Frantic panting along with the hasty hoofbeats of several ponies echoed through the hallways of the lower level labs. A group of seven Black Box guards and two lab technicians, sprinted down the sets of evacuated cubicles. To their right were a variety of generic, glass chemistry setups and lab tables, left abandoned since the recent evacuation of the staff floors. On the other side, steam tubes hissed and wheezed as if sporting mercilessly sore throats. In their mad dash, they bumped into the glass beakers and paper piles perched at the edges of tables, sending them to the floor. From behind, the sounds of fully automatic shard guns discharged in sporadic bursts, signaling contact a few yards back.

The group turned a corner and stopped at a dead end, gasping for breathe in the dim light. The sounds of shard fire had eerily ceased, causing the group to wonder. They glanced around at each other questioningly before one spoke.

“Do you think they got him?” a guard whispered in between heavy breaths.

Another pivoted his ears, listening closely. “I don’t know, but we need to get out of here right now,” he said in a harsh whisper. “We’ll be seriously screwed if we don’t find another way around.”

They had ended up right next to the entrance of a test cell, a small, empty room with shard-proof glass set in the front face for observation. The clear vault was placed at the back of the lab where an elevator or transport hub was usually located, which meant the only way out of the room would be to go back down the pathway they had come from.

“Aw hell, he just came out of nowhere. Barely even gave us time to think before tearing through more than half the patrol,” another said before turning to one of the lab techs. “You still get those papers?”

The lab tech nodded back. “Yeah, they’re in the packs.” He motioned his head back to a pair of saddlebags. “Is the warden sure he wants to do this? I mean... It seems a little drastic.”

The same guard shook his head in disagreement. “We may not have a choice. With the power down on the lower floors, and the system glitching like crazy, we’ll have to.”

Down the hallway, a young red and blue pegasus rounded the corner, limping along before grunting in pain and collapsing.

One of the guards gawked in surprise and pointed a hoof. “Hey look! Quickfire made it!”

The guards all turned and adopted similar looks of astonishment before and rushing down the hallway to help their fallen comrade.

The young pegasus was in a complete daze. Blood leaked from a large cut in his side and his vision had already started to blur from the loss of vital fluids. He shuddered as the sounds of the raspy steam vents gradually became more tinny and distorted, even seeming to call to him as he felt his body growing colder. They seemed... particularly insistent about getting his attention. He weakly turned to face the members of his squad. His eyes widened in horror and he shakily forced himself to sit up.

“No! Stop! Go back. You need to get out of here,” He yelled frantically. “He’s coming this way. We can’t stop him!”

Every last one of them turned pale as they heard the sound of Quickfire’s ribs snapping paired with the wet squelch of tearing flesh as the pony’s body suddenly ripped in two, his torso blasting apart in the opposite direction of the hallway he had come from. The explosion of blood and tissue painted the walls red and the wave of gore annihilated the setups of flimsy cubicles and portable lab stations. The group stood stunned and speechless. It was as if he had been mercilessly rend in half by a giant butcher’s cleaver, but nothing had touched him.

“Oh, Celestia, I think I’m going to be sick,” one of the guards groaned out.

An equine shadow manifested itself, spreading across the lower half of the unfortunate guard, and paused for a moment. The guards all froze in place, hearts ready to beat out of their chest’s as they watched the outline move around the corner. They had never dealt with anything like this before. As if in slow motion, a black stallion with a menacing skull cutie mark moved around the corner, and turned to glare down at them. His mouth was turned down into a menacing grimace and they could see his bright scarlet eyes reflecting light in the darkness like spheres of infrared.

His mane started to move and billow as if influenced by nonexistent wind and a dark purple aura formed around him. He mumbled a single word, his tone saturated with a searing hate. “Suffer.”

