"All right, the recording crystal is active. This is the debrief for Specialist Cloud Sweeper, the final survivor of the Ponyville Excavation search party, Unit Thirty-one Sixteen of the Marevenworth Recon Forward Expeditionary Force. It is eleven am. Twelfth of November."
*Cough*
"I am Agent Copper Sheet. I'll be conducting this debrief. With me is Psychiatric Dr. Silver Path. Doctor, are you ready to begin?"
"Yes, Agent. Yes, I am."
"Specialist, please speak your name, rank, and specialization for the record."
"Four Winds, not even gonna ask if I'm ready?"
"Specialist."
"Ooh, uptight field agent type. Fine, fine." *Laughter* "My name is Cloud Sweeper. I am a specialist in the NEDF. That's the New Equestrian Defense Force. I'm a Forward Scout of the Marevenworth Recon."
*Papers shuffling*
"Your assignment."
"You just said it- Fine, fine, don't glare at me." *Huffing noise* "I, along with twenty of the NEDF, were assigned to investigate and search for the survivors of the Ponyville Excavation team sent out two weeks prior. We lost contact with the group within six days of their arrival, and it was thought that their chances for survival were low enough that we had been advised to bring body bags. You know, the history. Everfree swallowed everything up. Includin’ the ancient capital yada yada. All bad."
"Stay on the relevant points, Specialist."
"It's relevant, “Agent”."
"Gentlestallions, please."
"Apologies."
"Yeah, sorry."
"Continue, Specialist. Please."
"Uh, yeah. So, you know the story. Some idiot researcher gets a wild feather in his flanks and decides he is going to go off and find the lost village of the Elements. Some Egghead told me that it was really important to find because of somepony's need to document our nation's early history. Somethin’ about-"
"Mr. Sweeper. Don't be so dismissive. The reason finding Ponyville is so important is that it is a step into understanding why the Alicorns left us. Few records have survived since the Thousand Year Calamity, and Ponykind has been pushed to the brink of extinction. As it is, we only have a few fortress cities to our name now. Understanding what happened to our lands, our people, could be the difference in saving ourselves and extinction."
"Winds, Doc, I get it. I just...my jobs are kinda stressful enough without havin’ to worry about what and why. I gotta take care of the here and now. You know what it's like out there? Those manticores barely resemble anythin’ in the textbooks anymore. They're bigger, faster, and meaner than anythin' anypony has seen, and they're just the small fries. I'm talkin' real big nasty sorts that eat them for lunch are out there too, and I only catch glimpses of them when we extract, after, of course, when we hear them comin’. I ain't got time to wonder about the past. I daydream too much, and I end up like Loco. Well…maybe he wasn't, uh, daydreamin’ then."
"Loco was the name of one of your compatriots, correct? Buck Loco?"
"Yes, Sir. Bucko was alright for a Ground Pounder."
"Derivative names are rather tasteless, Mr. Sweeper."
"Oh, relax. You know how many times he called me Featherbrain or Skyrat? It's just how it is. You soft types don't understand, and I think I'd need some type of PhD to explain to ya."
*Cough*
"May we, please, get back on track."
"Yes, Sir."
"My apologies, Agent."
"So, yeah, what was I talkin' about?"
"You were speaking about what the researchers were seeking in Ponyville. The Sevenity-fourth Inspection Corp."
"Ah, yeah. The who, what, where, and why the Alicorns up and left us. Supposedly there was a good chance that something in that old town would point a way to figurin’ that out. The, uh, Princess. Twinkle Light or somethin’."
"Twilight Sparkle, Mr. Sweeper."
"Yeah, her. Anyroad, somepony actually found it. Like, send me to Tartarus in a basket. That is one big flank discovery, right?"
"Please refrain from colorful language, Specialist. This will be reviewed by the Council later."
"Oh, uh, sorry. So, yeah. Big discovery. Gives us a data point, a landmark inside that forest, and also, maybe some answers."
*Silence*
"Specialist?"
"Sorry, Sir. Just...kinda rememberin’ that place a bit. Even before things got turbulent, that place was spooky."
"I have not gone into the recordings on the status of the town. What was it like?"
"Eerily put together if I’m flyin’ straight with ya. Other than trees sprouting up in the streets and tracks of animals I don't want to see up close and personal...I don't know, Sir. Nothing was decayed. Like, the buildings down to the glass was intact. We have light and sh...stuff, right? Flick a switch, and it comes on? Most of the homes there didn't have 'em."
"You went inside?"
"Well, yeah. We were there searchin’ for them, looking for the researchers, after all. Whole mission, yeah?"
