Chapters 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.
Chapter 4: Just My Imagination
S
As Follower strolled down the hallway to the left, Jitterbug tiptoed along a tunnel that was about to conjoin the two.
She missed Follower by about a minute, cautiously peeking around corners and squeaking fearfully every time she thought she saw something. Eventually, however, she arrived at what had previously been a dead end, now darkened and discolored, as the wall of her cell had been.
Inspecting the wall, she determined it was created by the same rainbow flash that had created the hole in her cell. She had no idea what the thing was that was making these, nor did she want to.
She tossed a glance behind her, considering where she'd just come from. There had been no bisections to this tunnel for a ways, and she really didn't want to retrace her steps for fear that something may have been following her. She inspected the wall, searching for something to throw at it.
She heard a laugh down the corridor she'd just come from.
Jitterbug felt a chill overcome her as she desperately looked for something to throw, and then focused upon her hooves. She threw herself at the wall, the weakened infrastructure crumbling immediately.
She tumbled into the next chamber, a long hallway with doors open on both ends.
Her eyes straining, she decided to look as far as she could down the corridor.
Slowly adjusting to the greater darkness she was peering into, she began to pick out a long tunnel that ended with a few dead guards.
Seeing the corpses, Jitterbug gave a small cry of terror, backing away slowly and deciding she would most definitely not go that way. She passed through the other open door, finding two side rooms with an odd assortment of things on the shelves, none of which she found useful.
Peering through another open door, she made out an open room ahead of her and to the right, as well as a closed door on the left. She decided to inspect the open door first.
A series of small steps later, she was looking into the ghastly chamber. Within were two ponies lying on the floor, unmoving. There didn't appear to be any marks on their bodies, but Jitterbug couldn't discern if they were alive or dead.
As she considered entering the chamber, a chill entered her body. Chances are, they were dead... and she would be, too, if she tried to get into this room.
She went for the closed door next. She couldn't locate a button, and it wouldn't budge when she pushed on it, nor was there a handle on the door. She wasn't sure what she could do, but she wasn't going to go back toward any of those dead ponies.
As she resigned herself to just sitting there and crying, the door mysteriously opened.
Jitterbug leaped backward, skidding around the corner to see what was on the other side of the door.
There was nothing.
Even so, she hid around the corner for several long minutes, expecting some boogeymare to jump out and attack her. When nothing did, she crept fearfully out to observe. There was nothing, and she eventually passed through the doorway, arriving on a catwalk and glancing below her. There were several ponies lying on the floor, with no markings on their bodies. She shook her head at the haunting images, looking straight ahead at another door, ominously open with no button or handle again.
She trotted cautiously to the doorway, peering into the next hallway. There were holding cells to her right, and another open door to her left. She wasn't interested in the cells, opting for the path that was being forced upon her.
The spacious hallway immediately morphed into a cramped-feeling tube, similar to what she'd come out at when she went through the crumbled wall. Unlike the previous area, however, this seemed to open into a network of such passageways. She continually tossed her head to and fro nervously, trying to watch every possible angle and being hopelessly unable to. If a pony wanted to pop out of nowhere and ambush her, she would be helpless to stop them.
Her eyes straining, she decided to look as far as she could down the corridor.
Slowly adjusting to the greater darkness she was peering into, she began to pick out more tunnels, some to the left, others to the right; in the first tunnel on the right, she saw a pink flank sticking out.
Gasping, Jitterbug opted to take the route away from the scary pony, creeping as far to the side of the walkway and as quietly as she could while watching the pink thing warily. She blinked her eyes, and as she began to open them again, the flank of the pony had disappeared completely.
Breathing a sigh of relief, Jitterbug turned and snuck down the left corridor, eventually finding a large room with a square glass chamber in the center. On the right side of the chamber, she saw a picture of an adorable-looking orange filly with "SCP-372" emblazoned directly below. Looking to her right, she saw several pieces of paper on a desk.
Trotting cautiously, she clambered onto the chair in the corner and began poring over the various papers scattered everywhere. She found a newspaper she assumed to be from this morning; apparently, Fillydelphia was having a pretty nice rainstorm. There was also a paper with the "SCP-372" thing at the top again. She decided to read more about it.
According to the paper she was reading, Jitterbug was currently in the room of the orange filly, whose name was Scootaloo. This filly... was a zombie!
Confused, Jitterbug continued reading. According to this, Scootaloo inhabited the edges of a pony's vision, popping up and scaring them until they went crazy.
Glancing up from the paper, Jitterbug surveyed her surroundings, immediately seeing movement out of the corner of her eye. She turned, seeing nothing, and rolled her eyes. All right, probably my imagination.