Before any of the guards could think, the closest of them, a forest green unicorn, burst in half spewing blood in all directions. The group reeled shock as the realization hit them. He intended to slaughter them all. They started to panic, each pony’s mind frantically trying to figure out the best way to survive. The majority of the group immediately backpedaled and ran for their lives, while the remaining three or so hastily reached for their rifles.

“Shoot! Kill him!” One of the guard’s yelled in a panic. Without bothering to properly aim, he raised his shard gun and sprayed full blast at the malicious stallion before him. Abyss nonchalantly turned his eyes to his first assailant. To the horror and dismay of the guard, each fired shard immediately burst apart mid air, sparking in a dazzling, multi-colored light show mere feet from the muzzle.

Abyss lowered his eyes at the pony. “Pathetic,” he hissed.

Before the gun’s clip emptied, the device ruptured apart from tip to stock in a rough burst of metal and mechanical parts. The unfortunate guard’s arm was caught in the same invisible, tearing wave and severed straight down the middle. The poor pony screamed out in agony just before another invisible force smashed down upon him from above. The impact bent the metal floor and crushed him under foot, silencing him in an instant.

The other two guards were in the middle of bringing their firearms up to when Abyss turned to them. The first was quickly impacted several times in rapid succession by similar unseen blows. His pupils dilated and his mouth dropped open as the breath was knocked out of him and his bones broke inward.

Before his body could even fall, the other guard to his side appeared to have been forcibly stabbed through the mouth, the back of his neck bursting out blood. He was quickly pulled to the side and into the guard to his right as both were sideswiped into the steam vents. The glass tubes cracked with a sickly crunch at the force of the impact. The damaged machinery squealed before violently bursting in a large, pressurized explosion of hissing hot water vapor.

Abyss burst out of the white cloud, shrugging off what would have severely seared a normal pony, and without another moment to spare, dashed forward to pursue the remainder of the Black Box staff.

At the end of the hallway the two frightened lab techs, a senior member in a navy blue lab coat and a younger in a white one, had made for the nearby testing cell and had been joined by a handful of the retreating guards.

“Come on, get in! The walls are reinforced!” the senior tech yelled to the approaching ponies, as he motioned a forehoof behind him. The Black Box guards had gotten spread out down the small stretch and were being picked off one at a time by their pursuer.

Abyss was on the heels one such unfortunate guard. The stallion’s eyes open wide and his heart raced as he heard his pursuer rapidly closing the gap on him. In a last second of desperation, the armored stallion turned and sprayed his firearm, only hit open air or parts of the floor. Abyss took advantage of the lag in movement and lunged, grabbing the pony by his forehoove. Abyss spun and tossed his victim behind him and into the air. Before the guard could land, a crushing force tore him in half and flung his body into more of the steam tubes. The vent glass let out a chilling crunch and a high pitched hiss then burst, rocking the floor with the force of its pressure release. Abyss again launched from the super heated fumes toward the next stallion.

The younger tech’s eyebrows turned up and he bit his lip. “Dear Celestia, he’s unstoppable! They’re not going to make it.”

The senior lab pony gritted his teeth and let out a frustrated groan. “Ugh, we’re out of time. He’s too fast.”

One of the guard pony’s whisked past them and into the reinforced cell. He was panting heavily and collapsed, mostly from relief rather than fatigue.

The senior tech immediately turned to the guard. “Quick! Help me close the blast door. There isn’t any power in the tumblers,” he said.

Both ponies then quickly moved to the end of a steel sliding door at the side of the opening. Meanwhile, Abyss had caught up to another armored pony.

The pony, a unicorn, turned and drew a standard machete with his telekinesis. He shook slightly and gritted his teeth as he stared directly at his enemy. The edges surged brightly as the blade was charged by the unicorn’s magic. A frantic yell rose out from his lungs and he dashed forward. Abyss simply stared, keeping the same hateful glare as the unicorn moved in and slashed diagonally, aiming to carve into the death pony’s shoulder. The blade shattered mere inches above Abyss’ flesh, sending sparks and shrapnel in the opposite direction and left the unicorn continuing mid swing with little more than a hilt. Abyss didn’t even flinch. The guard’s eyes widened and mouth dropped as he watched his blade’s slivers blowing apart without his enemy having so much as twitched. Before he could even contemplate what had happened, his body shuddered violently and sprayed blood along several invisible seams before falling to pieces before Abyss.