"Why don't we start at the beginning."
"Fine. Sir."
*Heavy exhale*
"So, the LZ was just outside the town, just inside a very intact lookin’ farm. Let me tell you, that place was weird. Not a single normal fruit hangin’ from the trees. But there was some weird kinda…could you even call it fruit? Growing on those trees that made my eyes want to water. I don't know what it was, but it hurt. We was advised to not focus on ‘em for too long. Though...they kinda looked like animal shaped...somethins’. Dangled a pace below the tree branches. There weren't no breeze, but they seemed to drift like there was one. Anyroad, Captain Iron Thorn said to stay away from them, and that's what we did. We set a perimeter around the ship, set a Basecamp. Standard stuff, you know?"
"I am well aware of NEDF field guide regulations, Specialist. According to Command’s reports, filed by you, the "standard stuff" was more akin to a lean-to set up against the hull of the ship."
"Yeah, place was already giving us the fidgets, so Captain didn't want anythin’ permanent placed down if we needed to bug out, we were leaving a lot of sh...things behind." *Chuckle* So as I said, Standard. Anyroad, we place two teams of two as patrol for guard duty, and the rest of us lucky..."*Sigh* "Sir, I can't buckin’ do this? If I ain't allowed to swear, we are gonna be here all night. Possibly most of tomorrow morning, too."
"Just...keep it light, Specialist."
"I can possibly do that. So anyroad, the rest of us lucky bastards get the great privilege of scoutin’ out the town. I got stuck with Topography Line, kind of a nerd but not a bad pone, and we set out to mappin’ as much of the small town as we could on overwatch over the east section of the town. That's, uh, when we do reconnaissance from the air.”
“I am aware of what overwatch is, Specialist.”
“Sorry, but since the Council is peekin’ in on this, I figured you'd want me to be thorough, Sir. Not all of them know military terminology.”
*Silence*
“So, ah, yeah. Me and Topo map out our little slice of the village. And I'm tellin’ you, that place was eerie.”
“You've said that before. About the farm you landed in.”
“And it keeps being true about everythin’ in that bucked-up town, Doc. So, first day, no problem. Multiple scout patrols, get a rough map of what we're lookin’ at, identify no-go zones. Simple stuff, yeah?”
“I'm sorry, why were there no-go zones, Specialist?
“Trees mostly. Too thick for me or others to fly through, and the Grounders didn't wanna try pushing through the tangle of underbrush. Gotta say, lots of pricker bushes in there. Ones with thorns so long and sharp as to go right through a leg. Yeesh, Cord had one go right through the bottom of his hoof and out the top. Never heard anypony scream like that. So…yeah, we get back after a few passovers, Topo and the other nerds get to creating a map. Other than that, nothing that first day, or night.”
*Silence*
“Specialist?”
“Yeah, sorry. I…uh, gotta take that back. There was one thing. Hauler, Apple Hauler, I mean, woke up screaming about strange animals. By the time morning came he couldn't really remember what the dream was, but he swore it was terrifyin’.”
“A new location, especially in one so dangerous as the Everfree, can produce in us a wide variety of anxiety-inducing disorders. This can include nightmares and hallucinations, Mr. Sweeper.”
“Yeah…I don't think that was what this was, Doc. And I might just be a dumb airjocky, but even I know what happened. There was no hallucination. Buck! Hauler got split apart like butter, for Ancients' sake!”
*Slam*
“Please calm down, Mr. Sweeper. I wasn't meaning to trivialize what happened to you and the ponies that had gone down there with you. I only implied that new stressful situations can induce anxiety in ponies that go beyond the normal limits anypony can handle.”
“Y-yeah, Doc. Sure. Just…those were my battle buddies. And I…”
“Do you need a moment, Mr. Sweeper?”
“...no. No, no, I don't think I should stop. Better to get this out and done. Maybe then you guys will finally let a pegasus get a drink. I promise not to fly upside down or nothin’.”
“That will be for the review board to determine, Specialist.”
“You government types always suck the joy out of everythin’.”
“Specialist, please continue.”
“Okay. Yeah…alright. So, uh, we map out the town, best we can at least. The fog made it kinda hard to determine distance sometimes. Several times me and Topo had to fly back across a spot we already scouted just to make sure it lined up. I…I dunno. Felt like things were shifting when we weren't lookin'. But when we checked back, it seemed right. So, that first night we bunked down, and other than that one nightmare, we was fine.”
“Then that was when things began to go wrong, Specialist?’
“Yeah. Started slow I guess. Mic and Reader, they were the first to get got.”