All important information gleaned from the document, she decided that she would hold onto it in case it would come in handy later. She searched the drawers located on the desk, eventually coming across a small, fashionable saddlepurse designed to rest on the wearer's right side. She smiled as she imagined the guard-pony who had been waiting to get a vacation so he could bring this back to his special somepony, then just as quickly sighed as she realized she was wearing it.
The papers securely in her saddlepurse, Jitterbug decided to survey the containment chamber for Scootaloo. According to her information, the chamber was supposed to have infrared sensors that would tell the guards whenever she passed through them. Since the door was open, it was obvious that the tortured filly had escaped, probably trying her best to find a way out of here, too.
As Jitterbug inspected one of the sensors on the wall of the cell, she wondered what Scootaloo would be like if they were to meet. The paper said she had been tormenting other fillies, but it didn't seem like such an adorable young mare would do a terrible thing like that.
Looking down, she saw something move in the corner of her vision.
She snapped her head in the direction of the thing that had grabbed her attention, but there was nothing there.
Jitterbug began looking to and fro, trying to find the thing inhabiting the same room as her. Was it Scootaloo?
She heard a sudden calling of, "Rainbow Daaash!" sending chills down her spine.
She needed to leave. Now.
Her business in Scootaloo's prison done, Jitterbug cantered warily out of the room, hoping she wouldn't ever see or hear the poor undead filly ever again.
When she made it back to the four-way crossroads, she peered down the hallway where she'd seen the pink pony at. There was still nothing there, but she wasn't about to explore that direction, either. She headed to the left, hoping things would fare better for her on that route.
She had to escape this nightmare. Alive.
D-9341 “Follower”
LTF Facility 1a, [REDACTED], Equestria
1 ½ weeks after Incident 001
Follower slowly stumbled into the small office before collapsing on the cold stone ground. The orange unicorn had suffered the misfortune of being pursued by Pinkie Pie, and he soon found himself exhausted of his energy. Follower laid on the floor for a few moments, until he heard the sounds of hooves going up the stairs to the office. He sighed, bracing himself for his violent, untimely death.
Nothing happened for a few moments. Finally, the new arrival spoke. “You don’t look well.”
Judging by the voice, Follower could tell it was a mare, but he couldn’t muster the energy to turn and look at her. He coughed, before snorting sarcastically.
The newcomer stood silently for a few moments, then pulled out a needle and stuck it into Follower’s neck. Follower gasped as he felt the energy flow back into him before slowly getting back onto his hooves, turning around to face the newcomer.
Standing there was a rather angry-looking unicorn mare with a purple coat, a red mane with light pink highlights, and red eyes. She looked at him calculatingly. “All right, who the buck are you?” she asked simply, portraying no emotion in her voice.
Follower snorted loudly. “Why does it matter to you?”
The mare stood where she was for a few moments, then moved suddenly. Before Follower could react, the mare had knocked him to the ground, and was now holding a menacing hoof at this throat.
“Don’t buck around with me. Tell me your name, or I’ll just kill you and leave you to rot,” she growled, a dire tone in her voice.
Follower gulped, starting to sweat. “I’m Follower,” he replied, his voice wavering. She stared at him for a few more moments, then withdrew her hoof and stepped backwards.
Follower let out a sigh of relief, slowly getting back onto his hooves. The mare watched him get up, then turned her back on him. “That wasn’t so hard, was it?” She asked dauntingly.
Follower growled to himself, “Why don’t you tell me YOUR name jerk?”
The mare laughed, turning her head back to face him. “Warden Sue, O5 Command.”
Follower shrugged, and dusted his coat off. The two ponies were silent for a few moments, before Warden Sue spoke again. “Alright Follower, come with me. I’m getting you out of this damned facility.” She stated blankly, before walking out of the office. Follower lingered in the office for a few more moments, before shrugging, and following the Warden out of the office.
&&&
The two unicorns silently walked along the dimly lit hallway, constantly scanning their surroundings for hostile creatures. About 15 minutes had passed since Follower had decided to tag along with the Warden, and they had managed to avoid running into any escaped monsters. Follower had managed to learn that Warden Sue was somewhat new to O5 Command, and that she was still learning about the many subjects managed by the LTF.
The initial hostilities between them had faded into nonexistence, and they were talking about their lives, and how they ended up at the LTF. Follower slowly walked over to the door on the other end of the hallway, and opened it before peeking into the darkness beyond it. It was another tunnel with a grating floor, and light wisps of steam were wafting up from the pipes below. Warden Sue took the lead, and started walking down the tunnel, when they heard a creepy laugh.
