Chapter 27: Shifting Tides: Part 2
I told Nikola everything. I told him about falling into Equestria, about meeting the Mane 6, the dreams from the princesses, returning to Earth. I skipped over the more personal details, but for the most part, once I was finished, he knew pretty much the whole story. It was freeing — in a sense — to say everything to someone else. I'd talked to Rainbow Dash about the situation, but it was difficult to relate my feelings to someone who didn't understand the human world. She would listen, of course, but I could tell that she didn't really get it. With Tesla, I could tell that he understood not just the words that I spoke, but the feelings behind the words. I could've mistook him for a therapist given the way his demeanor changed once the truth began to spew forth. He listened raptly, and prodded me forward when my train of thought began to derail. There was no way for me to tell how long I spoke, but I could tell from the tightness of my throat and hoarseness of my voice that it had been quite a while. After it was clear that I was done, Tesla had leaned forward to the point that his nose was almost touching the window. He pressed the button to activate the PA and said, "That was extremely enlightening. I appreciate your cooperation in this leg of the procedure." "Yeah," I said, "any time. Does this mean you're gonna take these off now?" I asked, jerking my neck downward vaguely at the restraints in which I was held. Speaking for so long — directing the conversation — had emboldened me, it seemed. "Oh, but we haven't begun the physical examination." Nikola said.
Physical... examination..?
"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked, but given my limited experience with this man, I knew it was a useless inquiry. Tesla simply leaned back into his chair and pressed something out of my view. A moment later, the wall to my left slid open. The entire side of the room simply disappeared. In the now-revealed adjacent room sat Twilight in a chair identical to the one in which I was sat. She seemed to be going through a thought process similar to mine; I watched her eyes dart from where the wall had been to my chair and its restraints. At least, I hoped she was staring at the chair.
"Brony are you okay?" She asked. I looked around at the room. "No, not really. Not at all." I replied. "That's a reasonable state to be in, given the situation, I think." Twilight replied. The PA clicked on, "If you two are quite finished..." Tesla said. Twilight immediately straightened in her chair, as much as possible with her limited range of movement, at least. As I refocused on Nikola, a part of my attention remained on Twilight. I was just able to glance at her out of my periphery. My reptile brain was somewhat distracted by her nude form; her lithe body, her small but very shapely breasts, and her astonishingly well-groomed pubic hair — a neat triangle of dark hair pointing me toward-
Not the time, Zack. Bigger fish to fry...
I began attempting to formulate some sort of plan, but each train of thought I boarded inevitably derailed upon coming to "Gotta Get Out Of This Place" Station.
I feel so useless. Tesla said that there are anti-magic wards, and these restraints are pretty tight from what struggling I've been able to do. It was so nice to be able to do magic, and now just as I'm starting to take it for granted, it's taken away.
I noticed Nikola begin to tap away at something out of my view. In much the same manner as the wall just a moment ago, a bit of the floor recessed and slid out of the way. From this new void emerged a long, slender, metal arm. The arm was highly polished and slender with bits of exposed hydraulics and wires. Most disconcertingly, though, it ended in a five-pronged claw. "W-what is this thing for‽" I shouted. I could feel my heart once again beating in my throat. "It is nice that I can re-instill in you the precariousness of your situation." Jeredi said. I was so taken aback by the emotional whiplash of Nikola at one moment listening to my autobiography, and at the next... "Okay Brony I'm starting to panic now too!" Twilight said, ripping my attention from the arm in front of me and fixing it squarely on the identical one in front of her. "Actually I might inform you two that panic is a bit better than the alternative. A heightened heart rate would be extremely helpful." Nikola said.
Helpful to what?
The clawed roboarm began to move. I could just barely see in the darkened room behind the window that Tesla was putting on a pair of gloves of some variety.
Must be some kind of remote control. That would imply that this is something that would require fine motor skills. Something that couldn't be automated. Something surgical.
