A sensation of being pulled quite violently took over me, and possibly the rest of the group. This feeling of something grabbing you in the air and yanking you with full force into the heavens and then quickly dropping you was all I could think about. However instead of a splat, you landed safely and were uncertain of how you did so. It was this feeling of relief mixed with the feeling of falling. However in the end, all I could remember was Twilight’s extended awe. She gazed around the entirely metal craft we stood in and her mouth hung open. The mare had believed Trixie at face value, but to actually witness such a wonder up close was another story for her.

She broke the silence. “I… I can’t believe it… It’s really here… Some kind of… Space craft… Floating above our world… Millions of years without our knowledge… Just sitting there… Why…? How?” She must have been quite out of it, as she wasn’t even really speaking in complete sentences anymore.

Trying to finally get Fluttershy to leave her alone, Vinyl shoved her way through the group to approach Twilight. “Because, we’re their pet project.” She interjected.

Confused, our purple leader turned with a look of complete puzzlement. Vinyl answered with a bandaged hoof gesture to some kind of giant test tubes down the hall. The halls of the ship were narrow and hard to see around, but sure enough with a few steps forward we all could see it, a group of ponies floating in some kind of tubes with all kind of screens and dials around them. Foreign technology far beyond our simplistic comprehension filled that entire room. We drew closer, but even up close it was impossible to decipher what any of the objects in that room did.

Vinyl tapped on the glass of one, and unsurprisingly, there was no response from the inhabitants. She laughed a bit and magicked a cigarette to her swollen lip, making a somewhat quick recovery of the pride she had lost earlier. “It all makes sense…” She added.

“What makes sense?” Luna chimed in; trying to follow what was going on.

“I think I know what Vinyl is getting at…” Twilight answered for her, her eyes locked on the ponies in the tubes.

“Then could someone please explain it to me, because I’m lost…” Luna looked up, trying to figure out what it was that Twilight and Vinyl saw.

Vinyl took a big drag and exhaled the foul smoke before answered, “She’s figured it out too, and no doubt cunt face has got it, yeah?” She gestured to Pinkamena with that remark, though I am certain we all could have guessed who she was referring to.

“Quite.” Was all that the good doctor had to add.

“Will someone please tell those of us who are still clueless what the hell is going on?” Trixie complained.

“They’re experimenting…” Twilight finally solved the riddle to the crowd.

“Guess that rules out our theory of them just wanting to scrap up the planet for resources then, huh?” Vinyl took another long exhale right before she spoke.

Twilight’s brow rose, captivated by the mystery of what Vinyl just said. “What do you mean?”

“Well, if they just wanted the planet for resources why are they experimenting on us? We’re just primitive beasts to them. Clearly there is more to it than we originally thought.” The white unicorn explained.

“Well I’ll be damned; you’re actually capable of making a scientific inference…” Pinkamena snidely remarked.

Vinyl just spit at the comment and tossed her smoke aside. As usual, Pinkamena remained unprovoked.

“What else could they possibly want then?” I asked.

Twilight nodded at me, “That is a good question… Let’s see if we can find out…”

Our thoughts would have to hold though, as we became aware of the fact that we soon would no longer be alone. The sound of what we assumed to be a door opening came from the back of the room which we had inferred to be a scientific lab of some kind. Sluggishly entering was some kind of black and green tinted abomination. It walked on two clawed legs, and its body was mostly covered in some kind of armor made from a thin looking metal. It certainly didn’t sacrifice dexterity for its protection.

Two long arms hung from the hunched creature, so long that they dragged their sharp hands across the floor when they moved. Its arms were almost the length of its entire body. I examined it for as long as I could and took note of the hundreds of small dark green spines going up its arms. It was hideous.

Before any of us got a chance to ask what the creature could possibly be, a gunshot was heard. We all turned our heads first to the left to see Vinyl with a smoking gun, then to the right to see the monster had been decapitated and laid on the floor with a vile black liquid leaking out of what I assumed used to be his head.

“I figured we could ask questions after I killed it…” Vinyl shrugged.

Twilight was so fascinated with the creature she even forgot to scold Vinyl for her recklessness before going to examine the fiend up close. “What is it…?” She pondered aloud as she tapped it with her hoof to ensure it was dead.

“Well, we know it doesn’t survive without a head.” Vinyl smirked as she and the rest of us joined Twilight.

“This must be one of the ships inhabitants… I never really imagined what the darkness would look like in its physical form, so I must admit I’m rather surprised…” Luna spoke, poking the creature with the tip of her sword.

She had a point. All of us didn’t really know what to expect when we got this far. For all we knew, the darkness could have been fluffy bunnies. However appropriately, they were instead these hulking, disgusting monsters. The creature must have stood over six feet tall when it wasn’t hunched over and had piercing green eyes that glowed even after death.