Suddenly and without warning, the cyan pegasus mare that Follower saw earlier burst from the wall, and turned to face the two unicorns. “More prey!” It shouted, before slowly walking forward. Warden Sue stood still for a moment, before turning around, and shouted for Follower to run. They both took off running, and the cyan pegasus laughed, before giving chase.
Both of the unicorns were now in full panic mode, and they were galloping away from the chasing monster, while shouting for someone to come help them. They turned around a corner, and went down a new hallway, which lead to a four-way hallway. Looking ahead, Follower noticed a flash of green in the hallway in front of him, and he quickly directed the Warden right. Without hesitation, the two unicorns bolted through the corridor, and disappeared into a cloud of steam.
The cyan pegasus bolted into the four way chamber, before looking around confused. There was NO possible way that her prey could escape her, after all she was THE Rainbow Dash. However, it seemed as though that statement was true. Rainbow growled deeply to herself, before turning around, and walked through the way she came, before vanishing through a wall, leaving a pile of rainbow colored goop behind.
Chapter 6: Nightmares and Terrifying Stares
S
Jitterbug was dashing back the way she'd come.
She thought panicking back toward a few moments ago. She'd been coming to another four-way crossroads, the intersection just hovering into view. She was slowly beginning to lose her consummate fear, deep breaths and a lack of ponies around her lulling her into a false sense of security.
Then, she saw a monster.
Well, not a monster. Another pony. It looked scared, and it was running away from something with another pony. She didn't get any better of a look, however, as she bolted the moment she saw scared ponies.
Now her lungs were giving out on her. She decided to slow down and take a rest so she could run away more if something happened to her.
She had backtracked a moderate amount, the corridors she'd entered once again giving way to tunnels as she arrived at the crossroads where she'd seen the pink flank sticking out from a doorway.
Directly ahead was to the cells. To her right was Scootaloo's cage. Behind her were scared ponies. To her left was where she'd seen the pink pony. There was nowhere for her to go. She buckled to the floor and began to cry.
Some time later, Jitterbug shakily rose to her hooves, resolved that staying put any longer would surely get her killed. This was a prison full of ponies, all of whom were crazy, scared, or dead. She was definitely scared; she didn't want to end up in either of the other two categories. She took a deep breath and set off to the left, after the pink pony.
Oh, for Celestia's sake. The tunnel opened into more tunnels. She had no idea where she was going, nor did it really matter to her anymore. She just knew she had to keep moving or she'd be caught. She just knew she would.
In the distance behind her, she heard a pony loudly declare, "Nowhere to run!" her maniacal laugh laced with the screams of her victim as she tormented the unfortunate mare, cutting her limbs off, one by one.
Jitterbug stared pleadingly into the eyes of her murderer. "Please... don't do this...."
The white unicorn tossed back her frazzled purple mane as she floated a bloody saw back into view. "Nowhere to run!"
Jitterbug screamed, leaping into the air. Her hooves stuck straight out beneath her as she shot several feet high, her eyes fluttering as she struggled to open them.
She landed on all four legs, stumbling and leaning against a wall as she realized where she was.
She'd fallen asleep. She'd been having a nightmare.
Who was that? she wondered.
"Rainbow Daaash!"
A shudder ran down her spine as she heard a deceptively happy voice call another pony's name. Another pony she hoped she would never meet.
She was exhausted. Her incessant fear was tiring her out. She needed somewhere to sleep.
She snuck warily down the hallway straight ahead, resolved to find a room she could camp out in. Eventually, she came across a small box-shaped space that served as a maintenance room. With two doors--the place she'd entered and an additional door for her to continue after she'd awoken--she nodded her head satisfactorily, closing the door behind her and nestling on a small office chair located at a desk.
Giving one last fearful glance around, Jitterbug shut her heavy eyes and hoped for the best.
As her consciousness returned, Jitterbug's eyes remained closed, the rested mare slowly becoming aware of the sounds of the facility around her. She was still alive.
Her eyes fluttered open.
Standing directly in front of her, staring straight into Jitterbug's soul, was the pink pony.
She bolted upward, the fear once again overtaking her entire body as she snapped into full wakefulness. "Wh-wh-who a-are you?" she stammered at the creepy mare with a big smile on her face.
The pink pony simply continued to stare at her.
Jitterbug stumbled backward as quickly as she could, her back to the exit she'd established. It looked like the pink pony had come through the same door that Jitterbug had entered through. She reached for the door, turning the handle as she squirmed her way through the slowly opening escape route. A doorway between Jitterbug and the pink pony loomed ahead of her.
She closed her eyes as she slammed the door.
No sooner had the door latched that she felt a bump on the other side. The pink pony had lunged for her.
Jitterbug breathed a sigh of relief and began to trot down the corridor.
