In the woods again. Running from something, unknown. Twilight, as a filly, was panting with exhaustion. She hid behind a tree, trembling with fear.
"Oh please Celestia," she prayed. "Make it stop." She was careful not to raise her voice above a whisper, as she sobbed quietly, closing her eyes in fear.
She then could hear hoofsteps walking around the forest. She held her breath, tears streaming down her face. She kept listening as the hooves grew closer, and closer.
Twilight couldn't bear it anymore, and slowly opened her eyes.
There was nothing there. The hoofsteps stopped. She looked to her left, then to her right. She then sighed in relief.
As she got up, however, she heard a twig crunch.
She quickly turned to see a large, shadowy figure of a stallion in front of her.
She screamed in horror, as the shadow got closer.
~~~~~
Twilight woke up from her bed.
It was morning already, and she found herself in a cold sweat. She was still panting after that dreaded nightmare.
She looked around her room. Safe at home.
She then calmed herself down and started breathing normally.
She sat there, in complete silence, enjoying the sounds of the morning.
Twilight then got off her bed and headed toward her shower room.
~~~~
"Morning Spike." Twilight said, smiling at the baby dragon.
"Good morning Twilight" he replied.
"Any mail from the princess?" She asked, as she began to eat her breakfast.
"Ummm.... yeah! Its your badge and documents for Frin-"
"SHHHHH!!!!!" Twilight hissed at him.
"Oh. Right. Sorry. Just your badge and documents."
"Good. I'll need them for my first day today."
Spike rolled his eyes.
"Why can't I say it's name Twilight?"
"Because the princess gave me strict orders not to tell anypony about it. And since you eavesdropped when I received the enlistment form," Spike gave a sheepish grin. "You have to keep this under wraps too."
"Fine. But I still don't get why we have to be so secretive about it's name."
Twilight shrugged, as she finished her meal. She then got up from the table and grabbed her badge and documents. She then headed towards the door.
"Bye Spike! I'll be back by nine!"
"Bye Twilight! Good luck!"
Twilight waved, as she left the house to her destination.
~~~~
"Hello?" Twilight said, as she looked around what appeared to be a lab of some sorts. She checked the address on her letter.
"Yep. This is the place..." She walked closer to a set of beakers. They were filled with strange, colored liquids all of different volumes.
Twilight extended her hoof to a bright blue one.
"Don't touch that." Twilight jumped when she heard an elderly voice. She turned around to see a dark yellow Earth Pony, with short grey hair and solid grey eyes. He was wearing a lab coat and goggles on his forehead.
"There's some very dangerous chemicals here. For example..." He made his way next to Twilight and pointed at a beaker full of a clear liquid.
"What do you, my dear, think that chemical is?"
Twilight inspected the solution.
"Looks like hydrogen peroxide to me." She replied.
The old Earth Pony gave a grin.
"Ah. I see you know a bit of chemistry as well." Twilight gave a sheepish grin.
"However, no it is not, hydrogen peroxide..." Twilight gave a confused look.
"Its.....its not?" She asked.
"It is actually a new compound I've made," He lifted the beaker up in front of him.
"Ethylene glycol. Quite toxic. One cupful of this solution ingested, and it will result in death." He then brought it closer to Twilight.
"Take a sniff my dear." Twilight, being ever so curious, wafted the scent.
"Smells...."
"Sweet?"
"Yes." She said, nodding.
He gave a single nod, as he put the beaker back on the table.
"All these chemicals in front of you are very dangerous. Like that cyanide, that ricin, and many others."
"What about the one I was about to touch?" She asked.
"Oh. That's just barbicide." Twilight gave an even more confused look.
"Why do you have that liquid they keep in jars at barbershops?"
"To keep my barber tools clean of course!" He said matter-of-factly.
Twilight was beginning to think that this old pony was just a bit loco in the coco.
He suddenly stopped and turned around to look at Twilight.
"You're...Twilight Sparkle... am I correct?"
Twilight nodded. "Yes sir. Princess Celestia's Personal Student." She smiled proudly.
"Ah. The princess. Haven't seen her in a while." He mumbled to himself.
"I'm sorry?" Twilight asked.
"Nothing." He then gave a smile.
"Hello. My name is Dr. Walter Bishop!"
"Its a pleasure to meet you." Twilight extended her hoof.
