he said that he wanted to go immediately after he woke up after I nursed him. So I needed an excuse to make him stay out of danger, so I brought him to Ponyville..."

"So why does it look like he's the one who wanted to come here?"

"After I described the place, he said something about buying new supplies and stuff like that, to get ready before he goes away again. And then he suddenly took interest of the library."

[PoV ID: 1]

What are they talking about there? I'm getting a bit suspicious here in as much as they're taking suspicion on me, but I guess it's best not to eavesdrop on them. I'll wait here patiently, though I really, REALLY wanna explore this vast library soon...

"Ooookay. So um, welcome. W-what brings you here today?"

Then I heard a separate voice come from afar.

"Okay Twilight, I've finished cove- whoa! Is that a white wolf?!"

Is that a dragon whelp?

"Y-yes I am. Is something the matter?"

"I dunno, it's just that I haven't actually seen a wolf in a long time."

"Spike, this is our guest, Wol...?"

"Wolfahya, White Wolf. That's all you need to know about me."

I don't intend to talk about who I am any further with other innocent creatures like themselves. I really don't want anyone else to get involved in what I do.

"Well, I was just wondering! No need to brush me off like that..."

"Anyway, I'd just like to explore around the place, if it's possible. I am fond of reading books, somewhat."

[PoV ID: 3]

Wow, maybe this is someone I can get along with.

"Really? That's great! What kind of books are you looking for?"

"Books about technology, magic, and if possible a bestiary of sorts?"

Interesting. While I certainly know exactly where all the books of magic are, I just realized I haven't actually touched too much on books about technology.

"Oh, you'd want help locating them I guess, seeing as how this library is large. The sections you are looking for would be-"

"No need, it looks like you've arranged the sections here in the correct alphabetical order. I can navigate on my own."

Looks like he won't be that much of a trouble at all. Hopefully he makes it quick, I need to get back to my research...!

"Hmm, up there."

"O-oh, we'll get it for y-"

...he can levitate with his horns...?!

"You can use magic?!"

"Why yes, yes I can. There's no need to worry about me."

"So um... can I trust you enough to not mess around anything in here? I kind of need to continue with what I was doing."

"Yes, I can assure such. Do not worry about me."

"Great! That's really great...!
Um... Fluttershy...? I'd like to ask you to, um... leave?"

"H-huh? W-why, Twilight...?"

"I'm doing something very important and I don't want anyone else seeing it, not even my best friends."

"B-but, Wolfahya..."

"I'm sure he won't mind what I'm doing, and he's actually doing something here in the library. Isn't it lunchtime though? You should really check back on your farm."

"W-well, I guess you're right...
Bye Twilight."

Quick, quick, close the door!

Whew... much better. I know it's a bit inconsiderate of me to just drive her away like that, but I absolutely just do not want to be disturbed at all right now. I am trusting this wolf enough to continue his quiet reading.

[PoV ID: 1]

'Collection of basic Rune Magic'. What exactly Rune Magic is, I don't know.
The alphabet used in this book looks unreadable, but it looks very familiar. Maybe there's a rosetta stone or something like that to allow me to read these? It's a book about 'basics' after all, I'll be very frustrated if there isn't anything that will help me read this.

I'll skip this one for now until I can find out how to read this. Let me get to the technology section.

...

'Canterlot's Laboratories'. Canterlot? That kingdom found high up there? This looks interesting.

...

Astounding. I thought equipment like this was only used by secret organizations such as the one that hired me. However, I see no traces at all of anything regarding 'enhancement'.

"That dreaded idea of modifying the biological state of a creature...! Just unthinkable! Absurd! Unethical!"

"Huh? Why are you screaming?"

Oops.

"I must have been thinking out loud, I'm sorry."

"Now that you got me listening all of a sudden, tell me more about what you just said. 'Modifying the biological state'? Like, pony experimentation?"

"Well, if you put it that way, yes, that's one variation of it. I don't want to discuss this with you right now; didn't you say you're busy with something?"

"Oh, yes that's right. Sorry."

Because I really don't want to discuss whatever I've found out so far. Not to ordinary citizens like them. That is, if my selective amnesia serves me right, she's an ordinary pony.

