My Little Pony Fan Fiction ❯ A Walk Among Spirits ❯ Chapter 29

The mouse's ears perked up as the sound of hooves hitting the floor echoed outside the door of Master Control. The mouse quickly jumped to the floor and laid flat near the right wall just before the blue stallion walked inside. He was rubbing the right side of his face as he walked across the room. He spun the chair around and sat down before he turned it back and looked at all the monitors on the wall.

"I stare at your flank for three seconds and you clock me," the blue stallion sighed before he added, "You're welcome." A smile formed on Skyline's face as he remembered the conversation the blue stallion had with the mare before they had left. Just then, the Walkie-Talkie strapped to the right side of the board exploded into static before a voice rang out from it.

"This is Alpha; we've got the newest members of the professor's family," a mare said on the other end of the Walkie-Talkie. The blue stallion ripped the Walkie-Talkie from the Velcro it was on and pressed the button on the right side.

"Understood Alpha, give me a second to get someone down there to open the elevator," the blue stallion said before he then moved the small wheel on the left-side. There were three clicks before the blue stallion said, "We have Alpha at the right wing of the compound entrance. Any staff member near there, please head there to let them in." I need to find the right-wing entrance before it closes. Skyline thought.

As though the mouse could read his thoughts, it bounded for the door and squeezed underneath it before it scurried down the hallway. It quickly stopped near a corner and lay flat as two stallions walked around the corner. One was a tall, skinny silver stallion with an emerald color mane and the other was a reddish black built stallion with a white mane and tail. Skyline cocked his head to the side in confusion. He'd never seen a Pony of that color before.

"You have got to be the dumbest stallion I've ever seen," the silver stallion said.

"How am I dumb?" the reddish black stallion asked a little annoyed.

"You dyed your coat to an unnatural color and bleached your mane and tail until they turned pure white. Why would you do something like that?" the silver stallion asked.

"Because: it's cool and all the mares will come crawling to me," the reddish black stallion bragged. The silver stallion rolled his eyes just before the reddish black stallion added, "Now hurry up. We're going to miss Alpha and the new test subjects."

"You think they'll have a new mare?" the silver stallion asked.

"I hope, the one they replaced Songbird with royally sucks. If I ever see that little bastard that killed Songbird, I'll break every bone in his body, cut off his limbs, cook them, and feed them back to the bastard," the reddish black stallion hissed.

"Geez dude, you got some anger issues," the silver stallion said.

"Well if you used her as many times as I had. You'd be angry too," the reddish black stallion argued. Skyline felt a knot in his throat as he remembered when he saw Mrs. Cheerilee standing across from him in The Arena. Her screams as she burned alive echoed through his skull. He tensed up as the image of her burned corpse flashed in his mind.

Skyline shook the image from his head as the mouse continued to follow the two stallions until they reached a dead end in the hall. The silver stallion pressed his right hoof to the wall and the sound of whirring gears started up behind the wall. The sound continued for several seconds before it stopped. The two stood there staring at the wall until the sound of whirring gears started again. Several seconds later the wall split open and several Ponies stood in the elevator with brown burlap sacks over their shoulders.

A tan stallion with an X-shaped scar on his left cheek walked out of the elevator with a sack over his right shoulder. The reddish black stallion gingerly walked up to him and asked, "Any good looking mares in this batch?" the tan stallion snorted at his question and continued on his way.

"Move you worthless donkey!" a yellow mare yelled. The reddish black stallion quickly moved back as she walked past him. She glared at him as she passed before raising her muzzle into the air in disgust. While the other Ponies walked through the open elevator. The mouse slowly crept towards the open elevator door. Once inside, it waited till the doors closed. Once the doors closed, the mouse shifted and morphed into a small fly. It waited until the door closed before it hovered into the air. The elevator started to rise and for several seconds the only sound was the moving of gears and the buzzing of the fly's wings.

When the door opened just a crack, the fly shot out. One of the stallions waiting with a sack over his shoulder swatted at the fly and cursed just before it flew into the air. Skyline was in awe as he saw the bright blue sky of the outside world. The fly turned to see that the elevator close and sink back down into the earth. On top of the elevator was a large hollow rock or he assumed it was hollow? He wasn't going to ponder on that too long though as the fly took flight high into the air. It began to morph and shift into a white robin.

Skyline couldn't hold back his tears as he saw the lush blue sky, the tops of the green trees in the Everfree, and the sight of Ponyville on the horizon. He thought he'd never see the outside world ever again. The Robin soared through the air towards Ponyville.

The robin flew through Ponyville. It was every bit as busy as Skyline remembered. He saw the flower shop were two mares were arguing about the conditions of the roses. An excited filly as she hopped out of Sugarcube Corner with her father carrying a large box in his magic. The Robin soared through the bustling town towards a small cottage near the west side of the village. As Skyline saw the home in the distance, he choked back his urge to scream out in hopes his voice would explode out of the robin's beak.

The robin landed on the outside windowsill and began to peck at the window. After several seconds of waiting, it began to peck harder in hopes the residents would notice it. Where are they? Why aren't they answering? Skyline thought before the Robin began to flap its wings and scrape at the window with its talons.

"What are you doing there little birdy?" a soft voice questioned. The robin jumped in shock before it turned to see Fluttershy looking at it in confusion. The robin began chirping and flapping its wings before one of its wings extended out and pointed back at the window. Fluttershy nodded before she asked, "Are you trying to get the attention of the Ponies that live here?" the bird nodded before Skylines eyes shot open. Can she understand the bird? If she can understand the bird, then! Skyline thought before he closed his eyes again.

Fluttershy's warm smile faded as her inviting expression turned to sorrow and said, "Well, the Ponies that lived here. They're." she was cut off by the robin fluttering in front of her rapidly tweeting. She was caught off guard and stumbled back as the Robin continued to rapidly tweet and chirp.

"Slow down, I can't understand you when you talk this fast," Fluttershy said. The robin stopped its constant tweeting and chirping. It landed on the windowsill once again and seemed to take a deep breath before it began to tweet and chirp at a much slower rate. The robin told Skylines story of how he was inside the schoolhouse when he woke up inside the cell and everything that happened thus far. While the robin explained everything, Fluttershy's expression changed from sorrow to utter shock.

When the robin finished, Fluttershy said, "Oh my! So you're one of the foals that got abducted in the schoolhouse explosion? And this little bird is somehow your esper?" the bird nodded and tweeted loudly. Fluttershy then asked, "Can tell me where you're being held?" the bird chirped again.

"Show me?" Fluttershy said as she blinked before she added, "That's great. I can get my friends and." Fluttershy was cut off by the fog the robin was made of slowly starting to fizzle and fade. It began to tweet as it began to fade away. Fluttershy nodded just as the bird dissipated. Once it was gone. She quickly galloped towards Twilight's Castle.

Skyline opened his eyes and stood up, his legs were wobbly and he felt like all his energy was zapped. He wiped the tears from his eyes and a smile formed on his face as he looked at the steel door. I'm finally going home.