Pandora's Box

Randy opened the door to his room, walked inside and made it a point to lock the door behind him.
"Gotta get some rest for the night, ooh yeah. Lots of stuff going on, lots of places to be, big things happening and I gotta be at the top of my game!"
With a quick and slightly quieter "YEAH!" he climbed into bed and fell asleep as soon as he hit the pillow.


Anthony stood outside of the door to his bedroom, staring at it blankly as he hesitated to go inside.
"I wonder is she's really alright...she looked kinda rough. Hmm."
He was still worried about Noire's condition. So much so that he might have a hard time sleeping tonight. He glanced down the hall and just for a moment, thought about going into her room to check up on her. He shook his head and tried to laugh it off.
"Nah, she's a pretty tough pony, she'll be alright. At least I'm pretty sure..."
Solemnly, he opened the door and made his way to his bed. He lied down on it and began staring up at the ceiling, lost in his own thoughts.
"Why am I so worried about her anyhow? It's not like she even wants my help. But still...I can't help trying."
He chuckled weakly.
"Man, she always acts so tough like she's got something to prove. And I get it. I really do. I've got something to prove, too...I gotta prove to myself that I have these powers for a reason. If I can't even help someone who's suffering right in front of me then what's the point of even having them in the first place? And she is suffering...I can tell. I can see it in her eyes and I want to help, and even if I can't help, I want to at least try. I have to."
He let out a heavy sigh.
"Ah well. All I can do is try again tomorrow, right? I'll figure something out. It'll all work out somehow. I know it will."
He closed his eyes, finally allowing his troubled mind to drift off to sleep.


A pale green light shined in the room that Violet, Gaelix and Noire were in. It came from the sudden appearance a pony-like figure with a jet-black coat and a glowing, ethereal green mane. His coat also prominently featured pale green streaks, almost like large veins on all sides. His expression was aloof, but his presence was terrifying and his brightly glowing green eyes hinted at the untold power that lies behind them.
"Greetings. I hope I'm not interrupting anything."
Although they were meeting for the first time, he addressed them as casually as if they were old friends. He turned his head towards Violet, his gaze piercing deep into her soul even as his expression remained carefree.
"That was quite the display you put on in the throne room! Your loyalty and bravery are commendable; however, your sense of judgment seems to be...lacking, shall we say."
His eyes narrowed ever so slightly.
"To think that you would threaten the lives of Princess Celestia, Princess Luna and even your own aunt! Oh yes. I saw that entire spectacle and I must say, your rebellious attitude is becoming quite...problematic. You see, I am here on behalf of certain, shall we say, "interests" that wish to see this little experiment of yours continue. To that end, I must insist that you reign in your emotional outbursts for the time being. There is more at stake here than you realize, young prodigal. The princesses must remain alive. The experiment must continue."
As he went on, his voice became darker and more threatening. His last words were practically filled with venom.

When he heard Matt's scream, Anthony rushed out of his room and towards the direction it came from. He found Matt's room and gave it a few hard knocks.
"Matt?! What happened, are you alright?!"
He prepared himself for anything. Did someone find them? Are they under attack? He made sure that he was ready to summon his sword at a moment's notice.

 

Violet felt a smirk slowly growing across her features. This... being, was setting off all sorts of alarms. "The experiment." Her stare settled into a simmering glare. "You actually think. That she's an experiment?" Violet's words copied the unknown pony's venomous tone. "Those bitches can set up as many of these virtual worlds as they want. I'm certainly not stopping them. But Noire stays in this one."
She put a hoof lovingly on Noire's mane. Her next words were a quiet whisper. "If you want to kill her too, don't expect to live long. Our research won't be stopped so easily."
Matt's scream shattered the poisonous silence. It drew Violet's attention with its suddenness.
Our secret must remain safe. Violet knew.

 

"Hmph."
The green pony gave Violet a cold glare as he slowly started to walk around her.
"Your violence, young prodigal, is typical. As is your inability to comprehend the greater scheme of things. There are powers at work here that are far beyond your narrow comprehension."
He stopped to take a quick glance towards the door. He knew that he was running out of time; it would become quite troublesome if his presence were discovered in this world. He looked back at Violet.
"You overestimate your kind's importance. My masters could hardly care less whether or not all of Equestria lives or dies, so try to imagine just how inconsequential a single pony's life would be to them. However...the Terrans that you have captured..."
He trailed off slowly.
"I have said more than enough already. You will fulfill your duty, Violet Sky. I will be watching to ensure that you do."
With that, he disappeared in a flash of green light just as suddenly as he appeared.

Randy slowly got up out of bed, stretching his limbs.
"Sounds like something's going down, something big, ooh yeah."
Then he suddenly leaped out of bed, did a few front-flips and landed right in front of his door. He quickly threw open his door and gave a loud shout.
"DON'T PANIC 'CAUSE THE MACHO STALLION'S COMING, YEAH YEAH YEAH!!"
He ran to the door that the scream came from and saw Anthony waiting there.

"Maybe I should just break it down..."
He turned to Randy.
"Hey, reinforcements! What do you think, should we just bust down the door?"
"YEAH!"
"Alright, I'm going for it!"
He took a second to focus. He had to make sure he used enough force to break through but didn't use too much power and shatter the door into pieces.
"Okay...here goes...JUDO PUNCH!"
He gave the door a mighty punch and it flew open. Without even looking to make sure the room was safe, Anthony charged right in and called out.
"MATT! Are you okay?!"

