Chambers of Eternal Night
They stood in the building staring in awe at the pony before them. A body as dark as can be, with a mane resembling the night sky. Nightmare Moon, they called her. Not able to figure out how to restore the broken elements of harmony, the six ponies had failed their quest, and failed Equestria. “Now ye shall embrace ETERNAL NIGHT!” Darkness flickered around Nightmare Moon’s hooves, lingering around the room, twirling around the mane six. Before they knew it, they could no longer see even an inch in front of them. They called out to each other, only to hear silence. They soon became paralyzed, and fell into a deep sleep.
Several pods shining an eerie green color stood in a warm room attached to each other with fleshy tubes, leading to the floor and ceiling. Someone entered the room and spoke to another. “I think it will happen soon.” one voice said. “Yes, very well. Make sure the programming is completed before then. You have no idea of the importance this job holds.” They walked away, leaving the other one to “program”.
“Twilight.” A familiar voice called, slightly waking her. She stirred around, trying to open her eyes. She squinted, and then opened one eye slowly. “What? Where am I?” She looked around the room, noticing groups of pods next to her and across the room. She looked out and noticed that the floor was rather far down for her normal height. She wiggled a bit, making small cracks in the pod, then eventually breaking out and falling onto the ground. “OOF!” She grunted as the wind was knocked out of her. “Ahhh, what is this…?” Reaching out to stand up, she noticed her legs had changed. “AAAAAAAAH!!!! WHAT ARE THESE?” She bent and straightened her fingers, trying to make sense of them. After she did that for a moment, she pushed with her palms to stand on all fours. Somehow this felt a bit awkward. She looked at her back legs, noticing how they were not like her front ones. “Oh! Silly me. I know what these are. These are parts of a human! But…WHY AM I HUMAN?” Deciding she did not have time to examine herself, she stood up after a few tries, and walked over to the pods. Inside she saw her friends. “How long have we been here?” Twilight grabbed the front of Applejack’s pod, estimating how hard she’d have to hit it for it to break. She struck the side, as to not injure her friend. Applejack tumbled out of the pod, opening her eyes as soon as Twilight grabbed her arm. “Twilight? Is that you? Boy, what happened to ‘ya?” “Applejack,” Twilight started, “It seems we’re all human now.” “Huh? What in tarnation is a human?!” Applejack shouted, looking over her new body. “And where’s mah hat?” “Applejack! We don’t have time to look for your hat. We’ve got to get the others out. Can you stand?” “Yer probably right! Yeah, ah think ah can stand!” Applejack grabbed Twilight’s shoulder to steady herself, and then stumbled over to Rainbow Dash’s pod, beginning to break it open. Twilight headed over to Pinkie Pie, striking the side of the pod. Rainbow Dash had already fallen out and been briefed on the little information they had, and was trying to stand up steadily. Pinkie Pie’s pod broke and out came Pinkie, as if it was a ride, rolling onto the ground and giggling. “Pinkie Pie! Were you awake that whole time?” Applejack shouted. “Nope! But that was a good nap! Where are we? This place is sorta depressing, huh? Oh wow, look at you guys! Hehe! Oh wait…I look funny too!” She immediately stood up and started jumping. Rainbow looked over, scowling. “Well, in the category of physical things, I guess Pinkie is better at being human.” Twilight glanced back as she was getting Fluttershy out, “Rainbow, being human isn’t a sport.” Rainbow went over to Rarity’s pod, elbowing the side, then laughing. “Hah. I don’t even have to open my eyes to do this!” Rarity slid out of the pod and underneath Rainbow. “Dear me, what is going on around here? Can’t a girl get beauty rest?” she opened her eyes and saw that Rainbow’s legs were spread over her. They made eye contact and Rainbow blushed, jumping to the side to help Rarity up. Pinkie Pie tried to explain the situation as slowly as possible for Rarity, meaning that Rarity heard a whole paragraph in a few seconds. “Oh, well, no matter. This form seems to suit me MUCH better.” She flipped her hair as Rainbow pulled her up. “Oh my, was I sleeping? I hope I wasn’t causing any of you problems.” Fluttershy looked at her friends and rubbed her eyes. “I don’t understand. You look different. This must be a dream. My hooves…they’re not hooves anymore! Oh dear…what happened?!” she crouched on the ground trying to process this. Applejack spoke to her for a minute, explaining that they had somehow become human, and coaxed her to stand up and try to get used to her body. Once everyone had gotten more balance, they stood in a circle.