Vinyl grunted and gestured for us to keep moving. “Who gives a shit what they are? We’re here to kill them.”

Twilight sighed and came to a stand nodding. “Unfortunately, she is correct. Come on, we have to make our way to the whoever leads this ship and we can put an end to this once and for all.”

Much to Twilight’s dismay, stopping to study the creatures was not an option for the entire trip. We would kill one or two, but have to quickly retreat somewhere to hide to avoid alerting the entire ship. Despite it being poorly defended, we were still outmatched and had the disadvantage when it came to understanding the layout of the ship. With a bit of knowledge, luck and reverse engineering though, Twilight was able to steal a map of the ship and get the general idea of where everything on the map was located.

With her intellect, she deduced a room where a lot of the electrical equipment ran to had to be the control room, and thus the epicenter of the ship and where we should look. Chances are it would be the same location as the bridge, and where we would find the creature controlling this entire ship.

Coming around a hallway just a few down from the bridge, Twilight gestured for us all to push ourselves up against the wall. Doing as instructed, we all stood with held breath, even the normally loud mouthed Vinyl Scratch whom had remained dead silent. Near the front of the pack was Twilight with Fluttershy. Twilight jerked her head to the direction of the corner, suggesting non-verbally for Fluttershy to peak around it. Doing as instructed, Fluttershy poked her head out for only a brief second before a loud bang was heard.

The rest of us nearly jumped as we looked at what had happened. Before any of the group had a chance to process the events, Twilight leapt out into the open and let off a few shots. We couldn’t get a good look at what she was shooting at, but sure enough after about five or six shots she lowered her weapon and lifted Fluttershy from the floor.

Twilight’s eyes grew and became moist as she stared at the now limp pegasus whom had stopped moving. Touching her forehead, there was a hole going directly through to the other side, blood leaking onto the floor. Twilight hugged the corpse with tears starting to leak from her eyelids. “Those bastards!” She growled.

“Holy fuck…” Vinyl commented in shock.

“They had guards around the corner… She just happened to see them when they were looking her way…” Twilight explained as she held Fluttershy’s body.

Pinkamena seemed relatively unchanged by these events, which was no surprise; however she was starting to grow a grin upon her face that was making me uneasy. In a matter of seconds however it would become clear that my uneasiness was well warranted as Fluttershy’s eyes opened back up and mechanical noises could be heard exiting her mouth before her lips began to move reciting what sounded like rehearsed lines. “Initializing backup mode…”

Twilight threw the body back onto the ground with a yelp. “What the hell!?”

Pinkamena stepped forward with her chest puffed out in pride. Placing a gentle hoof upon the bloody face of Fluttershy, she smiled before speaking. “Isn’t it marvelous? The latest break through! I have really outdone myself.”

Twilight and Vinyl both seemed to have the same reaction as they bolted forward and pinned Pinkamena to the wall, both with blades drawn to her throat. “WHAT DID YOU DO!?” Twilight demanded.

“Want me to end this bitch?” Vinyl questioned, clearly hungering for more bloodshed today.

Twilight ignored her request and instead kept her eyes locked on Pinkamena’s, staring at her harshly. “Talk”, Twilight demanded.

“It’s nothing really… I simply installed a backup system in Fluttershy’s brain stem…” She coughed and spoke through strained breathes caused by Twilight and Vinyl’s grip on her. “That system was designed to kick in if all life signals in her body ceased and it would take her memories, skills and such and replicate them. It’s actually quite an ingenious idea don’t you think?”

“You’ve gone too far, Pinkamena. How do we shut it down?” Twilight demanded.

She smirked and played coy. “Why would you want to do a thing like that?”

Vinyl growled and pressed her grip on Pinkamena harder.

“I thought you of all ponies would appreciate this, Twilight… I’ve found a way to preserve Fluttershy’s useful skills and knowledge in medical science. It’s not like doctors are going to fall from the sky these days, so making the most of the few you have is essential. You should be thanking me! I’ve simply taken recycling to a new level, made resource conservation far more interesting as well. In this form she won’t require food, water, anything.” Pinkamena bragged about her achievement.

Sneering, Twilight pressed her blade closer to Pinkamena’s neck. “Tell me how to shut her down. That’s an order.”

“And who do you think you are, ordering me around?” Pinkamena questioned.

“Continue to piss me off and see what happens. I’ll give you one final chance, tell me how to shut her down.” Twilight threatened.

Looking her in the eye it was clear that threats of death were nothing to Pinkamena. Her life had clearly been threatened enough times to not be affected by such a thing. Then again, most of Equestria in this day and age were used to danger and having their life threatened. With a sigh, Pinkamena nodded and gestured with her head to the now fully standing Fluttershy.