Abyss’ eyes immediately darted forward. The surviving squad members were in the middle of closing the large steel door, and attempting to seal themselves in a test cell at the end of the hall. He bolted forward, his teeth clenched. He was determined to end them all.

The guard’s and senior tech grunted and strained against the metal frame, as it grinded against the inoperative guide rails. The door sparked and squealed, its weight pressing against the floor. One of the guards looked up to see the last of their squad being finished off. He shut his eyes and turned away, wincing.

“How the hell is he doing that? He’s not even touching them half the time!”

“C’mon! Hold it together!” the senior tech snapped, his voice strained from pushing.

They could see Abyss through the shard proof glass, barreling down to catch them before the door shut.

“We’re not going to make it,” another guard gasped out under the effort of his pushing.

“Yes we will!” the lab tech forced out before heaving and pushing harder. “We have to try!”

The door was now only a few inches away from its locks. Fortunately they had been mechanical and would still work even without power. They would just have to wait in the dark while backup arrived. It was much better than taking their chances with Abyss.

Abyss watched as the door slowly ground its way closer to the edge of the wall, and though its pace paled in comparison to his own stride, he realized he wouldn’t make it. Abyss charged his mark as he quickly gained ground on the slowly closing gate. A vicious growl rose from his throat before turning into a full blown blood cry as a purple aura surged around him. He whipped his head in their direction as if tossing something. Dust and dirt were picked up in a sudden wave of wind that rocketed down at the steel entrance. The door was but a fraction of an inch away when its frame shuddered and lurched with a low pitched clang. The group groaned and pushed, hooves slipping under them as they exerted themselves to their limits, but the door wouldn’t budge an inch.

“What the heck happened?” one of the guards yelled in a panicked voice.

Another continued trying to force it closed. “Augh. It’s stuck!”

“What did he do?” another cried.

They heard hoovesteps approach at the outside of the cell door. The sound of screeching metal again met their ears as the door rumbled and sparks faintly lit the cell.

“Alright guys! Let’s keep it up!” a guard yelled with gusto.

They kept pushing for a moment before the feeling of their hooves being pushed back met their attention.

“Whoa, wha...?” one said.

The group glanced down and their faces turned pale.

The door was grinding open.

They watched as a black hoof and a single glowing red eye appeared slowly in the increasing gap. Abyss had somehow stopped it from closing at the last second as was now single handedly forcing it open whilst the rest of the ponies battled to push it closed.

“No no no!” a guard said, panicking.

“What in Equestria? How is he doing that?!”

“Oh my Celestia. He’s going to kill us!”

Suddenly, Abyss quickly ducked out from the gap just before a burst of magic shards splintered and sparked along the opening. The ponies at the door turned, stunned and speechless, to see the younger lab tech brandishing a standard issue shard gun which was enveloped in a colored aura as it hovered in the air. A gash in the wall blasted just to his left along the cell’s walls.

“Close it quick!” he yelled as he fired off several more shots down the crack, being careful to move the pistol over with his magic and not exposing himself.

The guards glanced at each other, but quickly responded and closed the door. The lock clicked and the sound of rumbling tumblers in the wall assured them that it had been secured.

The ponies collapsed and breathed heavily. A thunderous impact racked against the door like a freight train, filling the air with a harsh ring. The force was felt through the floor, as another came, then another, and another. Each sounding like a missile slamming full bore into the steel bulkhead.

One of the guards swallowed, sweat running down his muzzle as he and the rest of the platoon waited. “He’s mad...” he whispered in the darkness.