Behind her, she heard a playful laugh, followed by the sound of the door opening.
Oh Celestia, of course she can open doors!
Jitterbug, not even bothering to turn around, took off as quickly as she could in the opposite direction of the pony. As she became surrounded by darkness, she came to another intersection, this one branching off to either the right or the left. She took the left.
Behind her, she heard the pink pony say, "Hi, I'm Pinkie Pie and I threw this party just for you!"
She skidded to a stop as she turned at the intersection and bolted as quickly as her legs would carry her away from the pony that most certainly wanted to murder her.
D-9341 “Follower”
LTF Facility 1a, [REDACTED], Equestria
1 ½ weeks after Incident 001
“In more recent news, Celestia has just announced that peace talks with the Griffon Kingdom have come to a successful close, with the acting president promising to take his military forces off of high alert. War has successfully been averted once again thanks to the diplomatic skills of our beloved princess. More details will be provided as the story develops,” announced the news-pony over the radio as the unicorn duo walked through the silent halls.
For Follower and Warden Sue, the exploration had been somewhat boring so far. No LTF subjects had been encountered after the attack of the cyan pegasus, and every tunnel seemed to lead to more tunnels. To pass the time, Follower had tuned his radio to pick up an outside news station, and they listened to various bits of news.
Warden laughed before shaking her head and exclaiming, “President Wilford is smart to take his forces off of high alert. Everypony knows that our military would crush them in a few days anyway.”
Follower opened the door at the other end of the tunnel that they were travelling through. He chuckled to himself, walking into the small office at the other end of the door, and turned his head to face the Warden. “I wouldn’t underestimate them; after all, they do have one of the largest populations in the world.”
Warden rolled her eyes and pushed Follower roughly, then walked over to the door at the other end of the office and opened it.
The door revealed a small room with a monitor and had a small desk in the corner. There was also a small corridor that led to another closed door. Warden Sue looked up at the monitor and couldn’t help but let out a surprised yelp. The monitor had a camera feed linking to another room, which was illuminated in a red light. In the center of the room sat a yellow pegasus mare with a pink mane, who had her face in her hooves, and appeared to be crying. Her coat and most of the floor was covered in dried blood, which added to the chilling atmosphere.
Follower walked next to the shocked Warden and looked up at the monitor, frowning slightly. “What’s wrong, Warden? Recognize her?”
Warden Sue nodded her head. “That’s LTF-096.”
Follower gave the Warden a funny look and sat down next to her, waiting patiently a few moments for an explanation. “What’s so special about this one?” he finally asked, his voice flat.
The Warden was silent for a few moments, then trotted over to the small desk, picking up a document. “Her real name is Fluttershy, and she’s a Euclid-class subject under my jurisdiction. Nothing really special about her except for the fact that you should avoid looking at her face.” She placed the document back down.
Follower snorted and sauntered over to the closed door. “What’ll happen if you look at her face? Will she appear behind you and rip your head off or something?” he asked, his voice filled with mock fear. The warden sped past him before pushing Follower back. “She’ll track you down, and kill you. Nopony escapes her wrath alive.” She pressed the button on the side of the door.
The door opened with a woosh and led into the bloody room showed on the monitor. The two unicorns were extra careful to avoid looking at the sobbing mare’s face as they carefully walked around her. A few moments later, the unicorns opened the opposite door and rushed out of the room.
Warden sighed deeply, closed the door behind her, and walked over to the other door leading out of the room. Follower opened his mouth to say something witty, when suddenly a mysterious voice wafted through the monitor.
“Please......please don’t leave me. It’s incredibly lonely here!” Both unicorns looked up at the monitor, and noticed that the yellow pegasus was slowly getting to her hooves and turning to face the camera. Both unicorns panicked and quickly turned away from the monitor before opening the door. They could hear Fluttershy wailing for them to come back as they sprinted out of the room, but they still ran on. They reached the other end of the tunnel, and quickly opened the door.
Another small office greeted the unicorns, and they both let out sighs of relief. “Phew, that was close!” exclaimed Follower as he collapsed onto his hindquarters.
Warden Sue nodded before leaning against the wall, waiting for her heart rate to slow down. The two unicorns were silent for a few moments, then Follower got back on his hooves. “Well, I guess-” he began, before the sound of the door on the opposite side of the room opening interrupted him.
Both unicorns snapped to face the newly opened door. They watched in surprise as a light blue mare tumbled into the room, tripping over her own hooves, smashing face-first into the floor. There was silence for a few moments before the blue mare groaned and slowly got back up. A few seconds passed before the blue mare caught sight of the two unicorns.
The room was dead silent for a few more moments. Follower finally decided to say something. “Um..... hi?”
