Containment Is Magic

D-9341 “Follower”

LTF Facility 1a, [REDACTED], Equestria

1½ Weeks after Incident 001

B/S

“Whatever that machine is, it sure is big!” Follower exclaimed, walking up to the large panel on the front of the machine. On the panel was a dial with five options: Very Rough, Rough, 1:1, Fine, and Very Fine. Suddenly, a mysterious cough came from the machine, and the three ponies in the room spun toward the source of the voice.

“Hmm. Three ponies in total, two unicorns and one earth pony. What do you need upgraded?” said the voice, a slightly curious tone in its voice. From the sound of it, the owner of the voice was a mare who sounded like she was in her teens.

The room was silent for a few moments before Follower finally spoke. “Upgraded?” he asked, a confused tone in his voice.

The mysterious voice didn’t reply for a few seconds, letting out a deep sigh. “You’re at LTF-914, which is well known for upgrading anything that is put inside. I’ll give you an example. Take the level two keycard from your saddlebag, and put it in the input room to the left.”

Follower didn’t know what to think, but followed the voice’s instructions, placing his red keycard on the floor in the input section.

The voice was silent for a few moments, then exhuded another labored cough. “All right, now set the dial on the front panel to Very Fine, and then turn the key below it.”

Follower was quick to comply, and within a few seconds, the machine had started making a loud cranking noise as the door to the input room closed.

The cranking sound continued for a couple of seconds, then stopped with a loud ding. With a loud whooshing sound, the output door opened, and the three ponies all stared inside. Sitting inside the chamber was a blue card that read “OMNI-LEVEL CARD” on the side. Follower grabbed the blue card and stuffed it into his saddlebag, a look of disappointment on his face.

The mysterious voice coughed again before chuckling. “That’s the best card in the entire LTF foundation; you should be happier. Anyway, I sense the presence of Jitterbug in the room. What are you doing here?”

Jitterbug looked incredibly confused, letting out a soft “What?” at the voice’s statement.

The voice elicited a slightly irritated grunt. “Oh, yes, I forgot... no matter, it’s going to be the LTF’s problem when you escape.”

This statement only made Jitterbug nervous, and she shrank back. Follower frowned, sitting down and looking curiously at the machine. “What are you talking about? And who are you?” Follower asked, a hint of uncertainty in his voice.

The voice laughed in response. “Silly me, I forgot to introduce myself.”

About a second later, the lights in the room went out, throwing the room into pitch blackness. Then, as quickly as they went out, the lights flickered on again, revealing a fourth pony standing directly in front of the panel to the machine. The newcomer was an earth pony mare with a purple coat, white and pink mane, green eyes, and 3 smiling sunflowers for a cutiemark.

The three other ponies all stared at the purple mare in surprise, but didn’t do anything else. There was dead silence for a few moments, then she spoke. “I am Cheerilee, but most ponies around here call me by my Foundation ID of LTF-2057. I am a Euclid-class subject."

Jitterbug warily watched the strange unicorn now in the presence of their party. Something about her stance seemed commanding, and her eyes seemed to pierce into Jitterbug's soul to see who she really was. It felt wrong, having herself examined this way. She shifted on her hooves uncomfortably.

Cheerilee, noticing this, said, “You seem to have something to hide, Jitterbug. How about you have some time to yourself to think about what you've done wrong?”

Suddenly, Jitterbug was no longer standing next to three other ponies near a machine. She was sitting at a desk in a classroom.

Her head snapped back and forth in a vain attempt to see where she'd come in from, but there was no explanation as to how she'd gotten here.

There was no glowing portal, no flash of light, no sudden noise... nothing. She'd simply appeared.

She lifted her head up and screamed.

“Sssshhhh! No talking!” Cheerilee's booming voice seemed to come from everywhere at once.

Jitterbug squeaked in panic, attempting to locate the schoolteacher. There was no pony in the room with her.