Another impact rocked the door frame, its metal parts audibly bending under the force. A roaring impact rocked through the space as the metal doors resounded again under another furious blow.

“—but he can’t get in.” The guard cracked a smile.

The younger lab tech breathed a sigh of relief and lowered the pistol he’d been aiming at the door. “Now we radio backup?”

“Right.” A voice he could only assume was the senior tech, answered. The sound of a radio clicked on. Static echoed back. “I’ll try to find a good signal,” the tech said, as he proceeded to adjust knobs on the side of the device.

The younger tech was just about to relax when something caught his eye by the observation window. There was almost no light in the cell, but a tiny trickle crept in around the side of the window. The tech squinted and peered out into the darkness. There was nothing he could see from where he was so he moved closer, nearing the edge of the glass. He craned his neck to try to look around the side of the door. He could see just a little bit of the adjacent lab and the front of the door. No black pony in sight. He turned around and sat down, breathing out slowly. His heart-rate slowed and his muscles relaxed.

“I think he’s gone,” he said calmly.

A giant gash appeared on the observation glass with a shrill crack, just at the base of the pony’s neck. The young lab tech heart skipped a beat and his eyes shot wide open. He hastily scrambled to his feet and retreated away from the window. Plastered across the clear surface was an arc of white, crinkled glass. The young tech rubbed a hoof across his neck as he breathed heavily. The rest of the ponies followed and moved to the opposite side, and stared wide eyed at the cut.

“You said it was shard-proof right?” one of the guards asked the senior tech.

Another gash appeared out of nowhere, impacting at a different angle but with the same shrill and chilling crunch. Sets of slash marks started appearing in rapid succession. The glass started to accumulate deep cracks that went straight through, rather than breaking just in the center layer.

The senior lab tech started shaking. “Yeah... Shard-proof.”

*************************************************************************

Wave Chaser’s eyes dipped sleepily as she sat and watched the door to the maintenance closet. Behind her, Quick Step snored away in his typical sprawled out position. The stallion was definitely a heavy sleeper, which was quite an odd contrast to his overactive, awakened state.

Maybe this is part of his mark’s recoil, she thought with a yawn. Every dark mark had one, if not a few, drawbacks. Intense fatigue would make sense as a drawback for his.

A large snot bubble inflated from Quick Step’s nose, and after being inflated to about the size of his head, it popped. The stallion’s leg twitched and he resumed his blissful slumber, completely unaware.

Wave Chaser shuddered in disgust and stuck out her tongue in a mock gag. Yeah, maybe not. It was probably just Quick Step being Quick Step.

She glanced down at her cutie mark and sighed. It was an odd design to be sure, but then again dark marks did have a tendency to be a bit... off. Her mark consisted of an odd looking hourglass with three different sized gears connecting behind it. By the edges, four streaks circled from behind the group, and wrapped around like talons. The whole mark was colored a mix of blacks and dark gray. When a mark was used, a red pulsing would always flair up and grow in intensity, but for now, it stayed its usual dormant monochrome.

Wave Chaser turned back to the door, and resumed her patient waiting. The door responded by silently standing in place like a unwavering obstacle, stubbornly refusing to open and reveal her friend. Wave Chaser pawed her hooves at the floor and bit her lip. What if he wasn’t okay? She rose and nervously paced back and forth, eyes never leaving the rectangular portal. Her head shook and sat herself firmly back down. He said stay here and be safe.

Wave Chaser’s thoughts drifted back to her earlier argument with Origin.

“It’s nothing you can help with,” he said, his voice sounding cracked .

“Come on. I can help if you just talk to me.”

“It doesn’t matter. Just forget it.”

“How can it not matter? You’re out here, all alone, middle of the night-”

Origin whirled around face still visibly tearing. “Wave Chaser, stop it!” he barked.