S
Jitterbug's mind froze as the orange unicorn asked her the question. She stared fearfully at him as she scrambled onto her hooves, intent on backpedaling from the room as quickly as possible.
Her eyes warily set on the two ponies looking interestedly at her, she slowly retreated back the way she came.
"Rainbow Daaaaaash!"
She tossed her head behind her, where the voice had echoed from, then squealed in fright and dashed forward, between the other two ponies, and toward the door on the opposite end, wrenching it open.
"Hey, wait--" called out the orange unicorn.
Jitterbug was no longer listening, bolting through the door and trying to keep as much distance between herself and the pink mare as possible.
Behind her, she heard the unicorns she'd left behind running after her. The terrified earth pony screamed, "Stop attacking me!"
She heard a small chuckle from the stallion behind her. A quick glance showed him with an amused smile on his face, and the taciturn mare trying to hide a look of amusement. They didn't seem like scary ponies to her, and they weren't doing anything creepy--not yet, at least.
Gradually, Jitterbug felt her lungs begin to burn, and her legs to ache. She slowed her pace, the two unicorns catching up in response, and eventually, she slowed to a canter.
She paused to catch her breath, and the ponies she'd been trying to outrun stood near her. The unicorn mare said, "What is your class, subject?"
There was silence for several moments as Jitterbug looked about in confusion. She finally managed to whisper, "I don't know."
The purple official-looking pony glared menacingly. "Don't know? Then why are you at the LTF?"
Jitterbug blinked, afraid that she’d offended somepony. “What’s an LTF?”
The mare seemed taken aback for a moment, then quizzically asked, “Do you know where you are?”
“... No.”
The unicorn sighed exasperatedly. “All right... guess we got another one, Follower.”
The orange unicorn nodded. “Since she’s so hesitant to provide her own name in the introduction... the purple donk--I mean, unicorn’s name is Warden Sue. She’s on O5 command, one of the big bosses around here.”
Warden Sue shifted her suspicious glare to Follower. “I don’t even know you well enough to give a description, D-class.” She once again set her eyes on Jitterbug, her expression softening slightly. “And what name do you go by, other D-class?”
Jitterbug looked at herself demurely. “I’m... Jitterbug. My friends used to call me Jitters. What’s a D-class?”
Warden Sue chuckled lightly to herself. Follower replied, simply stating, “A test subject. That’s all you and I are.”
The purple unicorn looked pointedly at her counterpart. “Most of you are convicts, suited to little more than being cannon fodder. Her... I can’t imagine why she’d be a D-class here. She looks harmless as a fly.”
Jitterbug tried her best to put on a brave face. “I don’t wanna be here. If you two are escaping, I’m going too.”
Warden Sue nodded, seemingly amused. “That’s the plan. You’re welcome to join us, Jitterbug.”
Jitterbug gave a small smile, adjusting her large glasses on her face. “Thanks. I’ll try my best not to be scared.”
The trio of desperately surviving ponies trotted along the corridor, the doorway to Fluttershy’s cell and the calls of Pinkie Pie far in the distance. Follower had been conversing with Jitterbug, explaining the purpose of the LTF as he knew it and being corrected on several occasions by Warden Sue, who was in the lead. He floated the handful of documents describing LTF subjects that he’d found to Jitterbug, who read them, shivering involuntarily as she remembered the ponies she’d seen so far.
She also shared her knowledge of Scootaloo, the pony she’d read the document on, and stuck her head into her saddlepurse to display the information she’d gotten on the filly that they could only ever catch glimpses of. Neither of the unicorns could recall seeing Scootaloo, though Jitterbug remembered her exploration of Scootaloo’s chamber fondly, and was fairly certain she’d seen her.
The formalities done and all pertinent information shared, the three of them continued in silence. Jitterbug kept catching glances of Follower looking at her from the corner of his eye, so she dropped behind slightly to prevent him from doing so.
Eventually, Warden stopped and opened a random door to their right, looking inside, then backing away a few steps in surprise. “That’s a big machine.”
Follower and Jitterbug trotted forward, the orange unicorn boldly entering the room. Jitterbug timidly asked, “What is it?”
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.
D-9341 “Follower”
LTF Facility 1a, [REDACTED], Equestria
1 ½ Weeks after Incident 001
B/S
”Retrace your steps, and a new path should be open. The answer to Jitterbug lies there.” Cheerilee’s words echoed in Follower’s head as the orange unicorn trotted through the halls. After making the nervous mare and Warden Sue disappear, Cheerilee had turned to Follower and told him to retrace his steps back to Pinkie Pie’s chamber. He agreed, beginning a rather long trek back across the facility.