“Okay, so ah know this might be a lil’ off topic, but Twilight, could ya explain what these are?” she said, cupping her breasts. All of the girls looked down to examine their chests. “Uh…well…I’ve read about humans in the book Lyra wrote, but I don’t know their anatomical parts. Unless they serve the same purpose as the ones we had before, I wouldn’t worry a whole lot about what they do.” Pinkie patted her chest, then started jumping. “Hehehehehe! They’re like balloons, but heavier! Maybe they’re water balloons!” Rainbow looked down, comparing herself to the others. “Hmm. Well, I look pretty aerodynamic! As long as I can run fast, I’m okay with this!” She blushed though, feeling awkward about having the smallest breasts. Fluttershy had turned bright red in the face, and was playing with her hair. “Ummm…why are m-mine so large? Could we cover up with anything?” Twilight looked across from their pods and saw material hanging up. “It seems the material hanging there will do!”
Pinkie found a short pink skirt with a matching tank top and ribbon. She tied the ribbon around her hips, and looked up to notice some stockings. “Ooooh what are these!?” She took them out and examined them, trying to place them on her arms, head, and finally legs. “Ah! Here we go! Humans have such weird things!” She slipped the stockings on and then pulled some dress shoes on. Rarity’s eyes twinkled as she found a slim white dress with diamonds on the side. She slid the dress on, noticing that it made a beautiful form around her breasts, even though her cleavage showed. “Well, I’d have to disagree with you there, Pinkie. This is just fabulous!” She looked down to see a pair of expensive heels. “Oh my! I need these!” She put them on and walked around until she could walk in them flawlessly. Rainbow Dash looked over and found a pair of baggy gym shorts with a rainbow stripe down the side, along with a blue hoodie and some sneakers. “Yes! This looks EXACTLY like what I’d want! SO AWESOME!!” At the same time, Applejack pulled an orange plaid button up shirt over her chest, slipping the buttons in securely. “Ah found what fits me! Lookit these shorts, too!” She pulled on some jean shorts with a small patch of different color on the side. She stuck her feet into some boots to match. Twilight pulled on a black turtleneck sweater and looked over at Fluttershy as she pulled on a black and red plaid skirt. “Do you need help, Fluttershy?” She stood there, facing away from the others, holding a long flowing yellow dress. “Oh…um…I think I can…” She began to try and step into it, but it stopped at her thighs. “Oh dear…” Rarity turned and walked to Fluttershy while Twilight pulled up some black stockings and stepped into some black dress shoes. “Darling, let me see. It’s not a problem. Try putting it over your head.” She said, taking the dress and guiding it over Fluttershy’s head. “Now, put your arms through the straps, and you’ll be fine.” Fluttershy pulled her arms through, and blushed. “Thank you. I’m sorry I’m not very good at this.” She slipped on some black flats and turned to her friends. “You all look really nice. Thank you for helping me.” They all smiled at her and hugged her. “Fluttershy, don’t worry. You look beautiful.” Twilight grasped her hand for a brief moment. “Okay,” Twilight sighed “Now we’ve got to figure out what to do.” Rainbow Dash smacked her hands together and shouted “Okay let’s go see what’s out there!” she pointed towards a door at the end of the hall. “M-maybe we should wait and see if anyone comes to help us?” Fluttershy put her head down. “Ah think Rainbow’s right, we gotta find out where we are first. Don’t you worry, Fluttershy, we won’t let nobody hurt you.” The girls broke from their circle and looked towards the door, Twilight and Rainbow in front just in case anyone dangerous came around. Twilight opened the door enough for them to peek. It was extremely bright out, and it looked like a series of walkways connected. They didn’t spot anyone walking, but right before Rainbow walked through, Twilight stopped her. “Wait. Who is that? She pointed to a person with spiky hair on one side, wearing revealing clothing, and tall black combat boots.” The person shifted positions, looking over the railing, as if they were tired. “I can distract them!” Rainbow said, running through the door towards the person. Twilight ran after, and the rest followed. “Rainbow!!” It was too late, the person turned to Rainbow, but she relaxed out of a fighting position. “Vinyl? How’d you get here?” She looked over at all of them. “Hmm. This is rather puzzling. I was just about to ask you the same. I figured you’d have more memory than I did. Boy, it took you guys a while to get up.” Twilight leaned forward to look over the railing, and then was jerked back by Vinyl. “Don’t lean too far. That leads to the lower level, and I haven’t taken care of that area yet. Plus, you could fall right through.” Applejack tilted her head and asked “What do ya mean ‘right through’?” Vinyl looked over and smiled, adjusting her goggles. “I mean we’re flying, and if you’re not careful, you could fall right off down to who knows what. And I’m not taking any chances by assuming Pegasi can still walk on clouds and fly. Seeing as I can’t do my magic. Oh, and you’re gonna need weapons. Follow me.” She beckoned them as she walked down to a giant vault looking door.
