"Get up, Twilight..." It sounded so familiar to Twilight, warm, caring. Those words echoed in her mind for a few moments before it finally registered. "Get up..." She grabbed a pair of adjacent metal bars, two of the many that surrounded Twilight in her prison cell.

Her body was completely numb like it was all asleep. Her senses were almost completely deadened by Kaiser's excruciatingly painful torture methods. There were slashes all across her face and back, and a few ribs on her right side were fractured, her clothes were in shambles as well. Regardless, she persevered and got to her hooves.

She looked around to find the source of the voice, to find hope, strength, something to dispel her dread, but to no avail. She rested her head on another vertical steel bar and tried to ease her mind. Her whole body was screaming in agony, yet she found herself empty, without feeling. There was no release, however, her body contained the hollow feeling, contained her screams.

"Think, Twilight..." In her peripheral vision, a shimmering glow was visible in the darkest corner of the room, and she looked up. Although, it disappeared as soon as she glanced in its direction. "Think..."

"Celestia?" Twilight called out to the speaker, but her voice was hoarse and dreadful to listen to. She didn't know whether it was just a trauma-induced hallucination or legitimate, but she didn't care. It was enough to reignite her soul though it was still a dim light.

"Yes..." Her voice was hard to hear, but Twilight smiled weakly in response.

"Gek will hear you, Celestia..." Twilight croaked as her eyes fluttered slowly and her smiled faded.

"He cannot, I assure you... but I don't have a lot of time before he notices, so please, listen." Twilight did not have the energy to respond, so she continued. "I don't know where you are or what you're doing, but I can feel your pain. Know that whatever happens, I will be with you, no matter what."

"But what if I-... I can't. This collar I'm wearing-." Twilight tugged on the device around her neck that was negating her magic. "It won't come off."

"You will find a way, you always do, Twilight." Tears began to run down her face as Celestia's soothing voice began to warm her soul. "You alone can achieve great things, and you can escape. Do not let your journey end here, my beloved child. No matter what happens, I believe in you."

"I know..." Twilight wiped away her tears and clenched her fists. She felt her courage return and her wits sharpen. "Thank you."

Just then, she felt Celestia's presence disappear; it was replaced by another force, familiar and menacing. "So, you seem awful bright-eyed all of a sudden. What's gotten into ya? Ya lookin' for another lickin'?" Gek snarled maliciously as he approached her from behind. Twilight didn't reply, looking around for a way out, something to spark her creativity. "Oh, so you're givin' me the silent treatment now, huh? What were you doing in that moment of interference? Who were you talking to?"

"A friend," Twilight replied with a smug grin. "Although, somepony like you wouldn't understand."

"Ooh, sassy..." Gek hissed, watching her roam around the prison cell with his arms crossed and his back against the concrete wall the cell was attached to. "I'm surprised you got your confidence back, seeing as how you were beaten to a bloody pulp. Kiddo, I assure you, you're stuck here."

Twilight scoffed and looked into the dark corner on her right, the same spot where she had seen the familiar light. It was another metal bar, possibly a replacement. It was resting against a concrete pillar, one of the supports for the massive underground complex above. She looked forward and spied a medium sized rock just within arm's reach. It looked weighty enough to provide some momentum, but not sufficient force to break through any barrier, she placed her bets on the bar for that job.

Twilight reached through her cell and grabbed the rock. It was about a pound, enough for what she was planning. Without hesitation, she tore off pieces of her tattered jeans until she was left with upper thigh length shorts, tying the strips into a makeshift rope. She tied the rock to the end.

"Hmm..." Gek observed quietly.

Twilight then used her creation as a poor stallion's grappling hook and swung it around a few times until she gained enough momentum to let it fly. She intended to wrap the bar with the rope, using the rock as a weight. She missed the first shot and tried again, but missed the second time. All those years of reading books didn't really pay off in terms of athleticism. On the third try, she managed to snag it, tying the rope around the middle of the metal bar. It didn't make too much sound, but she didn't want to take the risk of alerting Dr. Gearza's minions or any of the cultists. After taking a deep breath, Twilight tugged on the rope with her right arm, causing the metal bar to fly towards her. Much to her surprise, she caught it in her left hand and exhaled in relief as she slid it into her prison cell.