Many thoughts ran through Follower’s head as he walked through the empty halls of the facility. What was so interesting about Jitterbug? Where did she go? Why did Warden Sue attack Cheerilee? These were just some of the questions that flowed through his head, and Follower did not have any answers whatsoever.
He arrived in the room where he had initially gotten his Level 2 keycard and radio and stopped to rest. The silence in the facility was soon interrupted, however, when a loud scream broke out, causing Follower to jump a little in surprise. Poor soul, must have had got attacked by one of the subjects, he thought, slowly regaining his composure. He stood still for a few more moments to steel himself, then took a deep breath and opened the door to the tunnel leading back to Pinkie’s chamber.
The corridor had changed dramatically since Follower had passed through it, namely because there was now a large hole in the side of it, revealing another small hallway. Follower cautiously approached the hallway before peeking around the corner. Confirming that it was empty, he entered the new corrld bead of sweat ran down the back of the orange unicorn's neck as he ventured forward, a large feeling of nervousness clouding his thoughts. Something about this hallway creeped him out, but he pressed on, knowing that whatever Cheerilee wanted him to see was this way. The hallway broke into two directions, left and right. The left side was labeled with a sign that said “LTF-2015” on it, and a large picture of a skull and crossbones adorned it. The other door was marked with a sign that said “Lab 20a”. Feeling brave, Follower decided to go left.
The tunnel led to another slightly larger hallway that seemed to be filled with dead bodies. Grimacing, Follower cantered over to a rather interesting-looking body and inspected it.
It was a cream-colored pegasus mare with a brown mane. She was wearing a suit of Kevlar that was labeled “HEAD OF SECURITY.” Sighing deeply to himself, Follower reached down, closed the dead pony’s clouded cinnamon-colored eyes, then reached around her to grab her saddlebag and gently removed it.
Opening the bag, Follower found several files placed neatly inside, as well as a GPS tracking device and a badge. He picked up the badge first. It identified the dead pegasus as Wild Fire, and showed a picture of her staring at the camera, an unamused look on her face.
He frowned, placing the badge back in the bag, and pulled out a small manila envelope. Printed on the top of the file were large red letters saying “O5 Command Only,” and the LTF Agency seal below it.
Chuckling, Follower opened the folder anyway and was greeted by an LTF subject sheet. Large, official letters spelled out the name of a pony whom he recognized, causing his smile to waver slightly. As he read the document, the stallion’s smile slowly faded. His mouth suddenly dropped open. “WHAT!?” he exclaimed, utter disbelief in his voice. However, his train of thought was soon interrupted by the sound of a hoof hitting the floor.
Follower froze, fear welling in his chest as he dropped the file folder. Heart pounding in his chest, he turned and faced whoever was behind him.
Standing behind him was the rainbow-maned pegasus, a large grin plastered on her face.
The room was dead silent for a few moments before the pegasus finally spoke, her voice carrying a haunting tone. “Nopony escapes Rainbow Dash.”
The orange unicorns’s eyes became the size of dinner plates, and he took a step back.
Jitterbug only hunched closer to the ground as a different pony's scream echoed down the hallway. She had her eyes squeezed shut, tears swiftly slipping out of them and making tracks down the blood that covered her face as she rocked herself back and forth, whispering mad incoherent phrases to herself.
She made no attempts to calm herself down. She didn't try to pretend nothing had happened. She was in the middle of a room full of blood and pieces of pony. She also didn't know why she was there.
It made no sense. She was convinced there was some vengeful spirit that was exacting revenge on her for some past wrongdoing. She would randomly wake up in rooms splattered in dead pony, and it was driving her insane.
This wasn't what she wanted. This wasn't where she wanted to be. She just wanted to live a normal life, with a normal stallion, doing normal things, and be a normal mare. Some malicious spectre decided to make her pay every time she dared to hope that things would turn out all right.
So, she lay there. She hoped that Follower would come for her, or Warden, wherever they were. She was alone and afraid.
Eventually, her thoughts began to turn darker. Perhaps they would never come to save her. Perhaps it was her lot in life to lay here and die with this pony. She kept finding herself here with no explanation and no reason for her to suffer through this pain.
She would rather be dead.
Jitterbug felt her psyche slowly cracking as she prayed for her friends to save her.
Chapter 11: The Pocket Dimension
D-9341 “Follower”
Location Unknown
1½ weeks after Incident 001
Follower slammed into the ground, before letting out a groan of pain. The thought of the pegasus lunging at him still was fresh in is mind, and he could still feel his heart racing for a bit. He kept his eyes clenched shut for a few moments, before slowly opening them. The first thing he saw was that the rainbow colored bricks that made up the ceiling.