 

There was a great plume of smoke, foul and acrid smelling, and for a moment it engulfed Anthony and Randy completely making it impossible for them to see.
After a few moments, the air cleared, and they were able to see into the room.

A pony was standing on Matt’s bed. It had silver fur, with a dark blue mane. On its left flank was the symbol of a cup of tea resting atop a noble shield. Its eyes were the colour of winter ice, a blue so light it was almost colourless. It was examining itself quite carefully and meticulously.

When it realized it had visitors it looked up at them.
“Well,” Matthew’s voice said resignedly from out of the pony’s mouth. “Can’t honestly say it’s not a better look for me.”

 

Anthony coughed from the odor of the smoke and tried to wave it away with his hand. When it finally cleared, he looked up at Matt and his eyes shot wide open.
"Muh...Matt...?"
When the pony standing on Matt's bed opened its mouth and Matt's voice came out, Anthony was overcome with a wave of dizziness and stumbled, just barely managing to catch himself of the door frame. He felt light-headed even as he leaned against the wall and nearly blacked out.

Randy, on the other hand, was grinning as widely as he could.
"Now that's a real good look for you-- the look of a real champion, ooh yeah! Never seen anything like it and I don't think I ever will, so this is kind of a historical moment for me, don'tcha know."
He laughed loudly, seeming to approve of this transformation.
"You're one of of now, brother, and that's somethin' to be proud of, YEAH! You're the cream of the crop, top of the mountain! I never thought I'd see a Terran turn into a real stallion and I don't know how ya did it but it don't even matter, no. THIS CALLS FOR A CELEBRATION!"

When Randy suddenly shouted, Anthony came back to his senses and stood up straight, rubbing his eyes.
"Oh, man...you wouldn't believe the dream I just had, Matt. You turned into a pony! Can you believe that--"
When he stopped rubbing his eyes and looked at Matt again, his left eye started to twitch.
"Right...that really happened."
He fell down to his knees, laughing quietly to himself with a crazed look in his eyes.
"And...and I'm next, aren't I? It's only a matter of time. This place is gonna turn me into a pony too, isn't it?"
He hung his head low and sighed, having resigned himself to his fate.

 

"You were a lot of help. "Violet said flatly.
"You seemed to have things under control." Gaelix replied. Violet sighed in irritation.
"Okay, I'm going to check outside. Stay with Noire."
Violet strode out into the hallway.
"Always so bossy, my little Unicorn." Gaelix muttered.

--------------------------

"What's going... on?" Violet asked, her authoritative tone turning to surprise when she saw the scene before her. Matt was a stallion. Violet felt part of her mind admiring him, as he probably had when she was human. The thought was distracting, causing her to space out for a few seconds and just stare blankly at the pony Matt.
"Are you... okay?"

 

"I'm a pony."
This new state of being, this reality shift, was impossible to take in all at once.

The fact of the matter was he was a stallion. In terms of physical appearance, he looked very handsome, by equine standards. His body was quite muscled, not over bulky but generally very athletic. His features were well defined, and he stood tall and proud - by a pony’s standard of size anyways.

The next step in this game was...
“Why am I a pony?”

He focused, trying to concentrate. With his powers, turning himself back into a human should be child’s play.
He closed his eyes. He willed his body to metamorphose back into a human physique. Then he opened his eyes with a look of genuine alarm.

“My powers... my powers are gone!” He looked up at Anthony with shock written on his new face. “I can’t change back!” He paused, looked at Violet who’d just entered, and was surprised to realize that whilst he’d considered her cute as a pony, and very attractive as a human, now she was just... hot.

Well, might not be all bad...

He shook his head to clear it.
“OK. So, I’m a pony. That’s... something new, I – I guess. I'm not in pain, I don't feel like this should be happening, but it's not causing me any discomfort.” For the first time since entering Equestria, he seemed genuinely caught off guard.

 

Violet was silent as she kept staring at Matt. A thought came to her, It must be done. Stepping lightly, she made her way to the bed. Lifting one leg, she gently touched her hoof to Matt's nose. The act produced a Boop sound from the universe.
His powers were gone. Did that mean that the siphon had finished? She'd never seen this happen though. Would Noire know? If anyone would it would be her. But Violet didn't really want to wake the injured pony while she was resting.

"I thought that was a familiar voice." Gaelix said as he walked into the room with Noire by his side. The half Pegasus, half Changeling stared at those assembled. The right side of her beige body was striped like a tiger, her right wing was insectoid in appearance, the eye was a solid orange orb with a circle of white at its center, both legs had bandages wrapped around her hooves that was stained slightly with blood, finally a single white fang hung out of the right side of her mouth.
"I have to say that it's an improvement that I had nothing to do with." Mirth bubbled in the human-draconequus's eyes that belayed the honesty in his tone.

"Interesting." Was Noire's comment on the situation.
"What happened to him?" Violet asked. Noire thought about it for a while.
"Perhaps his power chose this form in order to protect its master. The program doesn't latch onto ponies. And the system only mimics the subject's real world form."
Violet grabbed Noire by the mane and pulled her off to one side.
"What in Celestia's name are you doing?" Violet screeched in a barely audible whisper.
"The siphon is nearly completed. There's no real point in hiding it now, Commander."
"I might be in charge, but the plan was yours to begin with. Even if you got cold hooves and tried to sabotage me."