Warm tears welled up in her eyes. “Stupid Origin,” she mumbled. Why did he always have to be like that? I just wanted to help. She lay down and placed her head across her hooves. He’s had something bothering him recently. Wave Chaser looked back at her cutie mark. Maybe—Maybe I can try again.

She concentrated, and watched her mark start to oscillate a dull red. Her heart started to beat faster as she felt it charging up. Wave Chaser quickly snapped her eyes shut and shook her head.

“No I can’t. It’ll mess up like usual,” she whispered as she silently scolded herself. “It always makes bad things happen. Using it isn’t worth it.” She stomped a hoof down, steadying her resolve and narrowing her eyes. Just going to wait, and stay-

The crack of a shard gun met her ears. The blood drained from Wave Chaser’s face as her breath caught in her throat.

“Oh no,” her voice cracked as her heart rate began to rush. “No, no, no. Origin! Oh, Celestia.” Her breathing slowed, becoming harsh and irregular, as images of Origin shot and bleeding out passed through her mind. She jolted to her hooves, moved over to Quick Step and started shaking him. “C’mon dummy get up! Get up now!” she hissed between gritted teeth.

Quick Step was stubbornly catatonic as he continued to snore away. “Bitches don’t know ‘bout mah swag,” he mumbled incoherently, turning to his side and grinning.

Wave Chaser mouth dropped slightly ajar, and her right eye twitched. “Get up idiot!” she yelled, vehemently smacking him across the face with a hoof.

The young stallion’s face snapped to the side and his eyes instantly opened. He slowly turned to her with a confused look, observing her heavy breathing and watering eyes. “Uh, was I talking in my sleep again?” Quick Step asked with a sheepish grin. “If so, I am really sorry about the saddle thing. I’m sure your mom isn’t that kind of mare.”

“Shh, quiet. Origin needs your help. He might have just gotten sho- wait, what do you mean saddle thing?”

Quick Step ducked his head and looked off to the side. “Oh, nothing! Nevermind.”

Wave Chaser rolled her eyes. “We’ll settle that later. Get up and go see if Origin’s okay,” she said, pointing a hoof to the door.

Quick Step raised an eyebrow to his friend. “You know what his mark’s power is right? He can regenerate, like, forever.” He flopped back down on his improvised bedspread. “If there’s one guy you don’t have to worry about, it’s Origin. He’ll be okay.”

“Aren’t you worried he might not be okay this time?”

“Nope,” Quick Step answered, not lifting his head.

“So what? He can just keep doing that like he’s immortal?”

“Yup. That’s what he told me.”

“And there’s no recoil or limit to it?”

Quick Step opened his eyes and was silent for a moment. “I guess... I don’t know, he never really talks about what his recoil is. Says it’s not important.”

“It doesn’t matter. Just forget it.”

The words from their previous argument echoed through Wave Chasers head. “That’s what I was worried about,” she mumbled to herself.

“Mm?”

“I think his recoil is bothering him somehow.”

“What? He’s not interested in making out?”

Another harsh smack came across his cheek. Quick Step rubbed his face with a hoof and opened one eye to see a upset looking Wave Chaser. “I suppose I deserved that,” he said.

“I’m going to warn him.” She turned her back to him.

“Yeeeeah—” Quick Step yawned, “You have fun with that—” Suddenly, his eyes snapped open and he jolted upright. “Wait a minute! You don’t mean?”

Wave Chaser’s mane began wafting as if influenced by an invisible breeze, her mark pulsing a bright red. Her mouth was turned down in a frown and her eyes blinked back tears. “I’m going back to warn him.” The room rumbled as a blue aura formed over Wave Chaser.

“No! Wave Chaser don’t! The recoil is too much.”

She looked back at her friend with tears streaming down her face. Quick Step got up to try to grab her, but her was too late. “Time Walk!” she yelled. Her mark suddenly surged a bright red and her form vanished in a burst of light, leaving only glowing blue wisps of magic in her wake. Quick Step idly walked over to the place Wave Chaser had stood moments ago. His shoulders sunk and his eyes fell downcast.