“The chip that controls the body is in the brain stem. Just below the neck. Hit that and the entire thing shuts down…”

Twilight gestured for Vinyl to take care of that, clearly unwilling to take her sword to her old friend, Fluttershy even if it was for the best. Vinyl obeyed and released Pinkamena to trot over to Fluttershy’s back side and began to run a hoof down her neck until she felt a spot that I assumed felt out of place. Once she was certain she had the location of this supposed chip, she readied her blade and gave a strike to the back of Fluttershy’s head.

The blow caused Fluttershy to once again fall to the ground lifeless with closed eyes, blood still draining from her skull. Twilight only looked for a second before looking away, not wanting to see it any longer.

“Happy?” Pinkamena asked, clearly trying to antagonize further.

Furious, Twilight kept her pinned to the wall as she squeezed her neck, causing Pinkamena to slowly lose air. “If I didn’t need you alive, I’d kill you right here. Listen carefully to me, because we won’t have this conversation a second time.” Pinkamena coughed as Twilight strangled her. “That girl is not just some memories and skills to be replicated and replaced like a broken machine. She was a pony like you and I and deserves the respect to be left to die with dignity. You have no fucking right to do that to her! I’d rather her skills and memories die with her than for us to become cold and unfeeling like her. You think you and I are so similar, but we are drastically different Dr. Pie… There is a line I’m never willing to cross…” Pinkamena struggled and tried to get Twilight to release her only for Twilight to hold her tighter. “I suggest you never cross it again while I’m around. Next time… You’ll regret it…” Twilight added finally releasing the mare.

Pinkamena fell to the ground and dropped her glasses. Grabbing them from the floor and coughing she placed them back upon her face with a scoff. “You’re so simple minded… Short sighted, you can’t see the big picture…”

“Save it. Your orders are to serve as a medical expert and scientist when called upon, nothing more, nothing less. I don’t know what happened to you Pinkie, but there is something severely broken in your brain…” Twilight scolded.

Coming to a stand, Pinkamena met her with fiery eyes. “Or maybe it’s all of you with broken brains.”

“One more instance like that and I’ll let Vinyl have her way with you. The only reason I am letting you live right now is because of our past together. If it weren’t for that, you’d be dead already.” Twilight said before turning towards the hallway.

“Come on, we have to go.” She instructed.

“What about…” I finally interjected pointing to Fluttershy’s corpse.

Twilight sighed and shook her head. “There’s nothing else we can do for her. I wish we could take her with us, but she would slow us down. Leave a brave soldier to rest; she’s earned that at the very least.”

Standing outside of the bridge, we had finally made it, the door that blocked what was supposedly the leader of these creatures and the true face of our enemy. We were only one door away from being able to finally end this war once and for all. Only a simple entranceway from ensuring our future was without the darkness, and conveniently it was locked.

Twilight, and Luna began to work magic upon the lock, focusing their efforts on trying to solve the strange advanced locking mechanism with all their talent and ability. It was easy to see that these creatures were far more advanced with technology than our own kind, and perhaps there was much we could learn after this was over by reverse engineering their technology. The thought that some good could even come from all of this was strange, but somehow comforting to know that everything that had transpired would not be completely in vain.

“This is some advanced stuff… Vinyl give us a hoof.” Twilight instructed.

Nodding, Vinyl stepped forward and began casting upon the lock as well. “Shit… This thing is tough… Really resistant to magic…” She commented.

After a few minutes of focusing, the lock finally turned green and opened. “Damn, we actually did it!” Vinyl sounded almost genuinely impressed at their feat.

“Let’s end this!” Twilight insisted as she drew her blade.

With a group nod, we all trotted onto the bridge through the freshly unlocked doorway only to find it mostly empty. A large vista of our planet was visible through a giant window on the ship, and a control deck was easy to see, but there was no crew in this room. Instead a large black blob of what appeared to be some kind of thick smoke that somehow also resembled sludge at the same time stood in the center of the room. It’s form morphed and moved in an unnatural and eerie shape.

“What the hell…?” Luna asked as she lowered her sword.

A long thin tendril reached behind the creature and retrieved a body that it lifted up into the air by the neck. We all instantly recognized it, it was Fluttershy. It tightened its grip upon the corpse and Fluttershy’s mouth opened letting out a strange screeching sound followed by strained speech.

Through squinted eyes it was possible to see that the tendril that held her was a physical appendage of a creature that was inside of that blob of blackness. We could start to see green eyes begin to glow from behind it. “You… Worthless creatures…” It said.

Twilight stepped forward and kept her sword lowered as she addressed the creature. “What are you?” She asked.

The creature held Fluttershy’s body out to speak for it. “We are all that is, all that ever shall be.”

“So you’re gods?” Twilight raised a brow.