“You mean Mix Mic and Heavy Reader?”
“Yep, those two. Captain decided we needed information. On where the researchers were, or at least where their remains might be, and why the town could somehow last for a couple of thousand years being buried as deep into the Everfree as it was. That was kinda a new secondary mission. No pony knew what the buck that was about. So, Caps has us doin’ buildin’ clearin’. Hah! Like we was the damn rental inspectors.”
“Specialist.”
“Sir, let Mr. Sweeper speak on his own terms. Often how ponies talk after a traumatic incident is the best way for them to heal. And monitoring his health is why I am here, after all.”
“I hardly think that-”
“Agent Copper Sheet.”
*Silence*
“Proceed, Specialist.”
“Wow, Doc, didn't know you cared. Fine, fine, don't get your socks in a twist, Sir. So, anyroad I'm paired up with Loco this time. And we are assigned to the roughly southern side of the village. Houses was normal. Buck, dinner plates were left on tables as if the family had just days or hours before had finished their meal. Nothing on them, though. So, yeah. We started clearing buildins’. Looking for any sign of where they went. While we was down there, Cap had sent Mic and Reader to Ponyville Town Hall. Me and Topo had spotted that place and marked it down the day before.”
“When did you notice that Mic and Reader had not returned, Specialist?”
“Me and Loco didn't. It was Cap who had set a time limit on that run. He wanted them in and out in two hours. I guess he was gettin' the fidgets, too. Anyroad, we got the call when we had made a discovery of our own. We was…heh. Oh, Doc, you'll love this. We was inspectin’ a pretty famous location in the town. Carousel Boutique. We found the buckin’ place looking like new!”
“My, that is actually amazing. Mr. Sweeper, some here in Marevenworth say that Carousel Boutique is where fashion first really began!”
“Yes, ma'am. Better? House to one of the Elements themselves. Rarity Belle. Didn't find any sign of her there, but everything looked like she had just left it. I mean, the walls were a bunch of pinks I didn't even know existed, mirrors that looked like they had never been broken. Hay, the place was stuffed full of her…uh…stuff. You know, the things she made back then. Some was completed projects by the look of it, too. Kitchen looked like it suffered from a recent fire, but nothing too scorched. Couldn't find a source for ignition, though. That was worrying.”
“Specialist, please get to the point.”
“I'm gettin' there, I'm gettin' there. So anyroad, bottom half of the house is as it was back in the day. Or at least I think so; I'm no archeologist. Then we went upstairs. That's when things…well…got spooky again. First room we hit had to be a filly's room at some point. The furniture looked old. The beddin’ looked like it sat out for months. You know, like it was depressed or some shit? Other than that, nothin' out of the ordinary. Skipped a few closets, nothing of note. It was when we got to the bedroom. Her bedroom, The bedroom, then I got the…uh, fidgets again.”
“Take your time, Specialist.”
“Thanks, Sir. A-anyroad. First thing we noticed right away was the temperature in the room. Outside was misty and somewhat warm on account of the buckin’ fog invadin’ everythin’. Inside that bedroom, it was hot. Sweat causin’ heat that made me break out all over. Loco was actually breathin’ heavy like he'd run ten kilohooves and couldn't take another step. I looked at the fireplace thinkin’ there had to be a fire or somethin’, hadn't looked like it had been started in months. Fresh logs still laid on the grate and everythin’. The second, was the room was completely trashed. Like some monster with a real grudge against furniture had gone through and busted the place up. Have it a real thrashin’, yeah? But what caught our real attention was the walls. Buck, the walls were covered in…well, bloody writin’ is the best I could call it.”
“Yes, you mentioned that in the report. Are you sure you could only understand a little of it?”
“Yeah, Sir. Only a bit. Most of it was unreadable. About the only thing we could understand was this: “Where is everypony? What happened to my town? Why isn't anypony answering me?” I don't really know what that means, but it sounds like somepony was left behind. The ink, or whatever, as I said, I think it was blood was smeared on the floors, too. Pone, this was nothin’ like I'd seen before. Loco found the only other readable thing on the wall behind an overturned dresser: “They abandoned me.” That gave us both the fidgets, and we was about to tear out of there and make our report when coms popped with Caps’ voice demandin’ we return to forward command immediately.”
“Mic and Reader?”
“Yeah, Doc. It had been about four hours since we started our search, and they theirs. So we peeled out of there. Buck, Loco even let me carry him. That pony had hated heights.”
“What happened once you returned to forward operations?”