"The pleasure is all mine Twilight." He took her hoof like a gentlecolt and shook it.
After the hoofshake, Twilight began to explore more of the lab.
Walter looked at her and sighed.
"My, how you have grown....."
Suddenly, the door burst open, and a light blue Earth pony and a mahogany pegasus burst in the door, carrying what appeared to be an unconscious pony like shape.
"Walter," the blue stallion said. "You should see this..."
Walter then turned to the carrier.
"Hold on a minute Peter! Aspen! Quick! Get me my graham crackers!"
The pegasus mare rolled her eyes.
"Its Astrid. Coming right up Walter." She flew off to the cupboard, leaving Peter and Twilight alone.
"So......you're name's Peter?" Twilight asked, nervously.
"Yes." He said in affirmation. "I assume you've met my dad? Walter?"
"ASPEN! Graham Crackers!" The grey Earth pony shouted.
"I can't find them Walter!" Replied the mare.
"Try the 3rd level, behind the chlorine! Quick! Its a matter of life or death!"
"He's your father?" Twilight asked in disbelief.
Peter gave her a strange look.
"Oops. Heh heh, I don't mean to be rude or anything-"
"No, its all right. I know." He looked at his dad. "He's so random."
"Funny. That's exactly how one of my friends act like."
Peter smirked.
"Well, then let's make sure they don't ever meet, okay?"
Twilight giggled.
"I Pinkie Promise!"
Peter gave a slightly confused face.
"Pinkie Promise?"
"I'll explain later. Oh! By the way, my name is Twilight Sparkle."
"Peter Bishop. Welcome to Fringe Division." They both shook hooves.
"Found it!" Astrid said, flying back to the carrier.
"Good! Hand it over!" Walter made it to the carrier and leaned over it.
"What's wrong?" Twilight asked.
"This." Peter said, unstrapping the body. It revealed a normal green pegasus. However, there was a certain object sticking out of her forehead.
"A horn?!" Twilight exclaimed.
Walter began to eat the crackers.
"Really? That's what you needed them for?" Astrid said, giving a scolding look to Walter.
"What? I was hungry."
"Looks like the princesses aren't the only ones anymore..." Peter said.
Then, very slowly, the mare opened her eyes...
~~~~
The pegasus wearily woke up. She groaned, as she tried to lift her body into a sitting position.
"I'd recommend you keep lying down miss. You look disoriented." Astrid spoke.
The mare had her eyes open, giving her an opportunity to observe her surroundings.
She found herself in someplace OTHER than the hospital.
"Wh-where am I?" She asked.
"A safe place, my dear." Walter said, still munching on his crackers.
"Graham Cracker?" He offered.
"I'm supposed to be in the hospital, not some....wherever this place is." The pegasus said, after ignoring Walter's offer.
"Laboratory." Walter corrected her.
"Do you feel...different?" Peter asked her.
"Not really."
"Do you remember anything before you lost consciousness?" Astrid questioned.
"Very little....." She turned her head to Twilight.
"Oh hey! You're Twilight Sparkle! It's so nice to meet an Element of Harmony in the flesh!" she squeed.
Twilight blushed from the admiration.
"That's funny.....my forehead feels.....different..." The pegasus soon started feeling her hoof around her head. Whem she reached the horn, her reaction was one of confusion and dismay.
"Wah?" she jerked her body up. Peter and Astrid motioned to lay her down.
"Leave her be." Walter replied.
They did so, letting the mare walk to the nearest mirror. She checked her new protusion, in awe and wonder of the horn.
"So, I'm an alicorn now?" she asked, turning to the ponies. "Just like the princesses?"
Twilight nodded at her, affirming her question.
"Cool....." she softly said, admiring her new grown horn.
"Does this mean I have their powers now? Like raising ths sun or moon?"
"We're gonna need to know more about what happened before you lost consciousness." Peter replied.
"All right." She replied. She then sat back on the carrier, as she tried to remember what happened.
~~~~~~
"I was on the ground, setting up for a picnic. I had invited my coltfriend, Breeze, to eat with me," She told the story, eating some graham crackers Walter had shared with her.
"I had everything ready. I had the quilt set up, the sandwiches ready, it was going to be our time together, alone. Celestia's sun shining over the park, it was a perfect day." She smiled at the remembrance.
"Tell me, Miss Blaze," Walter said, now knowing her name after she revealed it.