Nikoli finished sliding his hands into the gloves. He flexed his fingers and both roboarms — the one in front of me and the one in front of Twilight — flexed with him. "Are you two familiar with the concept of chakras?" Jeredi asked. "What ar-" Twilight began, but I cut her off, "Yeah. W-why do you ask?" "How very chauvinist of you. Talking over a lady like that." Tesla said. From the dark interior of the room, I could see disappointment on his face. "Chakras, my dear Twilight Sparkle, are a spiritual concept here on this planet. They are purported to be pathways for energy through one's body, something similar to science's current understanding of veins that carry oxygenated blood. I've found, through some extremely complex research the details of which I shan't bore you, that magic in this world is conjured through a means that is not unlike focusing one's chakras. Each sort of magic originates from specific passages of the body, and can be directed more easily by focusing on those passages. This all in contrast to the use of magic in a realm like Equestria, where the creatures had the good sense to evolve specific magical organs." Tesla explained, punctuating his thought by using the roboarms to tap Twilight and I on the forehead, where our horns would be.
That must be why it's so much harder to use magic on Earth. My body isn't as adapted to doing magic as a unicorn's body is...
"All this to say that our bodies run with a sort of imperceptible magical pathway like the cardiovascular system. And also like the blood currently flowing through your cardiovascular system, the magic coursing through you... can be drawn." Nikola said sinisterly. The roboarm began to inch towards my face, its claws opening as the man behind it outstretched his fingers as if to palm my entire head like a basketball. With my uncomfortable proximity I was able to notice small aquamarine nubs on the end of each of the "fingers" before I felt them clamp around my head with unnerving steadfastness. The placement of each "finger" was deliberate. One on each of my cheekbones, both temples, and in the center of my brow. Conveniently, my view was yet mostly unobstructed by it, and I was treated to the sight of Jeredi's grinning face as he maliciously gripped at empty air from his chamber. Straining to look to my left without using my neck, I could just barely see Twilight in the clouds of my periphery. "Everything's gonna be okay!" I shouted in spite of myself. We were both very much privy to the knowledge that our situation was all but "okay". "Time to begin." Tesla said.
At once, it felt like my very consciousness was being pulled from my head, like the feeling of letting your head sink infinitely into a pillow as you drift off to sleep. After a moment though, I realized that I was screaming. Once I did notice my animalistic cries, what tenuous lucidity I retained was overridden by a needle of immeasurable pain. Suddenly I was absent all awareness but that of a singular infinitesimally focused agony in the center of my being. All higher functions had gone. There was nothing but the pain. The indescribable pain. All encompassing. The pain.
After what may as well have been a hundred million years, a new thought entered me. Something that wasn't the pain. But it wasn't mine.
Hello Sacrifice.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA PLEASE GOD KILL ME FUCK PLEASE KILL ME I'M DYING I'M DYING AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Yes, quite. However, your body is attempting to go into shock and go unconscious, and that makes my task far more difficult, so I'm manually overriding your brain.
FUUUUUUUUUCK I WANNA DIE IT HURTS SO BAD I HATE IT I HATE IT I HATE IT I HATE IT
Mm. Well I need you to stay conscious for about 10 more seconds so hang on to that feeling. I promise that your situation will not improve should you not do as instructed.
I screamed and I screamed and I screamed.
It went on forever.
Until it stopped.