“Got orders, of course. Me and Loco got assigned to watch the FOB, and the rest started in Mic and Reader’s last known location, the Town Hall. What they found…I'm not sure what to think about it.”
“Your report said there was a lot of blood.”
“Yep, and I learned that it wasn't quite the case. Sure, there was evidence of a struggle of some kind, but I got in there later when I was…you know, running for my life. That blood was dry. Weeks at the very least, months more than likely. Reason I know this…well, my Pa, Corpse Sweeper, had been a coroner. Saw a lot of dead ponies, ya? With Ma outta the picture, I spent a lot of time going from crime scene to crime scene, ya pick up on some things. So yeah, I know what weeks-old dry blood looks like.”
“That's…not a good life for a colt, Mr. Sweeper.”
“Is what it is, and Pa did his best. Any road…we, uh, also found the researchers' notes. Apparently, they had made that place their FOB, dumbflank move if you ask me, all big and open like that, no defensible positions at all, but we learned something interestin’.”
“Interesting, yes. But you didn't say whether you ever found Mic and Reader.”
“Oh, we found them. Later. Just…I don't want to think about that just yet. Besides, what we found in that pond was a horror only made worse that our companions was floatin’ in it. It'll make sense later, but first, I gotta talk about what the researchers found. I can’t. Not yet.”
“That is fine, Specialist. We want a step-by-step account, and despite my impatience, I believe Mrs. Path is correct. Take your time. *Cough* Now, you mentioned going over their notes? That's highly illegal; those were classified.”
“And we needed to know what was going on, so Cap unclassified ‘em. Don't like it? Take it up with him.”
“Gentlestallions.”
“Sorry, Doc. Just…agitated.”
“I understand. Agent, please. They were under extraordinary circumstances and no doubt needed all possible information they could obtain.”
“Yes, Doctor.”
“Ma'am?”
“Yes, Mr. Sweeper?”
“I get the feelin’ you're not just a headshrink, are ya?”
*Silence*
“Please continue, Mr. Sweeper.”
“Uh, yeah. Okay. Um, so anyroad, they come back with all these notes, and Topo and a couple of the other eggheads go over them. Excitedly yammerin’ away, tellin’ us what happened.”
“The researchers weren't the first ones there.”
“Yep, Sir. Apparently, a band of Skyrovers found it first. Not knowin’ what in Tartarus it was that they found. They had left behind notes, too. About a cave they found or a collapsed one. Those Skyrovers had a couple of Unicorns with ‘em. Ah, sorry, Doc, but they was likely slaves. So, yeah. The Unicorns had been tasked with looking for anything of value. But the thing was, is according to the letters and messages they found, the town they arrived in? That we was now in? Was a ruin.”
“I'm sorry, a ruin?”
“Yeah, like, no buildings standing more than a single story, if that. Windows smashed to bits. According to the Skyrovers, that place looked like any other abandoned and consumed town.”
“How then-”
“Did it look like the place had been lived in up till recently? Simple, and we…well, I only found out much later when I was done runnin’ for my buckin’ life. It was an illusion. But, like, a strong one.”
“How? An illusion that powerful, to be so strong that you could physically interact with it. How can that be possible?”
“That, Sir, is something I can't even begin to tell you. I can tell you it's…source.”
“The Creature. When did you encounter it?”
“It was after we spent a good day and a half going over everything the two groups of ponies had found before us… No. Might have started before that. That second night, I could have sworn I saw somethin’ moving between the buildin’s. Couldn't get a good look, and no buckin' way I was flyin’ out there to find out.”
“Anypony else see anything like it?”
“Yeah, Topo. He was heading to the latrine and saw somethin’ like what I did, though he claimed it was almost right up to the ship.”
“May we get a description?”
“Yeah, uh. It was tall. Easily taller than us, walked on all fours, but the limbs seemed…off. And it didn't have a…well…it kinda jerked as it walked. Like it had never done it before and was just tryin’ to figure it out, couldn't see much else at that time, but trust me, I got a much better look later.”
“And what-”
“Agent Sheet.”
“I-...Part of the healing process?”
“You're getting it.”
“Thanks, uh, Doc. Yeah. So we poured over the notes. And found out that the Raiders, I mean, Skyrovers, had shown up first. Had their Unicorn slaves do survey work for ‘em. Found the cave.”
“Then what happened?”
“For the Skyrovers? Likely what happened to the researchers, and all but…uh…me. Our guess, and by that I mean the researchers and ours, is that those bandit bastards found where the cave-in happened and cracked it open. And out it came.”
“Out what came?”
“Her.”
*Sound of pages flipping*
“The Creature.”
“Yeah.”