Fluttershy trembled a bit as she looked at the size of the door. “W-w-weapons? But…I don’t want to hurt anyone!” Vinyl turned back and said calmly “When the time comes, it will be them or your friends, and you’ll have to hurt someone. You can’t go through life not hurting anyone. Don’t worry, though. The guys you’ll be up against are lightweights. For now. But, you can make your own weapon designed to do what you program it to. I’ll help you guys start out.” Vinyl grabbed a lever next to the vault, pulling it down. Steam began to hiss and then leak out from the door as it slid to the side. Inside the vault was a long white room filled with categorized parts and pieces necessary for weaponry and a variety of gems and objects on the other side of the room. “Ooooh look at those gems!” Rarity squealed. “Ah, but don’t go using whatever looks good for you. Each gem or object will give your weapon a special power. So don’t use something unless you will be happy with the result. I can help you a bit with the items and assembly, and I assume Twilight could help some, too. Twilight looked up, surprised. “Me? But, I don’t think I’ve worked with gems or any special items before.” Vinyl smiled and said “Believe me, you’ll know what you’re doing after you get started.” Vinyl walked into the room, looking for something. Pinkie bounced through, looking at all the pieces. Applejack held onto Fluttershy as they walked in behind Twilight and Rainbow.
“Alrighty! So now that you’ve built your weapons, it’s time to add the special powers.” Vinyl looks over each of the weapons as she walks by. Twilight’s is made of sharp metal and resembles a book with empty spaces for gems, Rarity’s weapons are metal throwing pieces shaped like diamonds with empty spaces in the middle and a dagger inside a garter belt around her thigh, Applejack’s weapon is a long range metal piece resembling a lasso with the ability to curl up and with the flick of a wrist can be uncurled, Pinkie Pie’s weapon is a type of gun that shoots grappling hooks shaped like balloons with curled metal ribbon pieces that can cut through tough surfaces or hung on rope for a clever escape, Rainbow Dash’s weapon is simply a long zig-zag sword with room for an object near the handle, and Fluttershy’s weapons are cute little metal butterflies with room for one gem on each head.
Vinyl explains that there are gems that can add an element to the weapon, give it a different quality such as how far it travels and how it moves or how durable it is, make it easier to control, or be able to add an ingredient to change its purpose.
“So guys, what would you like your weapons to do?” Vinyl asks, sitting down on a crate labeled ‘Explosives’. Twilight and Fluttershy make horrified expressions until she looks down. “Hah. This is empty. Don’t worry! I’ve survived this long, and I don’t plan on going down like that.” She knocks on the wood. Applejack looks down and looks back at Vinyl to ask “So…I know we’ve all been wonderin’…but how long you reckon we’ve been asleep?” Vinyl’s facial expression turns into a small frown as she answers “I’ve been awake for a week or so. You kind of lose track of time in this type of situation. Hours seem shorter or longer, depending on what you’re doing. Running or hiding, recovering or attacking…But I can’t tell you how long we’ve been here. All I know is that we gotta keep pushing forward. Something tells me that we need to do something important. Something also tells me that we’ll need to stick together as much as possible. Ah, enough of that, let’s get you finished.” She wipes under her eye to catch a tear before it’s noticeable, then leads the group to the items they’d most likely need or want on their weapons.
“Over here we have elements. You can even break it down into things like lightning, darkness, light, and ice rather than just plain fire, earth, water, and air.”