Noire didn't reply. Instead she walked over to Anthony and placed a hoof on his face. "I'm sorry. If it's worth anything."

 

Anthony had a look of pure shock on his face as he looked at Noire, then at Violet. What were they talking about? What were they hiding from him? His expression looked sorrowful; he might be hopelessly naive but he can tell when he's been betrayed.
"What's really going on here...? What are you doing?"
Just then, a wave of dizziness came over him again. But it was different from last time. This time he really was in pain; he clutched his head and moaned, his face contorting as he tried to bear it.
"I can hear it again. O shar'as shi'el...but where is it coming from...?"
He fell to his knees, gripping his head with both hands. That voice still sounded so far away. The only thing Anthony could understand was that someone was trying desperately to warn him, but he couldn't understand why. Then, just as suddenly as it came on him, his pain vanished once again.
"Ugh...well, that happened. Again. There's so many things I don't get about this place."
He slowly got back to his feet.

"You were sayin' some pretty weird things. Any idea what that was all about? It sounded like some kinda freaky alien speak, brother!"
Randy chimed in, those odd things Anthony was saying didn't escape his notice.

"Huh...? Did I say something weird?"
It took him a little longer to even realize he did it this time.
"Ah whatever, I'm sure we'll have plenty of time to figure that particular mystery out later."
He turned back to Noire and Violet.
"Right now, we've got more important things to--HURK!"
Just then, he collapsed to the floor and a thick plume of smoke came out from around him, just as it had during Matt's transformation. Anthony was enveloped in light and he felt himself being changed from the inside out. His form slowly shifted from human to pony, despite his internal efforts to stop it.

When the smoke cleared, a unicorn was laying on the floor where Anthony had collapsed. He had a smoky grey coat and his long mane was a deep crimson, which matched his eyes perfectly. Said mane sat on his back almost like a cape of fire-- and speaking of fire, his right flank was adorned with the cutie mark of a flaming katana crossed over its sheath. Although it was hard to tell from the way he was laying on the floor, he was taller than average for a pony and he had a fairly slim yet well-built physique, along with some finely chiseled features especially around the face. As far as ponies are concerned, he is all that and a bag of chips, girlfriend.
"Gimme a break...is this what it's like to fight Randy Orton? 'Cause I feel like I just got RKO'd outta nowhere. Man, I should've stayed in bed this morning..."
He slurred his words slightly as he was still very much out of sorts. He didn't fully realize what had just happened to him yet.

 

".....Huh." Noire said simply. This was unprecedented. Normally once the siphon had finished the victims would fall unconscious and be disposed of. These two turned into ponies.
"I'm glad that you're both alive." She said settling down next to Anthony. "But really, never seen this happen before. Something must be interfering with the program."

"Soo, you're probably wondering what's going on." Noire said knowingly. "I really don't see the point in hiding it anymore since both of you are essentially powerless at this point aside from your abilities granted by becoming ponies... however in the hell that happened. But you'll probably need some time to learn how to use those. In the meantime..."
The world suddenly rearranged itself into a comfortable lounging room with plush chairs and couches. It was all very high class with a fire burning and a portrait of a female pony wearing a top hat and monocle. Small glasses of brandy rested on tables next to the chairs and lit cigars sat comfortably in hooves. Noire let herself rub against Anthony's side for a moment before speaking.
Violet grumbled to herself about her sister's habits. She had grand taste, but really now wasn't the time for civil chatter!

"Firstly and the most pressing question. The answer is biomagnetism." She said waving the hoof that held the cigar. "Now on to business. You are actually inside of a vast computer simulation. The point of it was to keep the two of you occupied so that we, Equestrians, could steal your supernatural energies in order to gives us the ability to stand as equals in the fight against our true foe. They are the ones controlling the Changelings and who made me into this love sucking creature that you see before you. We have no idea what they are or where they come from, just that they came here, made the Changelings their minions, and began their rampage. They've been quiet for a while now so we're trying to supercharge the Elements of Harmony as much as possible. That way we can kick their flanks real good!
At this time the portrait over the mantle was distorted by static and an old movie began playing. It was an apt visual cue for Noire's dialogue.
"But I digress. My little Dusky," Noire pointed a hoof at Violet, "Hunts down and recruits targets using some sort of quest or contract, depending on the victim. She opens a portal here and you guys get knocked out when you come through. You're hooked up to my lovely virtual world and I give you your stage. Then our good friend Gaelix plays the villain. This is all to distract you from realizing that you're energy is being drained. The process is usually fatal. But the two of you are still alive, so something's buggering up my kajiggers. Now for the history lesson!"

Noire turned to the screen as a 1950s era educational video about how the Final Plan was decided upon. It was very informative, speaking first about the unknown enemy, then about the need for more power, about how the princesses entertained many ideas before settling on the plot by Violet and her adopted sister Noire. The movie speaks in greatly vague detail about the plan before pandering out with a hopeful glimpse of a future without the enemy threat. The video came to an end.

"And now comes the screaming bit. One at a time, please." Noire said resting her head on Anthony. She closed her eyes and began humming some tune only she knew the key of.