“I assume you went to investigate the last known location?”
“Yep. Cap decided we needed to figure out what the buck was goin’ on, so we set out on the fourth day to see what was what. Topo and Lightning stayed behind. Mostly to make sure the ship was in condition to take off in an emergency. We…oh Winds. We shouldn't have buckin' left ‘em behind.”
“Take your time, Mr. Sweeper.”
“I'm good, Doc. I…uh. Well, it took us the better part of two hours to find the entrance. It was a fair ways away from the village. On top of a low hill south of everythin’. Denser part of the forest, actually. I think Windy Crush said somethin’ about that area actually being the original boundary of the Everfree. Ya know? Before the original Surge?”
“You were that close?”
“Yes, Sir. Might has well have been traipsing through the center at that point. Anyroad, we get to the cave, and you could definitely see signs of somepony diggin’. Bunch of dirt and stone placed to the side, and the entrance…Sir. Have you ever seen one of the Breeches before?*
“You mean after an Everfree Surge? Yes, Specialist. I have seen the breaking of the walls. Takes us weeks to repair. Why?”
“Because, honestly, Sir, it looked like that. Like the forest had broken through, leavin’ a jagged hole in the ground. Instead of openin’ up into the market district or some such, that hole just seemed to…fall away. Like we came to the edge of the world or somethin’. No pony wanted to go in there till Cap made some light. But even then, it seemed like his magic was almost not enough. It felt like…I don't know. Like the hole was suckin’ in all the light it could. Crazy soundin’, I know, but I swear on the Four Winds that it's true!”
“It's okay, Mr. Sweeper. It's okay. Take your time.”
*Silence*
“Thanks. Uh, sorry, everypony. Just, uh. Buck…gimme a minute.”
*Creaking chair noise*
“Okay. Okay, okay, okay. I kinda wish I didn't have to talk about this.”
“You were unfortunately too vague in your original report. We need an accurate account, Specialist.”
“Yeah, I know. I just…buck. I don't think you can really understand what it was like. Walkin’ into that hole and feelin’ like you were being buried forever.”
“You are correct, Mr. Sweeper. I could not imagine.”
“Please, Doc. Just call me Cloud. I…I don't think I wanna keep hearin’ that anymore.”
“Okay, Cloud. Please begin when you're ready.”
“Don't think anypony could be ready for this. So. Ah, yeah. We…we eventually work up the courage to go down in there, yeah? Winds, it was creepy. But we did it. For a long time it was just this big windin’ tunnel that felt like it went on forever. Darkness pressin’ in all around us. Then we get to the bottom and…wow. I think it was one of the prettiest places I'd ever see, ya know? Big massive crystals with large carvings of something on ‘em all over the place. There was this big pool of water in the center…almost a lake.”
“It was a lake? Fresh water?”
“We thought so at first. None of us ever took a dip. Willingly. It just…Sir. It looked artificial. Like somepony had made the place. The pool's edges were too perfect, and the water itself was still. Like, I didn't do it at the time, but if I flapped my wings real hard like, I don't think the surface would've moved at all. There was this huge bridge of stone that stretched from one side to the other. In the center was this little circle for a mini pool of water and some stairs that went into it. I…oh Winds…”
“It's okay, Mr…I mean, Cloud. It's okay. We can stop today if you need time.”
“No. No, Doc. I-i-if I…I-I stop today, I'm not sure I'll be able to do this again. I just…oh, buck. What we found in that little pool…was…well…shit. It was a lot of buckin' dead ponies, is what we found! Just…they was broken. Like, they had fought so buckin' hard they got broken by whatever happened to ‘em. That's…well. We found the researchers. Floating in the water…uh…bloated. They looked like they'd been there for days…n-next to ‘em was even older…ah corpses. Some floatin’. Most at the bottom. I…we, we only learned what happened later when…that thing…came in with Topo and Lightning.”
“Was it then? That the Creature appeared?”
“Mean like one of them horror scripts? Naw. Couple of hours….maybe. Took us half an hour just to get through the tunnel into the underground pool. We…were actually explorin’ one of the more recent lookin’ tunnels when…it… happened. Lots of debris. Loco, he noticed something funny mixed into it. Real weird to find it there.”
“Find what, Specialist?”
“Confetti? Ticker tape? I don't know. I heard the rich pones have parties that involve that stuff, never seen it before myself. But Loco swore that's what it was. Real colorful stuff. Stranger yet? It looked new.”
“New?”
“Like less than a day old. We explored a bit. Found more of the colorful paper. And then the bones.”
“Bones?”