Gonna check out this book further, as this-

"Oh my!"

?!

She dropped a glass beaker?! With huge amounts of some colored powder in it.

"A-ah? What happened? And be careful!"

"My hoof just slipped. If only holding things were easier...!
Spike! Spike! Sweep this quick before someone gets hurt!"

What, is that dragon her personal slave or something? I kind of don't like the way she treats him.

"W-wait, I need to get some slippers to be sure!"

"No need. I'll help."

Levitation of miniscule objects is harder than the normal level of levitation magic. The precision and area-concentration becomes very strict.

I've trained this back when I needed to clean up similar situations like this. Admittedly however, I have never tested it before with powdery substances.

"Wow, you're no ordinary magic user."

"If that's a compliment, then thanks."

"Of course it is, silly! I have a lot of trouble lifting objects this small consistently!"

No, it's not that, it's just that I haven't had anyone compliment me in a long time. Anywhere I go, I always get branded as the bad guy.

"Well you'll learn as the need to use the magic further arises.
Alright, carefully lift this pile... take the pieces of glass, carefully manuever them and... there! The glass shards have been laid out perfectly on the table with all the powder placed neatly atop them. However, I can't promise the purity of the powder. It did touch the floor after all."

"That's no problem, there's still a lot in this other jar."

"Well thank goodness. Be careful next time, OK?"

Seriously, if that thing slipped harder then chances are someone got pierced with a glass shard as it broke.

"Wait, um, why is your horn still glowing?"

"...?"

"It's like you're still expelling magic, but nothing is really happening."

What on earth... she's right! I do feel magic coming out from my horn, but I'm not even casting any spell at all!

It's beginning to hurt...! Why isn't it stopping?!

Wait a minute. That powder!

"Twilight Sparkle! T-take some of that same powder, and sprinkle it on me!"

"What?!"

"Just do it!"

As I only have one explanation as to why this is happening.

"Alright, here goes nothing!"

Fuaa...!

*cough cough*

"Power...! Incredible power...!"

As I suspected!

"W-what's going on...?!"

"Twilight Sparkle! Open the door! Quick!"

I ran to the door as she opened it. Pointing my horns to the sky, I let out a ridiculously loud howl which the entire town probably heard. A huge rainbow colored beam shot out from my horns, firing furiously at the sky.

This is using too much of my magic power, I'm going to tire easily! I wasn't expecting to encounter this material in a place like this!

"Aaaargh...!"

[PoV ID: 1]

Haaah... haaah... finally, my horn calmed down. Even though I can't see it, I think the entire town is probably looking in my direction right now.

"...Twilight Sparkle, please close the door. And lock it."

...?

She's just staring at me, mouth wide open and wide-eyed. I think she just got so shocked from what happened.

"Twilight Sparkle!"

"W-what! Y-yes, I'm sorry!"

I ran back inside the structure and shook my entire body.

This is not good. I can see that this is a pony that lives by curiosity. The fact that she's experimenting with these things confirms this impression of mine. If that's the case, then it seems like I have no other choice but to...

"...explain it to you."

"Y-yes, please do, I absolutely don't know what to think, seeing you like that!"

Sigh... here we go.

"However, can you please promise me that anything that I tell you here will be kept only in the corners of this room?
...that goes for you too, dragon whelp!"

"M-me?! D-don't mind me, I'm not listening!"

You're still hearing us though.

"If you say so.
Can I trust you with this information I'm going to impart to you, Twilight Sparkle?"

"Y-yes..."

"Alright. Show me what you've been experimenting on."

I was then lead to her desk. On it was a device with a very complex structure, something unordinary. However, this was not the first time I've seen this.

"The powder that you sprinkled me with is something that we call the 'overdrive substance'."

She... actually pulled out a notebook and pen.

"When come in contact with any sort of power source, it may cause said power source to produce excessive amounts of energy, at the cost of draining the required power that the source normally takes to exude that much.
You sprinkled me with quite a lot of said powder. The reason why I told you to do that was because my body can now tolerate this and endure the substance. However this lead to this certain level that it's possible my magic gets stuck in the gap between my body and outside of it, which will do severe damage to me if it's not released. Sprinkling me further with it allowed me to let go of the entire suspension of energy.
It's best that you don't mess around with this substance with anything that remotely resembles power, be it electricity or magic."