“Your species language lacks a word for what we are. Gods are a concept of lesser constitutions. We have surpassed such a state. We are beginning and end.” It replied through its puppet.

“Where did you come from?” I asked for Twilight.

It paused before answering. “We do not understand your inquiry. We have always been.”

“What planet did you originate from?” Twilight decided to try rephrasing the question.

“We have always been. The species you see before you are merely our current slaves, used for carrying out our divine duty…” It said.

That meant that these aliens, or whatever they were were actually slaves to this thing? So they were just as unfortunate as we were?

“What is your divine duty?” Vinyl Scratch decided to get in on the conversation, clearly getting a bit antsy from all this talking.

It fell silent for a few seconds before Fluttershy’s head contorted awkwardly as it spoke through her mouth. “Consume. Eliminate imperfections such as your species.”

“So I’m guessing peace is not an option.” Twilight questioned.

“Peace is a concept only your kind understands. Your kind are unable to understand our divine logic. You must be purged from existence; your imperfections must be wiped from the universe.” It responded.

“I think I’ve heard enough…” Vinyl growled as she made her blade extrude.

With a nod, Twilight and Luna joined her along with me. The Rainbow Edge felt somehow strangely stronger and almost like it was pulling me, like it yearned to slave this creature.

With a screech it tosses Fluttershy’s corpse aside and began hurling black spikes from its body underneath the smog at us. Twilight dodged one and Vinyl deflected another with her blade. The creature quickly followed up the attack by pulling several more tendrils out from the smog and whipping them around trying to hit me. Fortunately I was quick enough to duck under them and avoid damage, however they managed to whip Vinyl and Twilight out of the way and threw them into a nearby wall.

With a jump, I leapt over a second swipe and took the chance to slice one of them off. The creature growled and shot off another spike that I was not as lucky to be able to dodge. The black spine struck me directly in the side of my rib cage causing me to tumble to the ground, gripping the spot.

Luna took advantage of my suffering by leaping into the fight, slashing at the creature’s tendrils. Her distraction proved effective as it drew the monster away from me and also gave Twilight and Vinyl a chance to recover.

Looking to the sword upon my hoof, I could see it glowing. The blade was begging for the slaughtering of this monster and I intended to deliver. While the others distracted it, I pulled myself to a stand, staggering a bit as blood dripped down the fresh opening that the spike had made. Gritting my teeth, I took a few pained steps before finally forcing myself to move through the pain. Adrenaline took over and forced me into a leap slashing at the creature from behind while the others fought it.

A bright light shined from the blade as it sliced right through the darkness surrounding the beast and green blood splashed out of its body. It was a direct hit.

The black smog released the creature and seemed to dissolve into nothing, leaving a disfigured beast to collapse to the floor. Twilight and the others blinked in shock, not expecting that plan to work. Before we knew it however, the entire ship began to let off an ear piercing siren, and all the lights began to flash red. “Shit! What’s happening!?” Vinyl asked, covering her ears.

Pinkamena stepped towards the body of the creature and examined some cables attached to it that lead to a control panel. “My guess is the ship was attached to his vitals. It’s designed to self destruct if his vitals drop to zero, probably to prevent any from stealing their technology.”

“Damn it!” Twilight growled. “We could have learned a lot from all of this…”

Looking over at a terminal, Pinkamena retrieved an orb from her bag. “This doesn’t look too advanced, I can probably grab all the non-protected stuff and transfer it to a magic storage orb to review later.” Pinkamena suggested.

Twilight nodded. “Please do; also if possible locate the nearest exit portal.”

Pinkamena began to work on the terminal while I staggered to stay standing. Blood was dripping from my side at an alarming rate. Twilight took notice of my condition and quickly approached. “Shit, Pinkamena hurry, Torch is bleeding!”

I found myself so dizzy, I couldn’t stay awake. Falling to the floor, I tried to keep my eyes open as long as I could, knowing that if I passed out now it would be the end of me. Twilight’s voice was reverbing in my head as she spoke to me. “Come on, Torch stay with us!”

It was too late though, my eyes closed and her voice was drowned out by a silence that made me smile. I could swear that I saw my brother’s face if I focused hard enough.

Author's Notes:

Yes, after over two years of delays, chapter forty is finally here. No this won't be followed by another two year delay, I promise! This effectively marks the end of Act 2 which as you may notice is shorter than Act 1. We more forward into Act 3: The Past in the Shadows with our next saga: "The Nightfoal Saga".

I know many will find this chapter very confusing, but I assure you, there is a LOT of stuff that still needs to be explained that will make this chapter make a LOT more sense in the long run. You'll have to stick with it through Act 3 and 4 and it'll start to make sense! We have a lot of stuff to come and we haven't even really reached the "big" stuff yet.