"Inventive." Gek clapped slowly and sarcastically. "So, what's next?"

Twilight felt the wall for a weak spot with her right hand, then moved it down to the floor, where she identified a chink in the floor. It was a small hole right where the wall intersected with the ground, and the concrete around the narrow opening was thin enough to be chipped away. So, Twilight began to use her metal bar like a pick, and the process lasted a few minutes before she had made a wide enough hole to slide through. The opening she created led to an unknown section of the complex, and she made that assumption based on the fact that there were no lights. With a little hesitation, she slid through the hole quietly and jumped down into the black pit. She grabbed a large chunk of cement off the ground and plugged the hole she made, making sure it looked natural.

"Clever." Gek chuckled as he floated down into the hole after her, but Twilight was still giving him no response. "Oh, lighten up!"

The only light source was the glowing orb that held her collar together. She wanted to find a way to take it off, but not until she escaped. Twilight figured the collar would be able to mask her magic signature, hiding her from Kaiser. She ran down the dimly lit hallway with caution, as she could hear the faint sound of scratching nearby, perhaps a rodent or a rat? Twilight wanted to believe that, but her paranoia had a habit of getting to her in desperate situations. She pressed on, sliding her hand across the rough wall on her right. Twilight eventually stopped at a t-intersection, and looked around, though it was hard to see in such a dark environment, to distinguish an opening from a shadow. She took a left, which led to a dead end, or rather, what was once a dead end. The wall had been smashed open, revealing yet another hidden area of the old building.

The hidden room was certainly old. There was a thin layer of dust covering most objects in the room, and spider webs covered the ceiling like a disturbing duvet. There were glass beakers, test tubes, jars filled with strange specimens, and pieces of old tech left behind by somepony. It was a laboratory, but it obviously wasn't in the best shape. Twilight inspected the walls for a switch of some kind, luckily her time in Ausrüstung taught her a little bit about electricity. She found an old rusty switch, and surprisingly, the room lit up as she flicked it on, although the light was fairly dim.

She wanted to turn around and find another route, but curiosity got the best of her, and she perused the old shelves and drawers, looking for something of value. She found a few books about physics and engineering, but nothing noteworthy. After a few minutes of browsing, Twilight came across an old box, about the size of a large pumpkin, sitting by a wooden table at the end of the room, filled with old papers and small black rectangles that were small in size, no bigger than her own palm. They were each labelled from one to five with big black writing on each item. The first four were labelled 'Dr. Christoph Kaiber's Log', but the second was just signed with illegible scribbles and nonsense.

At first, she had no idea what to do with them, but after inspecting an odd rectangle contraption on the table nearby, she saw a label on it as well. Though the label had no words, simply an arrow pointing down at the open compartment that seemed wide enough to house the little black boxes. She followed the arrow on the little black box and slid it gently into the slot on the machine, pressing the compartment in after she heard a click. She loaded up the first box, and after the machine buzzed a few times, it began to play something. It was a recording of a robotic mare voice that transitioned into a recorded message left by a stallion.

*DR. CHRISTOPH KAIBER LOG: ENTRY NUMBER ONE.*

*Hello? Is zis-... um, yes it is on. I am Dr. Christoph Kaiber, an experimental physicist unt engineer. I have made zeez tapes as a... vay to vent my frustration. You see, very recently, I vas tried for treason by my own country. It vas unfair, unt unjust. Although, I am not angered by zis. I am angered by the foolish decision to drop ze Guiver Device on zis place, zis horrid place! I vas imprisoned in zis room for almost eight years! Eight whole years! Now, here I am once again, thrown avay like some stale piece of bread. I promised myself unt my vife that I vould leave zis place and nevah return, but... my vife is dead. She died a year ago, at ze end of ze war, just as I escaped this retched place. I vas tried for treason the next day.*

*'I had no choice!', I told them. 'Zay forced me to design zeir veapons!". But, zey didn't care. I vas a traitor in zeir eyes. To zem, vith zeir black and vhite vision, I vas evil. I vas exiled, and although I didn't like it, I had to return to zis place... to survive. Now, zare is nothing for me to do here but verk. I vill find a vay to bring her back, I vill! I must begin my verk! I vill update someday soon.*

Twilight loaded the next tape, and looked around the room, stumbling across a drawer full of oddly shaped keys. One of them seemed to fit in the collar nicely, but she hesitated to open it. She listened to the next tape quietly and turned the volume down slightly so that the noise wouldn't echo. She was intrigued by the nervous doctor's story.