Groaning, he slowly got to his hooves, before looking around again. All he could see was passages spanning in every direction. Buck, which way do I go? He thought to himself, as he looked around at all the passages. All of them lead into darkness, and seemed all the same. Taking a deep breath, Follower picked a random hallway, and walked into the darkness.
As Follower trudged through the darkness, several obvious questions formed in his head. Where did that pegasus send me? Why did she attack me? Where does this hallway take me? There were also several non-obvious thoughts mixed in the cloud that was his mind. Why did I agree to work for the LTF in the first place? Why did every pony in Ponyville think I was conspiring to kill Mayor Mare? Why does my life have to suck so badly? Follower had no answers to his questions, but he knew that he had to forge on if he was to find out anything.
Another ten minutes passes before Follower finally saw light at the end of the corridor. His walk became a trot, before turning into a gallop as he raced towards the light. A few seconds later he burst into the room, before skidding to a stop in the center of the room. The room that he entered seemed to contain nothing but rainbow colored walls. Letting out a sigh of defeat, Follower turned to walk out of the chamber when he heard a loud “PSST.”
Follower glanced around the chamber for a few seconds, trying hard to find the source of the whisper. Opening his mouth to speak, Follower heard the strange psst again. Frowning, Follower slowly looked up.
Hanging above him were several large, black metal cages, most of which were empty. However, one of the cages contained a sky blue pegasus stallion who was looking down at him. The stallion smiled, before waving his hoof through the bars of the cage. “Glad you finally decided to look up! Do you think you can help me out of this cage?” Shouted the blue pegasus. Follower thought for a few moments, before slowly nodding. “Yea, I can try something. Just hold still, and stay away from the bars of the cage!” Follower hollered back, before charging up a spell. The pegasus nodded, before stepping away from the bars of the cage.
Focusing, Follower kept charging the spell for a few more moments, before unleashing it toward the cage. The large orb of energy that Follower launched hit its target, causing the chain that was holding the cage to the ceiling to snap. The blue pegasus within let out a yelp as the cage plummeted to the floor, hitting the ground a few seconds later with a loud bang.
Follower jumped a little, before rushing over to the cage. The pegasus inside looked stunned, but looked unhurt otherwise. It took the blue pegasus a few moments to recover, before he pointed to the lock that was on the door of the cage. Another concentrated blast of magical energy busted the lock, and the door to the cage swung open.
Smiling, the blue pegasus jumped out of the cage, before slowly stretching. Follower watched the blue pegasus for a few moments, before leaning against one of the rainbow colored walls. “So….who are you exactly?” Follower asked, a light tone in his voice. The blue pegasus dusted some dust off his blue coat, before looking at Follower.
“Lieutenant Soarin, Mobile Task Force Cloud Nine. You?” He replied nonchalantly. “Follower. However most guards just call me D-9341.” Follower stated, his voice flat. Soarin watched Follower silently for a few minutes, before sticking his hoof out.
“Nice to meet you Follower.” He exclaimed. Follower shook Soarin’s outstretched hoof, before clearing his throat. “It’s nice to meet you Lieutenant. May I ask where we are?” Follower asked, keeping a cool tone in his voice. Soarin nodded, before waving his hoof in a broad arch.
“We’re currently in LTF-106’s pocket dimension, a place where she drags her victims to quote ‘play’. I was dragged in here with my superior officer/marefriend Spitfire when we were accidentally separated from the rest of the MTF. I really hope she’s okay, I haven’t seen her in a while.” Soarin explained. Follower nodded, and opened his mouth to speak when the loud laugh of Rainbow Dash interrupted him.
“Do you mean this mare?” asked Rainbow Dash, before the room was plunged into darkness. The darkness didn’t last for long however, and light was restored to the room a few seconds later. Sitting in the center of the room was the head of a yellow mare, with an orange mane. Soarin let out a choked cry of anguish, before running over to the head. However, the lights flickered out again, before flashing back on.
This time, standing between the head and Soarin was Rainbow Dash, an insane grin on her face. She quickly pushed Soarin back, before laughing. “She didn’t last very long. Maybe you’ll do better.” She exclaimed, malice in her voice. Soarin growled, and tried to rush Rainbow Dash. Rainbow laughed, before disappearing. Soarin looked around confused, before she appeared right in front of him, and hit him hard across the jaw, stunning him.
“Let’s play a game.”
Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. Chapter 14: Taking Action
Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. (S)
Her eyes popped open. She blinked rapidly, waking herself up.
Jitterbug was awake.
She heard a voice crackling over the intercom. ”The site is experiencing multiple Keter- and Euclid-level containment breaches. Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie have breached containment. Full site lockdown initiated.”