"Something of the sort exists? Wow."

"And this device that you've been tampering around with. This is actually an experimental version of an enhancement contraption."

"'Enhancement'? Is this related to what you shouted earlier? Looks like we will be talking about this after all."

"Yes, so please listen as I'll only say this once. I do not want to discuss this further as I worry that others are hearing us.

The group that discovered the Overdrive Substance have been experimenting with it ever since. After producing many new products, they decided to take it too far.

When I said 'modifying the biological state', I meant in a literal sense. Their final goal is to make a device that allows them to 'add' to living things, exceeding their limitations and giving them capabilities that seem unreal."

"Really? Then why do you make it sound like it's a bad thing?"

"Because it is!
Breaking the limits of the body will lead to very severe biological problems! However, this group believes that their experiments will circumvent this problem, which is just not the case! At least from what I've been seeing, anyone who has been chosen as test subjects have experienced problems with their body, eventually leading to their untimely demise!"

"That's horrible...!"

"Exactly! Now I do not know why this group persists on this foolish experiments.
And with this lecture, you just obtained a very good value of information about what I do and why I'm here."

"So you're in Equestria to hunt down these guys that you claim are going through with this experiment?"

"You can summarize it that way, yes."

"You keep saying 'this group'. Isn't there anything else you know about them? Like, their name of some sort?"

"Unfortunately no, I know not of such.
I went here because our radar back in my land detected a very suspicious disturbance here in this country specifically. It's up to me to find out where it is, and hopefully stop it before anything drastic happens."

"Have you even found any sort of leads that will confirm your supposed 'radar' is even correct?"

"Yes, definitely. Two leads, actually. The second one being this entire contraption that you have here."

"Oh...!"

"The first one, well, notice how wounded I am?"

"Yes, Fluttershy told me that she found you lying outside the Everfree Forest wounded so bad, and that she only agreed to take you here so that you don't have to go back with your, er, 'mission' so soon."

"..."

"W-well of course she was just probably joking and al-"

"No, that's completely fine. I understand.
Anyway, yes, I remember there was this group that attacked me in the forest. I was honestly searching innocently as I got lost in it. You can say that the attackers approached me very suddenly.
It leads me to believe that whoever is behind this already knows that I'm here for them."

"Oh my. That sounds awful... but I'm actually getting very interested in this!"

"What...?!"

Oh no, please don't get more involved than you already are!

"It's just like some of the fictions that I've read. A mercenary that comes wandering around a foreign country for a certain goal that he doesn't know, and when everything unfo-"

"PLEASE JUST SHUT...!"

I shouted again...

"Aaaaaaaah!"

I seemed to have scared her off for good this time. She's suddenly trembling and unable to move properly.

"Look, I'm sorry for just growling at you like that. But you have to understand, I do not want you more involved than you already are! I should not be giving out any of this information!"

"O-okay..."

...

...

I feel guilty. Like, she should at least know up to the point that we've discussed.

"Alright, let's continue talking. I apologize."

"G-great! So you're not mad at me and you won't eat me?"

...enough with the cannibalism discussion, please! I might actually get too hungry and eat you ponies!

"No, no, no!
Anyway, so I was attacked in the forest and I got out. They weren't able to chase me out despite the entrance being open due to what we call the 'Harmony Border'."

"Harmony Border?"

"There's quite a bit to explain here. But all you should know is that as of current, those creatures chasing me down wouldn't be able to chase me, or anyone else, that can enter a Harmony Border. This entire town seems to be surrounded with it, extended by a few more miles in the radius. I guess it's safe here.
Oh wait, now I remember something; although I don't know any name of said group, I do know that they gave one codename for any creature involved in their activities: 'Hybrid'.

"Hybrid? That's an actual word in the dictionary. Now that I think about it, the name actually seems appropriate with what they want to achieve..."

"Exactly. I've figured out that they are not joking; they will push through with this goal, despite how worse its side effects are.
Where did you find this device?"

"My friend Applejack said that she found this weird thing just a few miles away from the Sweet Apple Acres."