“Yeah, small animal bones. Looked gnawed on. Think they might have been voles or moles or something like that.”
“What did your Captain say about it?”
“Nothin’, Sir. Never got to tell him about it before all Tartarus broke loose. That and we never got to mention the other writins’ we found in there.”
“The writings?”
“Yep. Just like the Element of Generosity’s house. Messages written in old blood. Clearer to see then…I…oh, buck…”
“What? What is it, Cloud?”
“M-ma'am. Have you ever heard the name…Pinkie before?”
“Pinkie? Oh…Tree, as in, the Element of Laughter Pinkie Pie?”
“Uh, yeah. I…think that's it. Didn't realize it was another Element’s name till panic wasn't operatin’ the steerin’ wheel. But yeah, Pinkie. Her name was everywhere. “Stay calm, Pinkie. Your friends didn't bury you, Pinkie. It's all a nice big joke, Pinkie”.”
“Are you telling me that one of the Elements of Harmony was trapped inside those tunnels?”
“Uh, maybe not…her, her.”
“What do you mean? Not her, her?”
“Sir, what came out of that tunnel, the one we came in when we first found the place, looked like nothin’ I’d ever seen before. It…she…buck. That buckin’ thing looked almost nothin’ like a pony, except their head and that buckin’ smile! It was all pink, but then it would…change? Yeah, change. It’s fur would ripple black for a moment, and… sometimes something thick would shoot out of its body, hit a wall, and pull it along. Many, actually. Like it couldn’t support itself normally. But…I think it still could. Ya, know? Like it was doing it just because…I…”
“Cloud, are you able to continue?”
“I…yeah…gotta get this done, yeah?”
“At…your pace, Specialist. We need to know what it is. But not at the cost of your peace.”
“Uh, thanks, Sir. Just…gimme a minute.”
*Heavy breathing*
“Almost done. Come on, Cloud…you can do this. Okay….Okay, I’m ready…thanks guys. So…Uh, that Thing…It was talking to itself. No, I think it was talking to who it was carrying. Because several of those…tentacle things was wrapped around things I couldn’t see. Till it stepped out into the light that Cap had placed all around the pool. Winds preserve me. It was Topo and Lightning. They looked…twisted. Their eyes was just starin’…oh, buck. They was dead. And the thing was actin’ like they was still alive!”
“Specialist? What was the creature saying?”
“Um... breathe, Just breathe, Cloud, you’re almost done. Uh, it…it was saying somethin’ about they were going to be best friends. I think? The problem is, I'm not sure anypony understood what it was it was actually sayin’. It’s voice…It was like three ponies was talkin’, and all of ‘em sounded like they was one of them old school chain smokers. Ya know? Like the crews coming off the transport ships? Every one of ‘em sounded like they’d been punched in the throat at some point, repeatedly. The Thing sounded like that. It’s voice was both high, medium, and low, and it made my head hurt just hearing it. Like the fruit in that farm!”
“So, it was intelligent, yet because of the many voices, it made it difficult to understand?”
“Yes, Sir. I…think there was more to it. But I’m not smart enough to say what. All I know is we were all back in the main chamber. Beginnin’ to make our reports when we heard this…Thing comin’. It entered and stopped and just looked at us. The smile on its face…it grew into a grin. Oh, buck. So many…teeth. Oh, Winds. It had so many teeth! They was all sharp and warped and just…blood. It had blood all over ‘em! It was crazy! I think that’s when somepony started screamin’. And that Thing moved, but not at us. Not at first. It gently laid Topo and Lightning's corpses into the water. Watching them carefully. I had flown to the ceiling, not very high as I didn’t have a whole lotta room up there. But high enough as Cap started directing soldiers for was obviously settin’ up to be the fight of our lives. I was to report on what was happenin’ and snipe when I could. When I looked at it again, I noticed it was no longer smilin’ but frownin’. Like whatever it was expecting hadn’t happened, and now it was upset. It looked at the rest of us…Sir. I-it vanished…right in front of us as if it was never there.”
“Vanished? As in teleported?”
“I thought so, too. But I think…yeah, thinkin’ about it now, I think it just moved really fast. Then it popped up behind Loco…poor Loco…He tried to run. Cap and Hardedge attacked at the same time, and it defended with long spindly limbs sprouting out it's sides. Then the head… t-that head chased Loco, neck just stretching and stretching till it caught up and bit down on his head. Loco began screamin’. I was screamin’. He struggled, and the Thing’s bite just got harder and harder, and suddenly there was a loud crunch, and Loco…Oh, Winds…sniff…Loco j-j-just dangled from it’s jaws.”
