Containment Is Magic

D-9341 “Follower”

LTF Facility 1a, [REDACTED], Equestria

1 ½ weeks after Incident 001

“Get up, 9341, we’ve got testing to do today,” shouted the guard as he rapped on the door with his hoof. Inside the cell, an orange unicorn stallion with red eyes and a brown mane stirred before groaning under his breath. His real name was Follower, however the LTF Foundation had assigned him the name "D-9341", and he had to live by it.  Another day of serving the Foundation had befallen the orange pony, and he was not happy about it.

Follower slowly got out of bed and looked around. It had been half a week since his transfer to the Love Tolerate Friendship Foundation, and things were terrible. Between the lack of respect from the guards and almost getting killed by several LTF subjects, Follower was starting to regret picking this over exile. He knew little of the LTF’s motives or goals, only that they had the power to clear him of his charges of conspiracy. Suddenly, Follower’s thoughts were interrupted by the guard opening the door.

“All right, 9341, come with me.” announced the guard, as he stepped out of the cell. Follower glared at the guard before stepping out as well. The hallway was brightly lit compared to the dim cell, and Follower was forced to squint his eyes until they adjusted to the light. The guard watched Follower for a few seconds before turning and walking down the hall. Follower was hesitant to follow for a few moments, but a rough push from another guard behind him forced him to move after the lead guard.

The guards led Follower down a hallway, then a catwalk, before stopping in a somewhat big chamber with two doors. One of the doors had a sign that was labeled “LTF-173.” Below it was a picture of a pink pony who was staring at the camera, a sort of evil confidence on her face. Follower couldn’t help but shudder.

One of the guards cleared his throat. “All right, in you go. Just follow the directions on the intercom, and you’ll probably be fine.” He pushed a button, and the door opened.

Follower stepped through the door, finding himself in a somewhat large chamber. On the opposite wall was a large reinforced-steel door with yellow and black stripes painted on it. Standing in front of the door were two pegasus mares. One of them had a grey coat, a blonde mane, and a cutie mark that appeared to be bubbles. The other one had a light gold coat, light cyan mane, and three raindrops as her cutie mark. Follower opened his mouth to greet them, but was interrupted by a voice that came over the intercom. “Opening the door. All D-class personnel, please be ready to hold eye contact with Pinkie Pie when she comes into view,” announced the voice as the doors slowly started opening. The three ponies all stared inside the cell, and Follower couldn’t help but laugh when he saw what was inside.

Like the picture had shown, it was indeed a pink mare, but instead of flat hair, it was all poofy and bright. The announcer was quick to relay the next set of orders, and the three D-class personnel were ordered to enter the chamber for testing. As soon as they stepped into the chamber with the pink pony, Follower heard the door close behind them. They were alone with her.

The voice over the intercom commanded them again. “D-class personnel, please approach Pinkie Pie.” Follower didn’t see a problem with this, so he began to trot toward the pink mare.

Suddenly, there was a loud grinding sound. The door reopened. A sudden nervous feeling filled Follower, and he felt himself taking a step back. “Ummm, the remote door system seems to be malfunctioning. Please keep eye contact with Pinkie Pie until we can fix the issue,” stated the announcer.

There was a loud burst of static over the loudspeaker. The lights flickered off for a second. As soon as they came back on,the pink pony was standing over the dead body of the gray pegasus, her eyes set on the other poor mare. The helpless pony had opened her mouth to wail when the lights flickered again. They came back on, and the other one was dead.

Fear gripped Follower’s heart, and he backpedaled hard before running to the opposite side of the chamber. The guard on the catwalk let loose a magic spell at Pinkie, but missed entirely. A second later, the lights flickered once more, and the guard was dead. There was another burst of static over the speakers before the lights cut out for good and the emergency lights turned on.

Follower started shaking in fear. He heard a high-pitched voice talking. “Hi, I’m Pinkie Pie, and I threw this party just for you!” it squealed.

The room went silent again. The silence didn’t last, however, and the announcer came back on the intercom. ”The site is experiencing multiple Keter and Euclid level containment breaches. Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie have breached containment. Full site lock-down initiated.” Alarms started to go off, and the sound of distant spell blasts could be heard. Follower couldn’t help but sink to a sitting position and cry out. He was now alone in a facility without primary power, and surrounded by escaping monsters. The most frightening experience of Follower’s life had just begun.