“Wave Chaser, what are you doing? Is he really that important to you?”

********************************************************************************************************

Warden Atmosphere put on his best counterfeit smile as he and Celestia walked down the first floor’s white hallways. He snapped his gaze back and forth like stalked prey, locking onto Celestia while being very careful to somehow watch his surroundings. The Warden was noticeably jittery, but that no longer mattered. She wouldn’t be able to notice now.

“Looks like you’re busy as usual,” Celestia said in her usual melodic tone, as she glanced around, and smiled.

Atmosphere nodded inattentively. He was more focused on the task at hand. Play along, get inspection over with, and get back to preventing any possible implications of a dark mark user getting out.

He glanced over his shoulder at Reach. The pony’s eyes were glowing an eerie bright white, and his expression was cold and solemn, as if nothing mattered to him anymore. He stared ahead, and kept pace with them like a mindless drone. Atmosphere shivered. The combined change in personality paired with his hauntingly blank eyes always had an unnerving quality that couldn’t particularly be explained. Or maybe it was just what Reach could do to a person given the chance? Maybe it was what Reach was doing right now.

“What has you so distracted?”

Celestia’s soothing voice snapped the warden out of his speculative trance. He quickly turned his attention back to his superior to find she had stopped and tracked his gaze right back to the white eyed Falter Reach. Both alicorn and unicorn gazed blankly at one another, standing still without a word for what seemed like an eternity.

Atmosphere froze. Shoot. Reach didn’t forget, did he? She’s staring right at him! He applied anxious pressure to the floor through a hoof. The air felt heavy, and the tension was making it hard to breath as Atmosphere did his best to act calmly.

“Does it always take so long to fill patient’s medications?” Celestia said softly, finally breaking the silence.

Atmosphere snapped to Celestia then back to Reach. They were completely alone. The stallion’s eyebrows angled up in uncertainty.

“Your majesty?” he asked with hesitation.

“The two young patients you were looking at over there,” Celestia said, nodding down the hall. “They’re getting their medication. They look very... uncomfortable.” A tinge of sadness seeped through her tone as she dropped her last word.

The warden looked back only to see Reach, motionless, and an empty hallway stretching back a few feet.

“...Well,” he began slowly, careful with choosing his words. “Some of the younger ones are a bit nervous about getting treatment shots.” He turned again to face Celestia, looking for reassurance. Her eyes looked out to the longingly, reflecting back nothing more than the empty white halls around them, as she watched the two young ponies fidgeting uncomfortably.

Without a response, Celestia moved down the hall toward the pair of fillies. Reach casually stepped aside as she moved past. Neither gave any form of eye contact or acknowledgement. Atmosphere quickly made haste to keep up with her much larger stride, while Reach sat down and gazed out blankly in the other direction. Within a few steps Celestia stopped and lowered her head. Her stare met the clean, achromatic floor tiles.

“It will be alright little ones. It’s for the best,” she said, with a kind and motherly tone. “Soon, you’ll be all better and you can go back home.” Celestia closed her eyes and nuzzled into the void.

Atmosphere stood by, watching as his sovereign communicated with two illusory filly’s that he was unable to hear or see.

Reach did it every inspection. He’d paint the nightmarish halls of Black Box with a depiction of a kind of help center. After all, that’s what they needed. Celestia wasn’t a tyrant and seemed to lack the ability to show any form of cruelty. An image of the perfect ruler. At least she would be, in a perfect world. Atmosphere shrugged and looked off as he waited.

“This world is far from perfect,” he mumbled low.

Lost in her own world, Celestia giggled harmoniously by herself. “You’re so much cuter when you smile,” she said with an elegant grin. “Oh really? What’s that?” Celestia paused and listened for a moment before turning to Atmosphere. “Well?”

Nervousness once again returned to the warden as he was cast into the spotlight. “Y-yes?”