"There. Was that so bad?" Nikola said as I felt the roboarm release my cranium. It was relieving to hear his voice coming from the speakers and not inside my own head. I realized, to my intense surprise, that I felt almost completely fine. A sore throat, some lightheadedness, and trouble focusing my eyes were about the extent of what lingering effects I could detect. I turned my head to look at Twilight but my eyes were still not completely under my control and all I could make out was a flesh-colored smudge on my vision. "Twi... are you okay?" I feebly called. A moment passed before a quiet "Yes." reached me. "That's... good..." I mumbled, but heard Twilight's voice call out again, louder this time, "Why us?" She seemed to be addressing Tesla directly. She continued, "Why do this to us and not some other magic-holding creature if all you wanted was magical energy?" The PA clicked on just quickly enough to transmit a sort of chuckle from Tesla. "That is quite an astute question to ask, Twilight. In truth, I forgot to explain that part of my 'master plan'. You see, only certai-"
BOOOOOM
The room shook violently, like all of an earthquake's tremors had occurred at once. A siren began blaring. Tesla started to get up, causing the roboarms to spasm unnaturally, as if they weren't programmed for this edge case. Then, with a harsh screeching like cutlery on china, the metal door to the room I was in was bent in half, its top hinge splitting from the wall. I noticed a faint aura of light blue around it before Rainbow Dash vaulted over the ruined door. "Zack!" She cried, running towards me. "Dash!" I called out in kind. My confused and exhausted mind was flooded with relief at the sight of her. It only took a second before I noticed she was bleeding from her left arm, the crimson having soaked through her top. "Ohmygosh this is so exciting!" I heard a voice exclaim outside the room. "That's right Pinkie, real exciting, now let's get in there an' help Brony an' Twi." Another responded before Pinkie sprang into the room, Applejack behind her. "You guys are gonna have to fill me in on what the fuck is going on!" I cried. Dash stopped just short of me, watching the roboarms nervously as they contorted at odd angles, but just as I looked over towards the room where Tesla was, they went seemingly limp against the ground. In the dim lighting of the control room, I could see Nikola removing the gloves and then darting out of view. "You guys we need to hurry, the man that runs this place could be here any second!" Twilight said. "Alrigh', lemmie get you outta those." AJ said, running over to Twilight to unbind her as Rainbow was now doing for me. "Why are you guys naked? I thought humans wore clothes most times." Pinkie asked the room. "Pinkie I believe that may be an inquiry for a later time." Rarity said flatly as she clambered into the room, quickly followed by Fluttershy. Dash freed my hands and crouched down to start on my legs, "Wow Zack, that's kinda sad." She said. I quickly looked down at my shriveled genitalia. "Listen, it's a normal thing! It'll go back to normal!" I yelped defensively.
After a second, Twilight and I were out of the damned chairs. "So you guys have a plan to get outta here right? You somehow got to us and have a bulletproof plan to escape, right?" I asked. "Well, not exactly. But I've learned that magic in this world has somewhat of a 'trick' to it." Rarity said. "We actually happened to learn that too." Twilight said. "Okay but how do we get the heck outta here?" Applejack asked. "Twilight, can you blink us out?" I asked. Her look of consternation was enough to answer me. "Okay, old fashioned way then." I said. "Rarity, you seem to be pretty good at Earth magic all of a sudden, and Dash is obviously the fastest out of all of us. How about you two take point? Twilight and I could probably muster something of a shielding spell, so we'll stay on the flanks. AJ, you should watch our six, since you're the best for nonmagical asskicking. Pinkie, keep yourself and Fluttershy towards the center. We're gonna need you two to keep an eye out for exit signs and stuff." I called. Everyone nodded in acknowledgement. We started out of the door, single file, and then formed up in the hall outside. "Wait wait, I simply must resolve this situation." Rarity said. "What the hell are you on about‽" I yelled. The alarm was still wailing, and red lights flashed along the walls. And in a small flash of blue light, I found myself and Twilight dressed like an Aeropostal catalogue. "Okay that's actually a good call!" I said. "I think we should go that way!" Fluttershy squealed over the sirens.
We started sprinting through the halls, but we were quickly held up by 4 people dressed similarly to the guards who had escorted us around. "Stop!" one of them shouted, a female voice. Two of them raised their hands at us, palms aglow with magic. "Rotate!" I yelled; AJ, Rarity, Twi, RD, and I quickly shifted around Pinkie and Flutters so that I was facing the guards just as one of them released a bolt of dark crimson magic at us. Almost unconsciously, I threw up a small shielding spell. Fluttershy yelped and ducked down, arms over her head. Now it was Rarity's turn, "Rotate!" she said. We all reversed our action so that Rarity was back in front. She quickly summoned four bolts of magic and launched them towards the guards. As they flew they swirled around eachother, weaving trails of magic in the air like rockets in a Gainax show before striking true.