"Did this 'Applejack' describe any weird activity near the site that this was spotted?"

"No... unless you consider a majority of apples suddenly rotting as weird."

"How old were those apples?"

"She didn't say."

"I need to investigate it! Is it possible you can take me there quickly?!"

"W-wait, please! Let me just check my schedule..."

Schedule, really? Wow, talk about being too organized! But I guess that's not a bad thing.

"W-well, I didn't have any time today due to the the experiment on this contraption, but since you already told me what exactly this does, I think my schedule suddenly got freed up all of a sudden..."

"That's great! Please, if I may ask, escort me to this 'Sweet Apple Acres' facility that you speak of!"

"I can definitely do that, but you seem so fired up about this..."

"Don't hide it, I know you are too. The facade of your expressions are weak."

I can tell because I've been faced with many liars before. Been fooled so many times as well, so I trained myself to identify when the subject I am talking to is telling the truth or not.
In this case, she actually shakes her hooves a little bit too much when she slows her voice down.

"A-actually, yes I am! I am still very, very interested in this mission of yours!
I'm sorry, but I must say this in a demanding manner; take me with you! I could use a bit of adventuring!"

What?!

"This is no simple adventure, Twilight Sparkle! Surely you understand that much!"

"Well fine, let me rephrase it: 'a quest to gain more knowledge' would be fit enough for you? Huh?!"

Oh no, as I have feared, looks like there's no talking her out of this now.

"..."

I don't know what to say. I need to force her out.

"Please...?"

?!

What... what's with those eyes all of a sudden?!

Stop! Stop staring at me like that!

!!!

"...OK fine! Just please do not be a nuisance and don't let your excitement disturb me!"

"Yes! Thank you so much! We should go right away!"

"But what about your house? Surely you just don't leave it like this?"

"Oh it's fine, the ponies here are trustworthy enough. Plus Spike and Owlowiscious here take care of the library superbly!"

Great, she also has an owl as a slave?

"Hmph, leaving without me again..."

"Don't worry Spike, you're my #1 assistant for a reason, and I will always be grateful for that!"

The excitement in her voice tells me that her words aren't going to comfort the dragon whelp at all.

"Anyway! Please, show me to this area quickly."

"Right! Just please follow me!
Oh, and... put the cloak back on if you really don't want to draw attention."

"Oh, thank you."

[PoV ID: 2]
Communicator's still jammed. Can't find a suitable substitute for quite a number of weeks now.

If I'm to go by my orders then there is no need for me to be sending constant reports. It's up to me to find the mastermind of this project. I shall take his remains as proof for the mission being completed.

I must admit, however, that these Hybrids have been formidable. It's taking me weeks to infiltrate their entire base. A smart architect must have designed this entire plan to keep me away from it as much as possible.

"Take me to your boss!"

"Hah, we'll never talk."

"Even by my blade...?"

"You wouldn't really wanna dare kill us. You may have kidnapped us stealthily, but you left so much traces for an entire army to corner you!"

...?! Tch, he's right. I can feel all the eyes of the facility watching me. I don't remember leaving any sort of trace at all. How did they...?

"Hmph. I've entered your base undetected and kidnapped your entire research team. What makes you think an entire army is going to hinder me at all?"

"There's one thing you have to remember, spy... you're still in our facility. You may not think that we're not prepared for attacks, but with what you just did, we're more than ready to take you down here..."

If this is just like the last time, then their next move would be...!

ATTENTION. DATA TRANSFER HAS BEEN COMPLETED. THE FACILITY WILL SELF-DESTRUCT WITHIN 60 SECONDS. ALL UNITS HAVE 1 MINUTE TO EVACUATE.

Ugh...!

"So. The great Phantom Vajura, dying in a massive explosion. Not so great now are we?"

"Don't be ridiculous. I'm not going to untie you here, I have no use for you! Die in this facility if you must!"

"...heh, naive as usual."

Is that an entire aircraft?!
Darn it, they're getting away!

"Bye-bye, worthless pony! There's a reason you ordinary non-hybirds are such weaklings!"

Is he mocking me? You hybrids are the weaklings.

No time for that, I have to escape...!