“OW! Watch where you shove that thing,” you complain as the needle that had been held steady by a glowing magical aura suddenly plunged into the small of your back, just to the side of your spine. The one holding the needle ignores you, his silver magic pulling back on the plunger, and making your feel like your were being sucked down the needle yourself, until finally he pulled it out of you, and brought the blood container to his face.
“Interesting,” he said, shaking the stuff in front of him, before moving towards the other side of the room, where Tailfire held an open dish to squirt a bit of the blood into, the Pony Professor doing so, before setting the still mostly full needle down. The pair then began to work, placing the sample under a microscope, and then adjusting it, taking turns observing...whatever it was they were observing as they manipulated knobs, and commented on it with words that you only remember hearing from scifi novels and the like.
“Youse are gettin really gud at takin the hit like that,” said Diamond Eye, as he passed you back the 'shirt' part of your chainmail suit, which you gladly slipped back on, making sure to press it tightly against the pants part, which sealed the two halves together firmly.
“Not like I have much choice,” you tell him, and the zebra nods, his namesake sparkling in the light of magical spells being cast on the blood sample by DawnChaser, while he and Tailfire study the stuff. Feeling that the pair were done with you for today, as they tended to be upon taking blood, you decide to wander off, and leaving the three to do chemical tests on the red liquid. You quickly find your guards just sitting around outside in the hall, Rainbow looking bored, Soarin dozing off, and the Captain and Spitfire staring at each other.
“How went?” asked the gruff voice of Rex from an unobserved corner, his hand on the book, as his eyes flitted down the page, seemingly at random.
“Not bad, though I think they drew a bit more out of me than I would have liked,” you tell the dog, rubbing at your back.
“Always do,” he replied, before returning to his book, and you stick out your tongue at him, before walking off towards the door to the lab. Outside, the day is waning a bit, the sun in the sky hanging at that point just between noon and afternoon, enough time left to play, but not enough to find new friends unless you already knew where they were.
“Ah, so, free from the more base experiments already?” asked a new, familiar voice, and you turn to find Deasly sitting on the swing of the lab's porch, a series of large tomes floating around his head. One was obviously his sketch book, while the others were probably something to do with his studies lately.
“A bit more blood loss than I'd like coming off the end of it, but overall, I think it went well,” you tell him, and he nods, the books around him closing as he finishes the last of his sketches, and then turns to you.
“Excellent, then it's time for my own tests, if you would?” he said, gesturing with one of his forehooves towards a chair opposite the swing he was sitting on. Sighing, you look towards the seat, and feel an urge to run, but then trudge over to it and sit down, the hard wood of the seat making your back itch a little, even as your skin starts to tingle from the glowing circle of runes around you.
“Okay, last time got...a little out of hoof, but I've had Rex and Talon help with some new runes in the circle that should keep the magic from becoming unstable,” he told you, getting up and checking the runes with his hooves, tapping them as he said them silently to himself.
“Unstable, is that what you call it when I level a small building?” you ask him, and the unicorn pointedly ignores you as he runs his hoof back towards the other end, and then stands before you expectantly. Staring at him, you can't see any break in his expectant gaze, and with a sigh, begin to do the breathing exercise he taught you the last time you tried this.
“Good, now, take in the air around you, feel the magic in it, the vibrancy of life, of power,” he tells you, and you close your eyes, picturing a flame in your mind. The fire burns, but not without purpose. Slowly, it builds, and with each breath, you can feel it grow warmer. Never hot, never burning, but that warmth that came from a hearth fire on a cold winter's eve.
“Gently stoke the spark of magic in you, let it smolder but never blaze,” he continues, and you almost kick him, the urge very strong, but you resist, continuing to breath as you'd been told to do.
“Excellent, now, shape the power of magic, mold it into a form you can use,” he instructs, and you do as he says, holding out your hands, which you can see glow even with your eyes closed. The color of your magic shifted with your mood, as you'd found out thanks to Deasly's tests.
“Impressive,” he said, and you could feel the glowing warmth of your power in your hands, which were a deep blue today for whatever reason. Opening your eyes, you found the sight was indeed rather impressive, all things considered, and with a gesture, motioned towards a rock Deasly had placed in front of himself with his power. The glow of blue sparkles didn't travel so much as just appear around the rock, which you now felt as if you were holding it.
“Fantastic, this is going so much better than last time,” he said and your aura shifts a little, flecks of orange entering the blue as you remember the incident in question, where you tried to light a candle, and accidentally blew the roof off the lab.
“It will go much better without the distraction,” you told him bluntly, slowly moving your hand upward, the movement translating into the rock. At your feet, the circle of runes, designed to focus the natural magic of this world into you, glowed in harmony with your magic color, getting brighter as you moved the stone into the air, and held it there for a moment.
“Sorry,” he apologized, the tone telling you he meant it, as he whipped out his sketch pad, and began to draw what he saw. Silently, you willed him to hurry, as the rock, small enough to fit in the palm of your hand, and probably weighing only thirty or so grams, two ounces at most, was already growing heavy. Luckily, Deasly only needed to draw the runes, his talent at pictures quickly detailing how brightly they glowed, before his hoof stamped hard, and with an exhale, you let the stone drop heavily onto the wood, sweat pouring down your brow.