Violet didn't seem to know what to do. Noire had just told the secret that Matt and Anthony were taken prisoner by them. And then who's to say what Randy was there for. Was he simply an onlooker or maybe he was working with that Black stallion. Either way the most infuriating thing was how nonchalantly Noire was being about their deception.
NoNo you idiot! Violet facehoofed. We could have kept them in the ruse, but now they're going to wake up and kill us.

Gaelix found himself being overcome by laughter at the situation.
"You know, my offer for a safe exit still stands. Being a robo-pony would be awesome. I know you know it." Gaelix said in Noire's mind.

 

"Heh...heh heh heh. Ha ha ha. Ah hahahahaha! HA HA HA HA HA HAHAHAHA!!"
Anthony slowly got up on all fours, shaking Noire off of him. His eyes were wide open as his left eye twitched, his expression clearly showing the pure rage that was burning inside of him.
"It was all a lie...every last part of it. Is that what you're telling me? We came all the way out here to help you and you were gonna kill us for it? That about right? Wow, you guys really need to work on your table manners. This is no way to treat guests from another world!"
Sorrow and rage clearly showed in his eyes as a single tear fell down to the floor. Because of his optimism, betrayal hurt him that much more. He knew that it was possible in all of his adventures; it was basically an inevitability since the moment he was gifted with such unimaginable powers. At some point, someone would want to take those powers away from him. He knew that somewhere in the back of his mind but that didn't make this moment any easier for him. He was so overcome with emotion that all he could do was laugh. And laugh he did, almost as if he'd gone insane, as more tears started to form in his eyes.

"Well, Matt...I don't know about you, but I think we should try to find out how much damage these new powers can do. What do you say?! If they've got us trapped in a virtual world, let's rip our way out one illusion at a time!!"
His horn started to glow a bright red. He was focusing his new power into a magical attack, but he didn't get very far. His lack of experience with unicorn magic and unstable emotions caused his magic to feedback, causing a few bursts of light to come out but not much else, despite the great amount of energy he put into it. He hung his head low, sweating and breathing heavily. He then raised his head slightly, enough to give a glare of murderous intent towards Violet and Noire.
"You...stabbed us in the back...and I WILL find a way...to make you pay for it."

"Ya know, that is a pretty rough deal you get there, ooooh yeah."
Randy walked up to the newly pony-fied Anthony, a slight smirk on his face.
"What would ya do if ya had the chance for revenge? Let it fly away like a bird flyin' outta its cage, or would ya take that bird and tear off its wings so it don't go anywhere?"

"What...what are you getting at?"

"I'm talkin' about getting revenge and I'm talkin' about burning Equestria to the ground. Do you wanna take your revenge or not? It's a real simple question I'm askin' ya, brother. I think if you and Matt went after the princesses, that good old Terran ingenuity of yours just might be enough to get you through."
Randy knew that in all likelihood, it would be a suicide mission if they did. He suggested it on the very slight chance that they might just be idiotic enough to go through with it.

"Yeah, right. Even if we were in any condition to do that, I'm not gonna go with regicide as my first option, thank you very much."
Just then, Anthony had a curious look on his face.
"Terrans? Who says Terrans when they're talking about humans?"

"Oooh...ain't that what all Terrans say, brother?"

"More often than not, we just say human. Wait a second..."
Anthony's look of curiosity soon turned to one of suspicion.
"How did you know where we came from? "Terran" comes from the Latin word Terra, which is another name for our world Earth."

Randy shook his head in resignation. As he spoke, his voice was noticeably less gravelly and intense, though it now seemed to have a slight booming echo to it.
"Looks like the old intel was just a little off. Shoulda done some more research on your world, yeah. 'Course we didn't really have much time to do that 'cause we just found out about it recently."
He then turned to Violet as his hot-blooded and heroic facade disappeared in an instant and gave way to a cold, empty stare. He spoke in a monotone voice, though despite the lack of emotion his words seemed to pierce like icy daggers.
"I knew that pony was gonna be trouble, young prodigal. You really should learn how to keep your subordinates in line. That is, assuming that there is any trace left of your kind's existence in the near future. Only time will tell."
In a flash of green light, his form changed to that of the black and green pony whom Violet encountered earlier.

 

Matthew took all this in as calmly as a cloud drifting over the sea.
Of course, anyone could tell you that a cloud drifting over the sea had the potential to become a raging thunderstorm before you could blink.

“Alright,” said Matthew very reasonably. “Let’s talk this out.” He cantered over to Anthony and placed a hoof on his shoulder, reassuringly. “Anthony. Please stop. Starting a fight now will only hurt you and we won’t stand a chance in our current condition.” His voice was pleading. “Please, Anthony. I promise we’ll get this sorted.”

Trusting Anthony to keep himself in check for now, he turned to the assembled ponies.
“OK, then. A few pointers. Firstly, if you needed help, the usual and polite course of action is to ask first. Anthony and I would have helped you out if you’d only asked - there was honestly no need for this deception.” He gestured at Anthony and himself. “Even now – even, now, I’d still be willing to help you. I can understand why you’d do this, why you wouldn’t take the chance that we’d refuse to help, I can understand that, truthfully I can. I can also understand why you’d unveil this whole scheme to us now, seeing as we seemingly can do nothing about it. So really this whole completely needless deception seems to have panned out rather well for you – but I am willing to forgive you, and put this whole thing behind us.”