Rainbow shouts “I want lightning for my sword!!!” before Vinyl can even move onto the next category. “Aheh. Somehow I knew you’d like that. Here, install this where it fits. We’ll test it out after.” Rainbow looks at the small lightning bolt gem and smiles, placing it into her sword at once. Twilight looks at her weapon and asks “Is there any way to have a stone for light and darkness?” Vinyl looks through the gems, holding one black half circle, and one white half circle. “As you can probably guess, these are light and darkness gems. Good question, though. I haven’t really tried combining them…I don’t suppose there’s any harm in trying. They may just fit together in the largest hole. I’m not seeing any smaller sizes for the little bits, though…” she rummages through the containers. Twilight picks up the two pieces and fits them together in the large hole of the book. “Nothing is happening. Did I do it wro-“ Twilight is cut off by a loud voice saying her name “TWILIGHT.” Everyone looks around to see where the voice would have come from. No luck finding anyone. They all look back, confused, to find that Twilight’s book is glowing. “Well, I’ll be…” Vinyl mumbles as the glow is transferred into each of the small holes evenly. It now has half darkness and half light. “That was like…magic!” Pinkie Pie screams. Everyone stays silent for a moment, and then they go back to thinking about their own weapons. Rarity looks at her weapons, feeling their weight and seeing how sharp they are. “Hmm. Vinyl, dear, is there a way to make these diamonds as hard and powerful as diamonds?” Vinyl jumps and runs to a container farther away and pulls out a large diamond. “Oh my, is that…IT IS! THAT’S THE MOST BEAUTIFUL DIAMOND I’VE SEEN!” Vinyl laughs and hands it to her “Actually, yes, this should work to make your throwing diamonds as tough as real diamonds. Okay, stack them all up, and put the diamond in the middle of them. It should fit through the stack nicely.” Once Rarity stacks them and places the diamond she sits back and stares blankly until she hears a loud “CLINK”. She picks up her throwing diamonds, worried that they had broken, and then when one separates from the pile, sliding to the right a bit, she notices. The diamond had fit itself in perfectly and sliced itself to stay thin. Applejack tries to flick her wrist and uncurl her metal lasso, but it doesn’t flow very well. “Ahm guessin’ you got somethin’ to help me make this flow like a real lasso?” “Of course,” Vinyl starts, “but this one is different. You’ll have to tie a ribbon around the end you hold. Ribbons flow easily, and if you tie it on the end you hold, it flows better with your control. See the metaphor?” “Now wait just a darn minute. Yer sayin’ any ol’ ribbon will do?” Vinyl grabs a ribbon from a bucket “I’m sure you were expecting more, but surprisingly, yes. Some of this isn’t terribly complicated.” She kneels down to tie the ribbon on the handle for AJ when Fluttershy speaks up. “Um…Vinyl…do you think you could help me find something to make my butterflies explode when I throw them?” Everyone looks over at her in shock. “Oh, if it’s a problem, I can try something else…” “Oh, no big deal, Fluttershy. I think we’re all a bit surprised, though. I didn’t exactly peg you as an explosives girl. Wait right here.” She looks through boxes of explosives to grab some explosive powder and a few clear crystals. “Okay so what you’re gonna want to do is put the powder in the holes first, and then place the crystal. It will absorb that right up, and when you throw them they’ll do pretty decent damage, so be careful with them.” Fluttershy blushes and smiles “Oh, don’t you worry. I will be very careful.” Vinyl turns around to see Pinkie Pie staring at her. “Oh yeah, Pinkie, what would you like?” Pinkie takes a deep breath and then spits out a paragraph of an order that everyone probably only caught the tail end of “-And I want the balloons to be able to be shot out and be like razor thin, but also I want to be able to use the metal string bit to hang on rope or cord to make a really cool spy escape if I need to, so the balloon would need to be a lot larger, but can you even do that?” After trying to remember the question, Vinyl finally answers “Okay so you want more dimension for escapes, that makes sense, and razor thin for attacks? Got it.” Vinyl places marbles in Pinkie’s hands. “Oooh marbles! Wait. Is this gonna work? How do I do it? I don’t get it!” “Well, this is one of the perks of weapons and magical elements, Pinkie! I’ll show you-“ Twilight spaces out, and hears the words ‘magic’ and ‘elements’ repeated in her mind. She doesn’t know why, but the words sound meaningful. By the time she zones back in, Vinyl is tapping her shoulder. “Hey Twilight, welcome back!” Vinyl jokes. “Okay guys, luckily there are some practice dummies in the back so we can test your weapons out!” When they start heading for the door, Pinkie’s hair stands up straight. “Someone’s coming! No. Wait. Make that…a LOT of someones!!!” They all look back right as a group of armed guards step into the doorway. “Okay, guess we’ll just have to practice on live dummies! Guys, ready your weapons! Don’t hit the explosives, either!” Vinyl shouts before drawing her Phonograph Gun.