“Did you hear them?”

Atmosphere glanced to where Celestia had been directing her attention and saw a spotless, empty area.

“They were wondering if they could forgo their usual shots today?” Her mouth was slightly ajar and her eyebrows were turned upward, as if she had come to unintentionally plead on their behalf.

“Uh-” Atmosphere tapped his hoof on the floor as he thought to himself. Ironically enough, if they had been real he’d easily be able to judge whether this was reasonable or not. Right now it was no different from flipping a coin in ones head. At least seemingly.

“No. No, I’m afraid not,” he said.

Celestia listened attentively, doing her best not to show any kind of disappointment, but one could tell something had deflated her spirit just the slightest.

“I’m sorry your majesty. As much as I’d like to oblige that request, they’ll never get better if we don’t keep treating them. These dark marks are very dangerous. Sacrifices must be made, at times,” the warden explained as earnestly, yet sternly as he could.

Celestia’s eyes dropped and looked back to the spot where she saw the fillies. “Stay strong, my little ponies,” the graceful deity said quietly, before turning and continuing on their way.

Atmosphere let out a breath and watched Celestia out of the corner of his eye as they walked down through the corridors. She had a distant look, as she watched the ephemeral illusions pass around her, nodding now and again to some of the illusory staff. Reach hadn’t moved an inch and was still sitting down and facing the other direction, waiting for them to continue. He stood and followed the pair as soon as they passed.

Celestia was still looking around at the empty halls, taking in the sights and sounds being projected straight into her mind. The power over perception, Atmosphere mused to himself. Truly a great and terrible ability. Not even an immortal is safe.

It was the power of Falter Reach’s dark mark—ability tag: nightmare. With a quick mental connection he could control every synapse of a being’s senses. Everything from the taste of sugar, to the feeling of one’s skin being set aflame were all at his command.

Interestingly enough, he had actually been set as a B-class, a tier populated by mostly NMT casters, when he had first arrived. By their common standards it was actually quite accurate. Reach’s power technically had no offensive potential and it required a connection with a host, something that could only be done to a single individual at a time, so he wasn’t seen as a threat.

At least at first.

The staff soon learned how hard it was to ignore a pony who could convince any guard that his friends were nightmarish horrors, and the only way to save himself was to kill them.

Not only that, but he had a history to be particularly pitiless and malevolent to anyone who came to threaten his little sister. There was one guard a few months back that had made the mistake of hitting her.

Nopony was completely sure how Reach had done it, but somehow he had gotten loose from his cell after hours and got the guard alone. Atmosphere shuddered. He had watched the security footage. At the time, the spell algorithm for their monitors didn’t allow for audio, and thank Celestia it didn’t. The video simply showed Reach sitting stock still as a helpless guard screamed and writhed. The black armored pony was tormented by hallucinations for hours before finally slitting his own throat to make it end.

Atmosphere closed his eyes and restored the mental protection spell, as he waited for Celestia to finish a conversation with a nonexistent staff member. They were almost through the first floor. He yawned and stretched, pushing his forehooves out in front of him to extend his back. There really wasn’t much here. The first floor was kind of like a futuristic hospital. Everything was neat, clean, and painted—more for show and than anything—with linoleum floors and automatic NMT doors painted with red trim on the edge that slid open. There were a few rooms that functioned as offices now and again, as well as a few holding areas where a subject could be examined before admittance. These rooms looked similar to what one would find in any operation room except with a few minor differences. They were set into the walls with the hallway facing section being made of shard-proof glass. Each came with an operating table that could be raised from the floor, complete with its own steel restraints, and a few control collars, like the one Reach had on, if proven necessary. Reach was probably censoring those little details, anyways.

Censored or not, the first floor was still pretty blank. All the useful equipment had to be stored on the lower levels, due to the power that most of the machines needed, and mark users couldn’t be held so high up either—it was far too close to freedom if any detainee got loose. For the most part, it was just a way to the surface. Most of Black Box was underground, organized in layers of threat level from C-class all the way down to A-class... and then a little deeper for a few special cases.