She leaped up, immediately looking around. What was going on?
Jitterbug was afraid. She could feel it overtaking her entire body. She shivered and hunched herself close to the ground, her legs dangerously close to giving out on her.
Her green mane fell over her face as she dipped her head too low. She began to cry, her fearful tears spattering the ground below her.
Suddenly, she heard a sound right in front of her.
She leaped backwards, surprised by the thing that darted by her. She caught a glimpse of several colors as they disappeared into the wall, leaving behind a coating of goop. She had no idea what the thing was, but she knew it was something to fear.
She gave a small squeal and crumpled to the ground, her small amount of resolve lost. She began crying once more on the ground.
After several minutes, she heard a sound above her. Once again, her head snapped up as she distanced herself as quickly as she could from the sound. In front of her, the wall crumbled, the hallway becoming exposed.
Jitterbug took a deep breath. She knew she’d get found here. If not by that thing, then by another thing. She hadn’t been at the LTF Foundation for very long, but the two tests she’d been privy to were absolutely horrific.
She’d always been jumpy, but after being exposed to the terrors of this place, now she was terrified.
She needed to escape. She needed to get out of here, away from these things. As much as she didn’t like that hole in the wall... there was no way she could possibly stay in this cell. She didn’t want to die here.
She quickly darted through the hole in the wall. Her shaky nerves had helped her survive all kinds of situations, and she was hoping they would help her get through this, too.
As she looked both ways down the hallway, she spotted a dark shape on the ground. She looked at it, puzzled, and trotted over.
As she approached the thing, she noticed a pool of blood around it. She came closer, wondering what had happened.
It was a guard, his crumpled form mangled from something that had found him and torn him apart.
Jitterbug couldn’t stand this. She turned her head to the side and threw up. This was not going to be easy for her.
Chapter 3: Into The Depths
D-9341 “Follower”
LTF Facility 1a, [REDACTED], Equestria
1 ½ weeks after Incident 001
“Alright, pull yourself together Follower. You can do this!” exclaimed Follower to himself, as he finally got back onto his hooves. About ten minutes had passed since the escape of Pinkie Pie, and Follower was still shaken to his very core. Never before had he been faced with such a perilous and frightening experience, but he knew he had to steam on, or he would certainly end up like the other two D Class personnel.
After looking around the now empty chamber, Follower spotted a door with a button next to it. He strode over to the door, before taking a deep breath, and pressed the button. With a loud whoosh, the door opened, and led into a large concrete hallway with two rooms in it. Follower looked around for a few moments, before slowly walking into the hallway, and towards the first room. In the room, there was a gas mask, a saddle bag, and a LTF document, all strewn on different shelves. Follower took the saddle bag, and put it on, before moving on to the document.
On the top of the paper, it was marked with a Level 1 clearance, and had the LTF logo on it. There was a picture of Pinkie Pie on the cover, who was smiling evilly at the camera, and Follower couldn’t help but shudder at the sight of the picture He continued to read the document, which only reinforced the “Don’t break eye contact” rule, before putting it back down, grabbed the gas mask, and went into the hallway again. He spent no time in going to the next room, and found several batteries in it. He threw the batteries into the bag, before finally walking over to the other door on the end of the hallway, and opened it.
This hall had a grated floor, and went straight to the other side, with no chambers attached to it. Follower started trotting down the hall, before he heard a noise that sounded like laughter. He froze, and stared ahead, trying to figure out what made the noise when he saw something. A bloody cyan pegasus mare with a rainbow colored mane slowly walked through the left wall and stopped in the center of the hallway. Follower started sweating, and he took a step backwards in fear of what the thing would do to him. Then, to Follower’s relief, the thing continued walking through the right wall, leaving a pile of rainbow colored goop on the wall. Follower stood still for a few moments, before running ahead, and reached the other end of the tunnel.
He quickly opened the door, and found himself in a somewhat small office space, with several dead guards and scientists inside. Follower frowned, before carefully walking into the room. The room was dead silent, and Follower found himself heading for one of the dead bodies On it, there was a small yellow key card marked “Level Two”, and had the guard’s face on it. Follower picked it up, before stashing in his bag, and looked around. Suddenly, he heard the sound of the guard’s radio turning on. “LTF 2096 has breached containment as well. Wildfire has been notified, we need teams down here now. If it esc-” Began the guard on the other end of the radio, before he was abruptly cut off. Pinkie’s voice could be briefly heard in the background, before the guard started screaming, and the radio cut off again. Follower picked up the radio as well, before sighing deeply to himself, and walked over to the door on the other side of the office, and opened it, leaving the office to fall back into it’s eerie silence.