He tilted his head to one side.
“So, let me put a deal to you, and I would think very long and hard about answering because it is the only one I am going to make. If you let me and Anthony out of this... simulation, right now, I give you my word as a gentleman that we will help you with whatever is causing this whole scheme to be a necessary plan. Once we have finished, we will take our leave, and you can continue with whatever you typically do around here.”
There was the sudden sensation of a very large predator in the room, the feeling of dread settling on the back of everypony’s neck and there was a new tone in the silver pony’s voice.
“If you choose to keep us in here, keep draining our powers, and make the conscious decision to be our enemies, then I will kill every single one of you. I do not want to do that. I would much prefer it if we were able to be... reasonable. But, if reason should fail?”
The icy blue eyes were the colour of oblivion.
“I will crush you all. Now, make your choice.”

 

Anthony's muscles tensed up and he shut his eyes tightly, trying to calm down and clear his mind. He was still wounded and angry, but he knew that what Matt was saying made sense. He slammed his front hooves into the ground, leaving a small crack in the floor. He then wiped the tears out of his eyes and looked up to Violet and Noire.
"Matt's got the right idea...as usual. I'll go along with everything he said. His promise is my promise and his threats are my threats, too. That doesn't mean I'm forgiving you for anything just yet, but we can still work together for now, at least."

"Is that so?"
The black and green pony stepped in front of Anthony and Matt, forcing his way back into the conversation after listening to Matthew's proposal. He gave Matthew a quick glare before turning his head towards Violet and Noire.
"Are you really going to trust them? Is it truly wise to put your faith in the very same Terrans that you betrayed and intended to murder?"

"Yeah, they can! We came all the way out here just to help them. We gave Violet our word. We're not about to leave the job half-finished because of something like this, especially not now when we know just how badly they needed help in the first place!"

The black pony turned towards Anthony, a slight look of amusement creeping onto his face.
"How very noble of you. A far cry from how you were speaking just a few moments ago."
In a green flash of light, he took on the appearance of Anthony's human form and even mockingly spoke in his voice.
"Let's see how much damage our new powers can do! I will find a way to make you PAY for what you did!"
He then reverted back into his black pony form.
"I believe it was something to that effect."

Anthony cringed.
"But I...I mean, that was just my first reaction to everything that happened. I wasn't thinking clearly, okay?"
He hung his head low.
"It hurt...even though I always knew it would happen at some point, it still hurt to have someone take advantage of us because of what we can do. Because of our powers. So if you ask me whether or not I like the idea of working with the Equestrians, the answer's no."
With a new look of steeled resolve in his eyes, he raised his head back up and gave the black pony a fierce glare.
"But I can put my personal feelings aside for now and focus on the bigger picture. Right now, I don't want revenge and I certainly don't want to go out in a blaze of glory. I just want Matt and I to get out of this alive. We have a saying back on Earth. "The enemy of my enemy is my friend." Right now, the best way for all of us to get through this alive is by joining forces and fighting together. The rest...we can sort out later."

With a slight "hmph", the black pony turned back to Violet, Noire and Gaelix.
"And what say you on this matter? After everything you've heard, will you take their honeyed words to heart, bend your knee to them and beg for their help against the Changelings?"

 

As the others spoke, Noire had slowly been circling the group with a look of bored curiosity. She knew Matt could make good on his threat... eventually. For the moment he was just an animal baring its teeth at the predator that had him backed into a corner. Anthony seemed to be willing to cooperate, although the aura he was giving off wasn't saying what his polite words were. That was okay though. Noire knew she wouldn't give a shit about herself either if she'd been the one betrayed. He'd actually seemed rather intent on helping her.
And then there was Randy, the Macho Stallion. Though he wasn't really "Macho" anymore. He was more sinister and morally wavy now. He probably needed a new name in that case, one more appealing to his new form. But what to call him...

Violet stared at the group before her. This wasn't going the way she'd thought it would. Now that Randy had revealed himself, he seemed to be taking this whole situation a lot better than her first impression of him made her think. This could easily just be a trap...
"First just let me say that I'm sorry for deceiving you. Though you may not understand, our rulers have had prior experiences with alternate dimensions that have never gone well. This attitude gave them pause to bringing beings from another universe into Equestria proper. It was a way to mitigate damages to our reality. Irregardless of that fact, it was flat out betrayal of which I expect no forgiveness. If you still truly wish to help us, then I accept." Violet said, wondering how badly she'd regret this decision. Turning to Randy, "I do not understand your purpose here, though I have a few guesses. I do have to wonder, if you are an envoy from our foe. The fact that you chose to hide yourself behind a disguise-"

"Kelp!" Noire said with a triumphant grin. She put her hoof on Randy's Kelp's shoulder. "Your name is Kelp. Cause you're all wavy and stuff."
After she had spoken, a box appeared above Kelp's head and his new name appeared for all to see. The moments of collective confusion were a soothing wave as her budding Changeling abilities took in the new emotion. The hostile intensity had been giving her an upset stomach and a headache. With a happy trot, Noire made her way to Gaelix, pausing to rub against Anthony on the way.