*DR. CHRISTOPH KAIBER LOG: ENTRY NUMBER TWO.*

*Using Dr. Aquarius' blueprints, I have made the first android, and it vas a success. Although, she lacks my vife's memories of me. Zare must be a vay to fix zis issue, zare must be a vay! I vill resolve zis issue later, because I have identified strange chemicals in ze air I am currently breathing, no doubt zay are ze leftovahs of ze Guiver Device. I do not know the long-term effects, but for now, I am experiencing mild headaches and nausea. I must remain cautious.*

Twilight placed the third tape in the machine. The next time she heard the stallion's voice he sounded panicked.

*DR. CHRISTOPH KAIBER LOG: ENTRY NUMBER THREE.*

*I cannot continue my verk in zeez conditions! Yesterday I... I saw my vife. She vas sitting on my chair, just over zare in ze corner of ze room. She vas screaming at me... but I-. I couldn't hear her. It vas as if she ver drowning. Ze chemicals are beginning to affect my central nervous system. I must leave zis place at vunce, I-. Vhat vas zat?*

An explosion sound cut out the audio and the tape ended, which intrigued Twilight even more. She popped the fourth tape in.

* DR. CHRISTOPH KAIBER LOG: ENTRY NUMBER FOUR.*

*Zare vas a... explosion. I am trapped in zis room vith no vay of escape. I am running out of time, and options. I see only vun method of escape. To prevent my eventual death, I must transfer my mind into an android body using ze limited resources I have at my disposal. Zare is no telling vhat it vill do to my mind. Vithout a natural endocrine system or an adequate supply of ze organic chemicals needed to generate emotion, I fear I may completely wipe my mind clean. But I must not lose hope, for her. I vill see you again, someday, Helga... I know I vill.*

Twilight's shook her head, pitying the poor doctor who had to make such a hard decision. She loaded up the last tape. This tape sounded harsher, colder, more robotic. The robotic mare voice was corrupted, replaced by a low, groaning voice that shook her to the core. Then, she heard the corrupted voice of Dr. Gearza.

*DR. CHR- CHR- GEARZA'S LOG: ENTRY NUMBER F- F- WARNING: CORRUPTED*

*I have nevah felt more alive. My thoughts are so clear unt precise... so beautiful, deprived of veak thoughts that distracted me before. I must share zis gift vith ze vorld. Yes... I must share zis beauty vis ze vorld.*

"So, now you know how our dear Dr. Gearza got his crazy!" Gek cackled to himself and jumped off of the wooden table. "What a quack, huh?"

"Did you do this to him?" Twilight's face contorted into an angered glare.

"The idiot did it to himself, I had nothin' to do with it," Gek snarled as he slithered behind Twilight and put one arm around her shoulder. "I don't cause chaos, doll... ponies do. I just play with fate a little."

"What happened to him after?" She asked, although she didn't expect to get a straight answer.

"Kaiser found him, obviously. He fixed him up, got him in his best clothes, and took em to church!" He laughed again. "Oh, he's just having a grand ol' time now!"

Twilight wanted to punch Gek, but she knew that would only satisfy him even more. She poked her head out of the opening and headed out into the dark hallway again, shutting off the switch in the laboratory to cover her tracks.

Just when she was about to take the other path, she heard the sound of metal claws scraping against stone. They found her empty cell. She made a quick decision and took off her collar. While she would be visible to Kaiser for a brief moment, she knew that would be much more preferable than being chased by the Gearza's skeletons.

"Smart move, pumpkin," Gek grinned. "Let's see how far you get!"

Twilight dropped the metal bar and replaced it with the collar, ran down the hall as fast as she could, and disappeared into the shadows, hoping she would find some light at the end of the tunnel.

Author's Notes:

Gearza has a cliche German accent, which is why his speech is spelled in such a way. As always, I hope you enjoyed! See you in the next chapter!