Boom boom boom boom
Thump thump thump thump
I didn't have time to discern whether they were just knocked out or dead before Rainbow dash yelled "Go!", and we all surged forward. We ran for a couple more minutes but as we passed through an intersection of hallways, a guard appeared on each side, firing off a volley of magic at us. Almost simultaneously, without breaking stride, Twilight and I summoned shields, deflecting the bolts harmlessly, but the guards began running after us as we went. "Ah got this..." Applejack said. I glanced backwards at her for just long enough to see her run back towards the guards, dropping into a slide to avoid a bolt of magic that just brushed over her head before sweeping the legs of one of them, causing him to topple into the other. They both tumbled over and AJ just dusted her hands and sprinted to catch back up with us.
"Hey I think that's the way out!" Fluttershy cried over the din of our shoes pounding against the hard concrete floor and the still-blaring sirens. I followed her pointing arm to a standard illuminated 'exit' sign.
You really wouldn't think this place would care about being up to code, but I suppose now's not the time to look a gift horse in the mouth.
"Good eye, Fluttershy!" I shouted as we all collectively skidded to a stop like a Scooby-Doo cartoon and took off down the hall to our right. "Hey, that rhymed!" Pinkie said gleefully as we ran. "Um, it appears we have a small problem!" Rarity said. I looked ahead and saw at least eight guards standing shoulder to shoulder, blocking the way, about 30 feet from us. "Uh, shield charge!" I yelled. More fluidly than I could've expected of trained professionals, Dash and Rarity swapped places with Twilight and I, who then together created a large combined shield spell, her lavender magic blending with my lime green into a pure white glow. It covered almost the entire hall, a solid wall of magical energy protecting us from the multiple bolts of energy fired at us as we charged the guards. Once we were only seven or eight feet from them, Dash yelled "Martial formation!" Twilight and I let the shield spell fall as we fell back, flanking Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie. Applejack and Dash then surged around us from each side and started pummeling two guards each. To my panicked eye it was nothing but a flurry of motion, but Rarity was able to poke out of the center of the group and neutralize the guards with a sniper's accuracy as they attempted to gang up on AJ and Dash. Without once breaking stride, all of them were on the floor and we rushed onward.
"Have you guys noticed how much we're running away from things?" Pinkie said. She didn't even sound winded. Through wheezing breaths, I said "Yeah... I guess... it's a... lot more... than you'd... expect..." "Wait, that way!" Fluttershy said once more, and we all quickly doubled back towards an intersection we'd just passed and ducked down the left hallway. "That looks a lot like the exit!" Pinkie said, indicating a set of metal push bar double doors that appeared to have natural light streaming through small, lattice-covered windows punched into them, about 200 feet from us. "There are more of them!" Twilight said, pointing behind us at another group of guards. "Second verse, same as the first!" I said. Twilight nodded and we ducked to the back of the group, both of us running backwards to face them like kids at soccer practice. We once again summoned a shield together. I did my best to focus over the sirens and started pushing the shield down the hall. Without a word, Twi picked up on what I was doing and together, we were able to seemingly fix the shield in place like an Aperture Science Material Emancipation Grill. Once I felt confident in the strength of the spell, I again directed my attention forward. We were only about 60 feet from the doors. Just then, Applejack, with surprising speed, ran ahead and tried the doors. "They're locked, y'all!" She yelled.
Just as I was about to say something though, Rainbow Dash sprinted towards her and went into a flying karate kick. Applejack ducked out of the way just in time to watch Dash kick the doors wide open, shattering whatever mechanism held it closed. "Come on, slowpokes!" Dash shouted gleefully as she tore away.
She is so hot.
"As good an escape as any!" I gasped, and, mustering the last of my energy, I ran alongside the others out of Nikola Jeredi's facility. I took one last glance backwards and could just see Tesla, flanked by guards, standing calmly behind Twilight's and my forcefield.