“It ate him, Specialist?”
“Sniff, that was the thing. It didn’t. It just let him go, looked at him confused, then mumbled sorry. I think that was the first time it had said anything that I could understand. Meanwhile, it was still fightin’ Cap and Hardedge off. They wasn’t makin’ any headway on killin’ the buckin’ thing. If anythin’, it was starting to push ‘em back. All while lookin’ at Loco’s corpse as if it had lost the world. Buckin’ crazy!”
“What happened then, Specialist?”
“...uh…I think Cap realized they was losin’. The others were firing shot after shot of magic bolts and fire balls at it, and it wasn’t reacting at all to ‘em. So he shouted to me to run and get the Detrock we had stored on the ship. It’ kinda of last resort thing we got aboard. I think he wanted to try and blow it the buck up. I wasn’t gonna argue. I flapped my wings hard, and….and…I shot…off…”
“Specialist?”
“Tried to. The, uh, Thing reached out and caught my leg…oh…buck, it was like a bunch of little wiggly bugs diggin’ into my fur. It slammed me down into the water. I think that’s when it let me go. Water…made me hard to hold onto or somethin’, is my best guess. That’s when I burst out of there and soared back up the tunnel. Beatin’ my wings for all they was worth, buck they was heavy. Whatever that water was actually made of was thicker than my granddam’s tomato starch soup.”
“It was thick?”
“Yeah, like…molasses? I think that's the sayin’?”
“And you managed to fly all the way back?”
No…it uh…took me about ten minutes? I had to stop a lot and shake my wings, tryin’ to get the stuff off. My last stop was the Ponyville Town Hall. That's when I saw the blood. Didn't really realize what I was lookin’ at till later, and now I wonder still if I got it right the first time. But I got to the ship…eventually...”
“Cloud?”
“Winds, the ship…it was destroyed. Busted up to the point it would never fly again. Busted up like that Element’s room. Big holes torn into the sides and the pylons, the, uh, engines that were anchored to the ship were just gone. The locker with the Detrock was warped but still intact. I got the charge cords, shoved a bunch of Detrock into a satchel, and wrapped the cord around the whole thing. Priming the rune as I flew back as fast as I buckin’ could. I got back into the tunnel, and it was…it was all over. Cap, I think, fought the longest, or it just left him for last. I don’t really know. Either case, his body was being repeatedly dumped into the water over and over again. The creature was as confused about whatever it was tryin’ to do as it had been with Topo and Lightning when it had first come in.”
“Then?”
“You know what happened next. I blew that…Thing…and the whole underground pond to Tartarus. Just activated the cord and dropped it.”
“You managed to fly out then?”
“Barely. Clipped my left wing. But I narrowly avoided it all. After that…I, uh, wandered back into town hoping to find shelter and figure out what to do next. But the town was gone, lookin’ just like what the Skyrovers’ said. All that was left were a few crumblin’ walls and shit. Trees were coming up through where buildins’ and homes had been. The town hall was never there. I made it back to the ship. Managed to get the SOS transponder workin’ and hunkered down for rescue. The rest…you know.”
“Thank you, Specialist. I understand why that was so difficult and why you were so vague in your report.”
“Yeah…yeah…So…uh, whens it gonna happen?”
“I’m…sorry? Specialist, what are you referring to?”
“You…you two don’t think I don’t…see it? Hah. Hahahaha… The glass you got me trapped behind is a bit reflective, Sir. If ya couldn't tell from your side. I wasn’t born with pink eyes. Sir.”
*Silence*
“How long have you known you were a double, Cloud?”
“Don’t Cloud me! I know I’m not him! I KNOW I”MA FAKE!”
*Slamming noise, screeching of table*
“I SAW MY BODY IN THAT BUCKIN’ WATER!!”
“Specialist! Please, calm yourself!”
“Why?! I’m gonna die! I can’t be allowed to turn into…turn into….that thing! I heard it! The moment I popped back into that main chamber! It called me “FRIEND”! It looked at me and called me Friend….sniff…oh, Winds…oh, Winds shield my soul. My real soul…”
*Sobbing noises*
“Exit interview. This is Copper Sheet. We will be conducting the final portion of this examination without the entity posing as Cloud Sweeper. With me is Agent Silver Path.”
“Celestia. That was…rougher than I had imagined it would be. It seemed like it really believed it was Sweeper for a while there. When it knew what it was, it still chose to work with us.”
“Path, Cloud Sweeper was, in some essence, still there. Trying to do his duty. Yes, he had been replaced by the Mirror Pool’s duplication function, but I like to believe he was still with us in some fashion.”