The Draconequus had donned a fez and was blowing bubbles out of a corncob pipe that popped and let a sweet tobacco smoke into the room. As he reclined on the divan, he mused about the proceedings. With a sigh he tossed the pipe aside and stood up.
"So, you two are going to help us against the Changelings." He put a hand on Noire's head and stroked down the right side of her face, bringing attention to her twisted form. "Now that the two of you are ponies, you should have no problem wandering throughout Equestria without rousing suspicion as to your true nature. Then again," His legs began to pace as his upper body floated over to Anthony and Matt. "You're probably going to be fine." He said patting Matt's head, "But you... you're at the level of a child. Without the unicorn magic that was forced inside of you, I don't see how much use you can be to us. Of course, we'd be willing to teach you."
Gaelix touched the tip of Anthony's horn and ran his finger down to the base.

 

Anthony hardly even noticed Noire brushing up against him but he looked a little suspicious and very clearly uncomfortable at Gaelix touching his horn.
"I'm not sure how you do things here in Equestria, but back on Earth we'd at least take someone out to dinner before trying to fondle their "horn." So, is personal space just not a big thing around here, or...?"
He backed away from the dragon...person...thing and turned back to Violet and Noire.
"Alright, I'm game. I guess that means I'm gonna be stuck in this pony form for a while...ah well, I can manage."
He took a good look at his various Equestrian features, looking a little unsure but not all that displeased.
"I might even be able to get used to this, actually. This new look is starting to grow on me pretty fast! Man, now I'm starting to scare myself with all this pony talk--"
Just then, as he looked back up, he realized something that surprised him greatly. In his new pony form, he actually found Violet and Noire...quite attractive for reasons he couldn't explain.
"And there it is. I have now been forever lost to a world of insanity and ponies."
He quickly cleared his throat and turned to Matt, silently resigning himself to his fate.
"Yeah, so, how about you, Matt?"

"I could make this situation work to my advantage. The longer they keep themselves distracted with these inane conversations, the more time I have to prepare. I may even have to come up with ways to drag out the conversation further."
Having considered the situation carefully, the black pony turned to Noire while the grey Terran pony babbled on. He knew they might become suspicious if he stayed silent for too long.
"Kelp, you say? I have been given countless names throughout the millennia, though never once have I been given a name quite so...degrading. But I will accept it for now, for the sake of convenience."
After this, he waited to see how the silver pony would respond. He hadn't forgotten about Violet's fairly accurate assumptions about him, but he wanted to stall for as long as he could before discussing that particular topic.

 

"Or forever." Noire said sweetly. As Kelpy spoke Noire dug through his aura. The pixels steamed in the air as a sea of tiny multicolored blocks, oddly reminiscent of cereal. But there was something there, a pheromone that even though it was poorly translated into this world of hers, and thankfully so, spoke of what he was. She thought she'd gotten away, but the Swarm spoke to her.

She shut her eyes and opened them. Instead of the warm room with its sinister characters, she was in the dark tunnels of a hive. Around her moved the dark bodies of Changelings about their business, carapaces making dry scratching sounds when they bumped into one another. Noire stood in the middle of the throng, unsure what to do. Her mind ordered her to move about her business, but her will held her in place.
The crowd around her lessened to a trickle before vanishing entirely. Then She came up to her and looked down with that terrifying glare of expectance.
"Come." Her queen ordered. Noire complied without a word. She was led into the heart of the Hive to where the throne room was. The Queen took her seat upon the dark throne and looked down on the Changeling convert. From a side passage, a pony emerged and walked purposefully to the throne. It spoke into the Queen's ear. With a nod from Her, the pony retreated from the chamber. Sudden knowledge filled Noire's mind and a whimper escaped from her.
"Do your duty." The Queen said. "Your reward will be immense."

Noire blinked and was back in the sitting room with its palpable tension. This stallion is a puppeteer.

 

"Kelp" knew almost immediately that something was wrong. He could sense that his connection to the Equestrian's virtual world was being tampered with somehow, but he couldn't figure out exactly how. By the time he realized what was happening, it was already too late. For the first time since his arrival he started to show some sign of real emotion as his eyes went wide.
"What have you done?"
He hissed these words at Noire as he glared intensely at her. Just as quickly, his face returned to a blank, emotionless state and he started to pace around the room, muttering to himself.
"I underestimated the Equestrians' control over their technology. This could become problematic; I need to have a discussion with Queen Ontogeny as soon as possible. Clearly, she has overstepped her bounds in this matter. To think she would create some sort of hybrid without my consent and allow it to roam free..."
He kept silent about his discovery that she even seemed to have a connection to the Zerg Swarm. What sort of experiment did the queen conduct? The situation was far worse than "Kelp" had imagined. The Zerg presence in Equestria was meant to be a tightly-guarded secret; in fact, his entire plan hinged on that fact. Now someone might very well know about that presence. Someone who was freely allowed to return to Canterlot, who could unveil that information at a moment's notice. That could potentially be devastating to his plans. He turned to Noire again and slowly began to walk towards her, his green eyes glowing brightly. He had to know for certain what sort of secrets she was keeping.
"You there. Hybrid. Tell me what you know."

Anthony stepped between the two of them, glaring at the black pony.
"Stay away from her. You hear me? Back off!"
Despite the fact that he could sense a great amount of power coming from this...thing, his defiant stare didn't waver in the slightest.