“That was easier than last time,” you comment, in a way that is both hopeful, as it was indeed easier, but also sad, since this took you so much effort, while Deasly just tosses the stone away with his magic, hurling it far afield.
“That's good, it means your natural magic is growing stronger,” he comments.
“Not as strong as my old powers though,” you tell him, trying to find that burning star within you from which you'd drawn the power that had helped fell Discord. As with most times you did this these last few weeks, you found it, but the star was a flickering bulb amid the great dark void, not even enough power to do what you had just done with the rock, let alone enough to stand before a god.
“True, but the Professor tells me his tests are coming back hopeful on that front,” he informs you, and quickly pulls out one of his pads, showing you the inside of it, which is a string of numbers. You don't understand most of them, but the picture beside it was obviously you, and the numbers just to the side of that are dates, with steadily rising numbers next to them.
“Does he have an estimates as to when I'll regain things like flight, or morphing?” you ask, and the unicorn shakes his head sadly.
“I'm afraid not, but these weekly tests are getting us some fantastic data. Come by tomorrow and I'm sure we'll be able to at least tell you something,” he says in an upbeat tone, before going inside, leaving you standing on the lab's porch, staring at the door.
Sighing dejectedly, you walk down the steps, and out into the grass of the lawn, the soft blades giving under your armored feet. Idly, you slip one foot out of the armor, setting the bare sole against the ground, and feeling the life of Equestria beneath your skin, the subtle pounding of its heart far away, and you smile, gaining an odd sense of home from it, before slipping back into the armor, and walking towards the field.
“You four ready to go?” you shout up at four blurry shapes in the sky, which continue to dip, weave, and whirl about, your voice lost on them as they play. It's hard for your eyes to follow, but you can just make out that it's Soarin who has the cloud ball, his wings barely keeping him away from Spitfire, while Rainbow and the Captain swoop and dive beyond them, Rainbow trying her hardest to get bast the bulky guard, but failing as he uses his greater mass to constantly push her back.
The game they were playing still made no sense to you, as the rules seemed rather arbitrary, and most felt like they were made up on the spot, involving things like wind patterns, time of day, and how heavy the clouds were. Still, you'd been told cloudball was an old pegasi favorite, and the materials to play were plentiful most days, so it was easy to see why they enjoyed it.
Above you, the Captain suddenly dove forward, allowing Dash past him, but only so he could get a clear line from Soarin, who quickly passed the ball to him, and then dove at Spitfire, pinning her against a nearby cloud, while the Captain made for the goal. Rainbow, seeing the deception, quickly reversed course, and went for him. Unfortunately, not only had he started sooner, but his mass was enough that even as she slammed into him, he simply braced, causing the lighter pegasus to be tossed aside, as he threw the ball at the goal, getting a cheer from himself and Soarin.
“And the crowd goes wild, the two underponys coming from deep behind, and pull off the win from their opponents!” shouts Soarin, as he shakes his hooves together over his head.
“Yeah, yeah, you know I let you pin me Soarin, otherwise I could have gotten that ball before it reached him,” said Spitfire in a dismissive tone, but you could tell by her smile that she was bluffing. The Captain and Dash meanwhile were wrestling over another ball that Dash had apparently made, and you decided to end this before they started another game. Pressing your fingers into the sides of your mouth, you blew hard, causing a piercing whistle to echo over the field outside the lab, and cause the four fliers to turn down towards you.
“Ah, it seems the Mad Professor's tests on our ward are completed,” said the Captain obviously, tossing the cloudball into Dash's face, and then falling towards you. Recovering, the others followed suit, and soon you were surrounded by the four protectors again.
“So, any good news dude?” asked Soarin, his smile expectantly plastered all over his face. Your expression must have said it all, as said smile quickly melted away, and he frowned.
“Same as last week. No power yet, and my magical ability is less than anypony else. I can't grow a plant, I can't fly, and I can barely lift a pebble. At this rate, I'll have my powers back when I'm old, gray, and need false teeth,” you tell him dejectedly.
“Cheer up dude. Could be worse after all. You could still be tiny,” he reminds you, and you smirk a bit at that, nodding.
“I suppose. Still, shall we get going?” you ask, pointing towards Canterlot in the distance. The pegasi nod, and with them in tow, Soarin and Dash high overhead, and the Captain and Spitfire beside, your group makes for the city.
“So, what's the plan for tonight?” asks Spitfire, her wings flapping lazily in the cool afternoon air, as in the distance, the sun slowly starts to lower itself down. Looking forward, you can just barely make out the castle, where you know the Princesses will be swapping positions, with Luna taking up her spot on her balcony, while Celestia goes inside for a nice rest.
“Hopefully, just a calm, relaxed evening with Octavia. She got us some reservations at some fancy restaurant, which I'm sure will make some places for you four. Then, a return to the castle, and a restful night's sleep,” you tell her simply, and the yellow mare nods. It sounded like a good plan to her.
“Ah, so no grand adventures, no daring dos? What happened to the excitement we used to have in our lives?” asked the Captain, and you just stare at him for a moment, wondering if he's joking, or if he'd really like to go on one. Unfortunately, it's not easy to read the expression on his face, and sighing, you just keep walking towards the city gate, which opens, and allows you and your party within.