“I doubt it. Next time, you play the Psychiatrist. I’m tired of playing the intellectual types. Keeping you in check is hard when I agree with your thoughts, and…just being in the room with that thing was disturbing enough. Miracle, it asked to be put down at the end of that.”
“Hmm. Speaking of It, that Creature Cloud and his team encountered, I believe that it might have been a missed remnant of the “Thousand Pinkie Incident”. One that was not destroyed when Twilight Sparkle buried the entrance the last time after she forced the Mirror Pool to absorb all the copies Pinkie Pie had created. The barrier stones she devised and buried around the pool likely kept the creature from burrowing out, though I'm not sure she even knew that she had locked something in.”
“Till them bucking idiots from the Skyrovers found the damn place again.”
“Yes. She must have been released there and had more of Pinkie Pie than one may have thought a clone could have. Warping the town's remnants from ruin into existence is a feat that only a being like her could have accomplished. It is beyond any unicorn I know personally.”
“Surprised she didn’t show up herself.”
“Don’t even joke, Path. That would have been disastrous. As it stands, no pony knows where the Elements have gone. Their occasional resurgence is an ecological disaster the likes of which we can barely handle.”
“Don’t have to tell me. The Element of Loyalty blew my homefort to pieces just two years ago, Sheet. They didn’t display enough Loyalty for her liking. Just swept over the city and ripped it to pieces.”
“Sorry, Path. Honesty took my family as well. Them and all of Fort Marmine. Similar reason. Not enough Honesty. Buck. It's a miracle that Cloud managed to bury that creature again. If it ever got out…”
“Another catastrophe just waiting to happen. Our agents reported in, by the way.”
“Oh? What did they say?”
‘Barrier Stones are still in place. It won’t be getting out. We’ve established a quarantine zone in the surrounding areas. Though no pony knows how long we will be able to maintain it. Now that the threat has been suppressed, the monsters are beginning to make an appearance again. Only a matter of time before we have to abandon the locale, and hope some other group of morons keep to themselves.”
“Buck. One step forward…”
“Knocked on our flanks and back down the hill after. Copper. We are failing. We’ve got a hoofful of fortresses left. We may have to abandon the continent in the next twenty years. The Everfree is growing more out of control, and it's just taking over everything. Nothing is viable outside the cities now. No pony can even forage for food. It’s all poison. Then we’ve got the Elements' activities, which have increased over the last half a century. We are looking at complete obliteration if the Council does not consider evacuation.”
“I agree with you, Silver. I do. But where can we go? The Griffons have already rejected several requests for refugees. I think they are delighted by the fact that we are suffering. Prance is near capacity, and the Zebricans? They are outright slaughtering us every time we approach them.”
“I know. I’m just…I’m scared, Copper. This is beyond getting out of hoof. What are we going to do about…him? About the double?”
“Nothing for the time being. That's been taken out of our hooves. What I do know is that his execution has been postponed.”
“Really? Why?”
“R&D thinks he can be useful. Might think it more so when they learn that he is fully aware of what he is. Cloud Sweeper’s real body may have died. But this guy may not go the way of the Pinkie anomaly.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because, Mrs. Path, the difference here is twofold. He’s nowhere near the pool. And he’s not truly isolated.”
“You think that makes a difference?”
“I think ponies need others around them. I’m recommending he get some interaction time with others. I feel as long as we keep him involved and not isolated from others, he will likely never turn out like It did.”
“That a guarantee?”
“Heh, in this life, nothing is a guarantee. But I think it is a safe bet. End of Interview.”
Author's Note
Okay, this is the first time I've done a truly short story. Shut up, Records of Scientia don't count. Speaking of, I did conduct the story in the same vein. 
The reason why was twofold. I've been listening to a lot of Creepypasta on the Youtubes and that has definitely influenced the subject and tone of this story. Secondly, writing in this style helps me broaden my ability to embellish. What I mean is, I feel as if my character interaction is often lacking, and practicing this way helps me stretch the proverbial muscle for that. So that way, as my work develops, I will have more of a repertoire in how I approach scenes. 
That all being said, if this goes over well, and I can drum up enough cash, I'd like to get into story reading. This would be my entry into this new creative field for myself.
If you haven't yet noticed, I packed in a lot of hidden lore to this. I've been kicking around the idea of this world for a couple of years now. but haven't really had time to explore it too much till now. 
As always, let me know what you think in the comments below. If you like, leave a like.
I hope you all have a great day, night, whatever.
Talk to ya soon, thanks for Reading
Peace. 