A few moments later, Warden Sue spontaneously appeared in a chair next to Jitterbug. The terrified earth pony once again squeaked, causing the officious-looking mare to turn her head towards the sound. Seeing a familiar face, she began to say, “Jitterbug! Wha--”

“There is no talking in detention!” The voice boomed from everywhere again. Warden Sue, in a fashion similar to Jitterbug, looked everywhere for a source of the voice, but she likewise found nothing.

“Who are you?” Warden asked out loud.

The voice harrumphed indignantly. “If you had been listening earlier, young lady, you would know that I am Miss Cheerilee, also known as LTF-2057. I am a Euclid-class subject.”

“Euclid-class? How did you escape containment?”

“I'm the one asking the questions here, if you don't mind. This is my classroom, and in my classroom, I ask you the questions, and you do the answering.”

Warden looked around again in confusion. “Where are you, LTF-2057?”

“I am watching over my pupils, of course.” The voice sounded very matter-of-fact; a pony may even describe it as lecturing. “You two are troublemakers, and you need to serve your time in detention like every other student has before.”

“Like hoof I will!” Warden Sue stood up from her chair.

“Hey! You sit back down right now! I'll extend your punishment if you disobey!”

The authoritative mare pointedly ignored the voice. “Jitterbug? We're getting out of here.”

Jitterbug looked around fearfully. “B-but what if she punishes us? Who knows what she'll do!” She put her hooves on top of her head, attempting to melt into the desk.

Warden give a quirky smile. “Better than being stuck here serving a sentence for some imagined wrongdoing. I'd know if I'd done something wrong, and I've been nothing but patient with all the subjects I'm in charge of. It's time to get out of here and give her a piece of my mind.”

The cyan-blue mare hesitated, then slowly stood up from her desk, peeking in all directions for the impending punishment. Nothing came.

“Ooh, your punishment is extended! Doubled! No, tripled! How dare you hooligans make a mockery of MY detention!”

Warden Sue rolled her eyes. “Give it a rest, 2057.” She then focused her attention on Jitterbug. “Help me look for a way out, will you?”

Jitterbug nodded, and the two of them began exploring the empty classroom. There were several windows, which the scared mare looked out of, but there was only white nothingness stretching out forever.

Warden tried the door, but, as expected, it was locked. Looking around, she saw several items on the teacher's desk. There was a wide red pen, presumably for marking large F's on papers, a stack of blank paper, several #2 pencils, and an apple.

Cheerilee spoke encouragingly to the room once again. “If you write me an essay on why you tried to attack me and why it was wrong, Warden Sue, then I may consider shortening your punishment. And you too, Jitterbug, on all of the terrible things you've done.”

Jitterbug registered only confusion over what imagined wrongdoings Cheerilee had thought up for her, but Warden laughed. “I think I'll just do whatever I feel like.” She picked up the large red apple from the desk.

Cheerilee's voice rose in tempo, becoming a reprimand. “Oh, you had better put that down! That is for me, Miss Chop Sue!”

Warden gave another peal of laughter. “Let's see you stop me, O great teacher.” She opened her mouth, readying herself to take a bite.

Jitterbug trotted over quickly. “Warden Sue? Maybe it's not a good idea to make her any angrier. What if she does punish us? I think we should do what she says.”

Warden looked irritatedly at the other mare. “Yeah? I think she's not going to do anything. Teachers don't physically punish students anymore. They just keep telling them they've got timeouts. She won't do anything.”

Jitterbug reached for a blank piece of paper. “I'm going to write an essay.”

Warden reached over and held Jitterbug's hoof down. “Jitter--”

As suddenly as she'd appeared in detention, Jitterbug was back in the room she'd been in before. She was standing by the machine, looking towards where she'd been standing before all this happened.

The only difference was, the entire room was covered in blood.

Jitterbug's vision darkened as she tried to back away from the horror in front of her. She bumped up against the machine, a small piece of intestine falling onto her back. She gasped, jumping away from the machine and trying to rush out the door, but stepped on a slippery spot covered in an organ she couldn't identify. She fell to the floor.

Lifting her head to the sky, Jitterbug let out a piercing scream.