"Rrrfk-k-kuh.." It felt like that was first word, sound, in forever... A syllable or two of nonsense, of Baby babble straight from the core of my brain's lower lobes. It felt like speaking with a mouth full of syrup, speaking after what felt like days, weeks, Months spent in the blank wreckage of my head. Slowly piecing together what Luna's anger had broken. "...Hrn..." More nonsense, less than the last but more refined, a grunt of resignation, rather than enforced stupidity. I felt nothing for it then, as I felt nothing at all. My mind was White, blank as a sheet while the brain booted into waking for the first time in eons. Slowly my eyes, which felt like mine for the first time, opened a crack, enough to see a blobby world of white, black and steely gray.
It says much about my life that this first sight was, to my awakening mind, better than could be imagined at that moment. The blobby greyscale of reality seemed alight with possibility, for the first time in what seemed to be months my mind was not in pain. I felt no aches nor pains beyond the vague, stinging brightness of the room I awoke to, the dull feeling of warm fabric beneath my leathery skin. I shifted in place, hearing my hooves scrape along firm, folded sheets.
The world sharpened, focused into detail and shading when I lifted my head. The sheets were a splash of colour in the Greyscale room, Yellow suns behind silver clouds on a linen white sky. I smiled, face creasing around it while my long, knife-like fangs pressed flatly against my lips. My Eyes left the false little patch of sky after moments of fond examination, wandering around the cell to take in my new surroundings.
White tiles covered the floor of the wide, warm cuboid; shiny and new to match the fresh coat of white paint on the nearest three walls. Set into the room's leftmost wall behind my Bed's back-end there was a massive, silvery mirror. To the right a simple curtain hung from a rail, partitioning off a neat corner of the room to fill with toilet, wash-basin and shower-head. Two towels hung from a rack near the basin. That was it. That was the entire, blank room. No chains, no visible doors, no windows.
I lay on the bed inspecting my new home for hours perhaps, mulling over my options. Contemplating how long it would take to go insane.
Hours or days I guessed, though either were hard to judge by the Cell's lack of clock or window.
Silence reigned but for the gentle rumble of indecipherable sound in the deep back of my audible range. A ring around my horn blocked all access to my sense of emotion.
"..." I thought, spoke, saw, heard; The busy silence pressing upon my mind like a vice until it cracked and I closed my eyes again.
My hoof shifted, slowly shifting away from my belly and heading towards the floor, twitching with pins and needles as circulation flooded the deadened limb. It touched the ground and the images of sound-sight filtered into me.
Into me... Not my alien mind, for it was no longer alien. It was me, it had fractured under the alicorn's bitterness, crumpled under the stress of bearing a psyche so alien while stressed. The pieces, it seemed, had splintered enough to flow into the cracks and moulded into shape.
The echoes of vibration showed me my cell as it was, the reinforced nature of it's walls, the falseness of it's mirror. Beyond the mirror were stairs, leading up into nothingness.
I pulled my hoof back, then brought it down again with a click, sending out a wave of vibration, a torch to light the dark. Above my new home I perceived roots, shelves, a tree... Nothingness as the echo-image faded.
Library, Tree, Ponyville...
Again I struck the tiles, harder. Repeating the motion, pulsing the world with waves of sound-light to break the numbing dark. My limb gained nerves back from the needles and pins, sharpening the sense and allowing me to perceive the tip, tap and clop of hooves on cobble-stone, of wheels rumbling over the rough-surfaced road. Many, many hooves carrying faint whispers of voice, of speech.
Midday or Afternoon, too many for morning or night, Market-day by the multitude of wagons and carts.
I watched the world of echoing sound for long, patient hours. Counting seconds pass by with the thrum of hooves and passing traffic. I ached to join them, to see the dream of my fandom enfleshed. My ears twitched with burning need to hear more than whispers of voice, of conversations that would never be mine to perceive.