Atmosphere nodded to Celestia, and she returned the gesture with a smile after noticing he’d been waiting patiently. Atmosphere motioned for her to follow to an elevator at the end of the hallway.

It was kind of an ironic situation, given how she was at Reach’s mercy. Celestia almost always had a sense of calm around her and rarely travelled with a guard escort because of the simple fact that she was the supposed equivalent of a god. Atmosphere chuckled to himself as he, Celestia and Reach moved into an elevator. It’s probably a good thing that the princess was as powerful as she was.

It made her feel safe.

The warden pushed a button labelled ‘level 2’ and the room responded with a momentary jolt before slowly moving down. Let’s see then... Atmosphere thought as he started his mental checklist. We’ve got to go over some of this week’s power usage and costs... Might be hard to explain the surge we experienced with A-class number 223. Then there are some of the research updates to go over, as well as the engineering changes to the facility. There’s no need to inform her of the latest chemical side-projects, or the chimeric trials—

A ringing shook Atmosphere out of his train of thought. He blinked and looked down to see a small, blinking light, showing through his lab coat pocket. A PDA was quickly brought up in front of his face, encased in a magic field emanating from his horn. Now who the heck would be sending me a message at a time like this? The staff for the upper floors have been evacuated and— Atmosphere’s froze as he dropped the device.

He quickly fumbled for a buzzer on his side, which let out a high chirp. Reach, who was currently sitting right in front of Celestia, flinched and jolted his ears up.

“You’re muted,” Reach murmured. “Keep it quick. I can’t handle taking in Celestia’s senses, manipulating them in real time, and carrying a full conversation for long.”

“There’s been a serious change in plans,” Atmosphere said, careful to keep his mouth facing away from Celestia.

“Wait, what?”

Atmosphere nervously tapped a hoof and kept his eyes fixed on the numeral countdown at the top of the elevator doors. “There are going to be two guards when we get to the second layer. They will act as escort for the two of you.”

The elevator doors slid open and the three walked out, making their way to a dark and rusty, metal hallway. Two guards with black, steel plated armor and dark tinted helmets stood at attention on opposite sides of the corridor. Both had two orange stripes that flanked the sides of their chest plates and on the cheeks of their helmets, signifying their rank. Reach immediately blocked them out from Celestia’s senses. “Where are you going?” he inquired suspiciously.

“There’s something that requires my immediate attention,” Atmosphere answered. He carefully kept aware not to react to the guards beginning to follow them as soon as they passed. Reach noted the guards move like voiceless sharks to either side of him through Celestia’s discriminant vision.

“I don’t get it. What could be more important than the evaluation of Black Box?” Reach said.

Atmosphere paused as they approached an intersection of halls. Reach cocked his head to the side and arched an eyebrow as he noticed the warden’s sudden hesitation.

“What he means to say is...” a voice echoed down to them from the shadows at the edges of the crossing. Reach quickly scrambled to mute the sound just before Celestia had processed it. He consciously readied himself to block any more stimulation from anyone besides Atmosphere.

“The real creators of Black Box have come to visit,” it continued. A dark purple unicorn with black magic runes carved across his body and face slowly turned the corner, revealing himself and giving a wild smile. He was followed by an apprehensive looking pegasus with chained wings and a solemn pony who wore a dark green trench coat and a Staliongrad military cap.

A bouncing pink pony with curly purple hair and a propeller hat bounced out of the dark just moments after, beaming and looking around excitedly. “Oh, my gosh, uncle Echo! Are we gonna have fun and cause lots of chaos today?”

The middle unicorn, Echo as he was called, adjusted the dusty brown cloak that hung around his neck and across his back, and chuckled at the energetic little pony.

“Yes, screwball,” he said with a smirk, “There will be tons of both.”