"What happened next?"
She gave a short sigh. "Well, all I remember, is that some weird hooded Earth Pony came out with a small device. He pressed on it, and the next thing I know, here I am! An alicorn." She said, pointing to her horn.
"What can you say about this "hooded Earth Pony" you saw?" Twilight asked.
"Well....... I did see......his eyes...... one looked glassed.... ..I think he was blind on that eye."
"Is that all?" Twilight asked Blaze.
The young alicorn nodded.
"Well then, looks like we have some investigating to do." Peter said.
"I'll go get my assistant." Twilight replied, using her magic to teleport to her library.
"Blaze, you stay with Walter. He can help you get back to normal again." Astrid said.
Blaze giggled.
"Why would I want to be just a plain old pegasus ever again? This is awesome!"
Peter and Astrid have already left to the scene of the event, as Walter grinned.
"Youth these days..." he said to himself, as he walked towards Blaze.
~~~~~~~
Twilight could hardly believe her eyes. All around the park, ponies with brand new wings and horns were seen everywhere. The Royal Guards had an enormous quarantine bubble around the affected area. The brand new alicorns were walking around the bubble in confusion and disarray.
Peter approached the entrance to the quarantine.
"Stop! This is a restricted area!" A guard said to the Earth pony.
Peter raised his badge towards the guard's face.
He inspected the badge, then handed it back to Peter.
He moved to their side, letting Peter through.
Twilight followed.
Once they entered, the door behind them shut tight. Peter and Twilight moved inside the bubble.
Scientist ponies and some medics were seen talking to some of the alicorns.
Some were taking tests, while others wrote on notepads.
"This way." Peter then guided Twilight to the nearest alicorn. It was a light red stallion with a long, dark black mane and golden eyes.
A pink, brown-maned nurse was attending him.
She then saw Peter and Twilight approach.
"Hello, I'm Peter Bishop and this is my partner, Twilight Sparkle. We're here to investigate what happened here."
The nurse nodded.
"Hello detectives. I've checked his heartbeat and his vitals, and everything seems to be fine." She replied.
"No signs of change at all?"
"Only the bones from his wings and the magic of his horn."
Peter nodded.
"Thank you nurse, we'll take it from here."
The nurse nodded in affirmation, as she left the stallion.
"Ain't she a looker?" Peter turned to the stallion with a look of confusion.
"Excuse me?"
"That nurse. Stella, I think, was her name."
"Sir, I don't think-"
"Liner. Ridge Liner." The stallion interrupted.
"Ridge, I don't think that helps us find out what the hay happened here."
"Right."
"Now, did you see anything peculiar today?"
Ridge brought a hoof to his chin.
"Now that you mention it, I DID see some hooded pony come out with a strange device."
"And then you passed out?"
Ridge stared in surprise at Peter.
"Yes! How did you know?"
"Because that's what happened to ANOTHER victim we know."
Ridge gave a snort.
"Well in that case, I doubt anypony else here will have anything different than MY explanation."
Peter exhaled quietly, as he looked around at all the other alicorns.
"Do you remember anything about the hooded pony? Anything?"
"I'm sorry, but I couldn't make out any facial features from my view. I could barely see him from a distance."
Peter nodded in understanding.
"Strange. You have the same Cutie Mark that Blaze has."
Ridge turned to Twilight.
"Observing the merchandise I see-" He then had a look of complete shock.
"Wha?! WHAT HAPPENED TO MY CUTIE MARK?!?!"
The insignia was a triangle of leaves, sticking out of each vertices.
Peter looked at the other ponies.
They had the same marks on them.
"It was a hammer! To show my talent as a blacksmith! What the hay happened?!"
Before anypony could answer, shouts of anxiety were heard.
"I NEED to see my wife!!! She's dying! Let me go!"
Peter and Twilight turned to see a blue, white-maned stallion alicorn struggling against medics and guards.
"I can save her!!!" The stallion began to charge up a spell.
"Uh-oh." Twilight said.
Suddenly, a giant explosion of light blinded them.
Twilight and Peter opened their eyes to see a massive hole in the side of the bubble.
"Sweet Celestia." Ridge exclaimed.
"We've got to follow him!" Twilight shouted, as she ran towards the entrance.
Peter followed closely, as they gave chase to the flying alicorn.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