The black pony's mane and markings now started to glow brightly as well. Using hardly any effort at all, the black pony sent Anthony flying into a nearby wall with a wave of his hoof. He continued walking towards Noire; his gaze was terrifying and fierce yet hollow and devoid of all life, as if one was staring into an abyss which threatened to consume their very being.
"Tell me everything you know."

 

Back in the real world, the two Terrans hung suspended in large tanks filled with an enchanted liquid, keeping their bodies unconscious and their minds trapped in the virtual reality. Out of these tanks were two long tubes – one of them kept them from awakening by pumping large amounts of anaesthetic and other powerful sedatives into the liquid to doubly ensure their pacified sleep, and the other was a vibrating tube with crystals embedded along the side that were humming in their sockets as they leeched out the power of their captives.

What was strange, to Curious Theory (one of the ponies in charge of monitoring the captured Terrans) was just how resistant these two Terrans seemed to be to the tank’s effects. They’d captured them and rigged them up in the usual way, but their powers were bucking the trend in regard to the usual processes that affected... well, anything stored in them. For one of them, the one marked “Anthony”, the power leech was almost worryingly slow, like sucking up treacle through a straw – his tube was barely even throbbing as it dragged whirls and sparks of his energy into it. The one marked "Matthew" however had been leeching, if anything, above normal speed – which then raised the question of how on Equestria had he not died yet. The amount of energy they’d harvested from him alone could have powered Equestria for a few decades at this point, but the pale creature floating peacefully within the tank seemed unaffected by the terrific draining of his essence.

So far, nothing had gone wrong yet, so a message to their higher-ups was not exactly warranted – but Curious Theory was so intent in studying the biological effects of the siphon on the pair, especially with this new chain of events in response to perfectly average stimuli, that he missed the big red flashing alarm on the monitor until he realized he couldn’t hear the frantic thrumming of Matthew’s tube anymore.

Ponies were looking up from their workstations, then checking their instruments as if to check that yes, they were not seeing things, the siphon had seemingly turned itself off.
Curious Theory tapped the controls with his hoof, wondering what kind of malfunction had caused this. Then as he noticed the embers of panic start to ignite among the other ponies, he reached over and clicked on the speakers.

“Everyone please, remain calm. The subjects have not awoken, it is most likely a minor technical glitch in the system,” he reassured them. “Return to your stations, the technicians have been deployed to address the issue. I will notify the princesses of this slight deviance just to be safe.”
Everyone visibly relaxed. The princesses may have been terrifying, but the knowledge that they were on THEIR side and were more than capable of protecting them against any intruder or active Terran was most comforting to know.
Curious depressed the microphone and started furiously running a system check to find what had caused the siphon to stop, and as a result what happened next caught him completely off guard.

“Why, hello there,” a voice purred over the speakers. It was most definitely not a voice anyone recognized. It was female, but it was deliciously sibilant and above all seductive. It was a voice that asked sweetly for your complete surrender.
Everyone looked at Curious, and then they realized this wasn’t a poorly timed prank, and then worry REALLY started to set in.
“First things first... thank you, so much.” The voice sounded like its owner was stretching out, preening herself. “I don’t get to do this very often, and I can’t say I’ve ever played with so many new friends... pretty cute, too,” she giggled, and the sound just screamed of sex. “But I can’t say I’m happy to be here, sadly. I’m here because you're making my poor innocent baby so angry but so helpless, and I can’t have that, oh no. Look at him all cute and sleepy.”

Suddenly, every light in the room died causing every single pony to scream in terror and hug their closest colleague, but one light still shone on the pale Terrans in the tanks. And still the voice continued, as Curious tried very very hard not to wet himself.

“Your big mean siphon is sucking on him so hard and fast...” She sounded like she was taking pleasure from the thought of it. “And I’m kinda getting a bit jealous, left all on my lonesome just watching the fun he’s having. And I have you little ponies to blame for it.”

Curious reached down very slowly under his desk to hit the red alert button, but the voice’s chuckle froze him in place.
“So now, I’ll play with you for a while – seeing as YOU’RE THE ONES THAT PUT HIM IN THERE.” The voice went from playfully gorgeous to furiously demonic in less than a syllable and Curious could withstand it no longer – a whimper escaped him as a slight trickle of urine started to make its way down the inside of his back leg.
“Now if my little sexy baby was here, he’d be telling me to stop, to play nice, to not scare all you little ponies to death. But he’s not here, because he’s in your cruel kinky machine. So now I’m just upset.”
The final light went out, plunging the room into complete darkness.
“AND I WANT TO HEAR YOU SCREAM.”

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Back in the virtual world, Matthew had taken three steps and was now between the dark pony and Noire.
“I don’t know how much getting your throat torn out hurts in this reality,” Matthew said, and for the very first time since even entering Equestria there was a note of real genuine anger in his voice, not the cold heart of a predator but the fiery passion of a tempest, “but if you even so much as touch Anthony again, I will bite clean through your trachea and leave you to bleed to death. And quite frankly, right now I am quite in the mood.”
One step closer, so now he and Kelp were nose to nose. “Something you should understand before we go any further, ANY of you. Betraying us? That didn’t make me angry, it just made me upset but I can forgive you. Draining our power? I can forgive you for that too. Turning us into ponies? Barely even an inconvenience. I am a very forgiving pony, as a very general rule. It takes a LOT to actually get me mad. Threatening my friends? HURTING my friends?”
His forehead was now pressed against Kelp’s, and there was no denying the raging fury in his eyes as he stared the black pony down.
“That gets me mad. And when I’m mad, things start dying. I don’t like getting mad but sometimes it’s the only way people and ponies like you will LISTEN.”
Kelp’s gaze was a yawning black pit, a void filled with nightmares and death and horrors upon horrors, a threatening screaming THING that instinctively made fear creep up the back of whoever looked upon it. Unless, of course, said whoever was on the verge of getting consumed by his rage like Matthew was.

Matthew’s eyes spoke of a primal, ancient, lustful fury that blazed with the wrath of a million suns. It glared of shining white fangs and bloodstained claws and the roaring of a thousand lions. It promised carnage and destruction in uncharted amounts to sate the ravenous hunger for chaos that had been awoken, and most of all above anything else it whispered of a legendary rage that would strip galaxies bare, turn planets into dust and treat the slaughter of billions as merely a twig in the furnace of this burning desire to KILL.
It was this that Kelp glimpsed, a mere shadow of its full intensity, as the two ponies practically butted heads.
“So unless you want me to get really, REALLY mad... back. Off. Right. NOW.”

 

The black pony hardly even moved, much less reacted when he heard Matthew's threats. In his mind, this Terran was merely posturing, desperate trying to gain any advantage he could through empty intimidation. He knew this, but something was wrong. As he matched Matthew's gaze, he saw something in the Terran's eyes unlike anything he had seen for centuries, perhaps even millennia. It inspired a feeling that this creature had most likely never even felt before. Not exactly fear, per se, as he knew how helpless Matthew was in his current state. It was more akin to "impending doom" in a way, as he felt no danger in his present situation but rather he fully realized just how dangerous the pony in front of him could become.

In a way, he was looking at a child who knew nothing of the world, the skies above, the ways of war or what it means to wield true power. But this child could grow to wield power beyond reckoning. In the briefest of moments, as the shapeshifter locked eyes with Matthew, he saw what he could become.

And it gave him pause.

Not for very long-- less than a second, actually. But it was noticeable and very significant. In an instant, he returned to his cold, unforgiving glare towards Matthew, though he also took a few steps back to show that he no longer had entirely hostile intentions.
"Listen well, Terran. The day is coming soon when you will need much more than words to defend yourself. However, I can do you no actual harm in this world which would make any sort of conflict quite unpleasant yet ultimately futile."
He decided that this virtual world had fulfilled its purpose. It would have been much more favorable if the Terrans were outright eliminated, but this diversion have given him more time than he could have hoped for. He gave a final glare towards Noire as he prepared to leave.
"You have tampered with powers far beyond your understanding, hybrid. Indeed, you are meddling in plans that have been in the making since long before your oldest relatives were born. You would do well to tread carefully; my masters are quite unforgiving towards such insolence."
In a flash of light, the black pony disappeared completely, leaving not even the slightest bit of code to track.


After getting back up on his feet-- or hooves, rather-- Anthony watched the scene before him with a look of awestruck amazement. When the black pony disappeared, he trotted up to Matt with a large smile on his face.
"That...was....AMAZING! I didn't think anyone could scare off that thing but hey, he's gone now so I guess I was wrong-- which I'm perfectly okay with."
He had a look of adoration in his smile and a slight sparkle in his eyes.
"If anyone could do it, I should've know it'd be you, senpai~!"
In the back of his mind, he somewhat realized how undignified this probably looked. He ignored it and let himself have the moment.

 

Violet watched as kelp vanished. Things were not boring well.
"I suppose we should continue on properly now." Irregardless of containment protocol, the two Terran ponies would have to be released. Noire was also at risk while contained inside of her matrix. Which was a large concern. It deepened on what damage Celestia had done to Noire's body on top of atrophy. It was questionable if the young Pegasus would be well enough to travel.
"Gaelix, what is your plan for Noire?"
"Well, I have a body specially made for her. A clone you could say, without the changeling corruption of her dna. Though she has been adamant in her refusal of inhabiting it."
"Why?"
"I like the hunger." Noire said without looking up from the virtual displays she had summoned to track Kelp's vanishing.
"I should be capable of healing myself as long as I have a few... sacrifices."

Violet felt her face set into a scowl at her sister's words. She engendered walking into that dark room, metal scent permeating the very air. Seeing Noire at that table, the look in her eyes.
But now... she was half changeling. Her body needed emotional sustenance from others. For survival.

"It would be interesting studying how changeling feed. We've never gotten beyond theories." Gaelix mused. "I say we make some sacrifices for knowledge. That is how it has always been."

Noire stared mindlessly at the swirling code. Gone. Completely gone. However, the change logs were encrypted and protected by the main os that she supported. By following what was alteted at the time of kelpy's retreat, she'd be able to get a vague hint to the breach. Is just take a while to puzzle the data.
Even without the knowledge, her queen would have some idea. The thought of returning was almost as comforting as filling her growling stomach.
"We've killed so many already, Dusky. What's a few more corpses at our hooves? "
"You're insufferable sometimes, Nono." Violet shuddered at the thought of locking ponies in a room with Noire's "Curiosity."
But some things had to be done...