While I longed for the surface, the rest of my mind crawled over the rest of me, curious to wonder why I Didn't ache nor itch with injury. My horn was numb and healed, Carapace scarred and pitted but whole. My tank of love, of food, had been filled recently. No doubt there to me, that the nurses and doctors of the hospital had at least kept to their oaths.
From there my mind crawled to Chrysalis. Her name burning at my mood, dragging a frown across my lips and a snarl from long fangs when I remembered her actions. The scalding wrath nipped at me, threatening to pull my psyche down into a deep, dark pit of brooding.
I was pulled from my rage by the creak of a door. By the clip-clop of clean hooves on stone, as a familiar pony trotted down the stairs of my cell's exterior. Her form hidden within the recess behind the room's false mirror; her hoof's heavy tramp nearly hiding a softer gait that trundled behind her, his clawed feet clicking lightly upon the steps. Twilight spoke nor breathed not a word for a while as they paused outside the cell, the Librarian-turned-captor simply standing behind the mirror's hidden window, quill softly scratching across a paper held to her front.
Spike spoke first when Twilight's pen paused it's scribbling, the little Drake's voice hushed with hesitant nervousness "Are you sure that he can't hear us, Twilight? I mean, not that I'm s-scared or anything, but I swear his ears keep twitching at us..." He laughed, his long claws scraping along soft belly-scales while the dragon approached the mirrored glass.
Twilight seemed to think on her answer, taking a single step towards the false mirror herself and cocking her head, a snort escaping the pony's nose before she spoke. "Pretty sure it can't hear us, or anything, Spike. I enchanted this mirror to block sound."
I kept still, as I had been for all this time. Hoof on the ground with both of the others held against the bed's metal frame; the inputs giving me plenty to listen to. The dense, reinforced stone carrying their voices and vibrations to me... The Mirror blocked no sound, I couldn't even perceive the glass as being There at all in my Echo-sight... Twilight had enchanted it wrong, or perhaps too well.
Spike seemed unconvinced, waggling his claws over the glass and speaking with consternation, a little louder. "I dunno Twilight. He's just sitting there like a statue... Are you sure he's alive?"
I didn't need to perceive it to see Twilight's eyes rolling as she Stepped up to the glass, scribbling more notes and checking something to her right. "If It was dead I'd know immediately, Spike, It's got a stay-safe ward on it's horn-ring that will alert me if it leaves the cell or Expires. And it *can't* see us, so don't worry." She lifted a leg and patted her assistant on the back reassuringly.
The dragon stepped away, heading to the back of the hidden room, walking too far away for my tremor-sight to spot as Twilihgt walked closer. Pushing upon and opening a smoothly, flawlessly hidden door in the mirror, just a crack. Enough for a clever lock to catch, stopping her from opening it all the way at first.
I turned my head just a little when the sound of her voice rang in the air, clear. Confident.
"Changeling. Back up."
I couldn't resist, and tilted my head back, staring at her, unmoving.
Twilight balked, I fought not to cringe in shame at the flash of fear in those wide eyes, before her voice came again, crafting the lie of confidence. "Off the bed, and back up to the Far Wall, changeling. I /know/ you can move, I'm not going to ask again."
Her horn began to glow and I obeyed slowly with creaky, wonky movements as blood rushed into my limbs. I stumbled to the ground, hissing when my front leg refused to obey. Finding no sympathy from Twilight, who simply watched from her sliver of open door. I growled, shivering and grinding teeth together in the agony of suddenly returning nerves. Pushing and fighting off the urge to whine in irritation I slowly headed for the back corner, leaning against the wall.
Twilight waited there until I slumped against the corner, then smoothly opened the door, just enough to let her inside with clipboard floating alongside. She made notes, and commented "If that's a sympathy play, Changeling. It's not working, and you're not escaping. you have tracking spells on your magic-blocking rings, and these doors are Warded with alarms, incase you try to break them down."
I remained silent, sullen. Internally weeping but made calm by Training I never even knew was there.
The Librarian scribbled notes, looking around the room with curiosity, looking for things out of place. Then she looked at me, not glaring but simply looking on with semi-detached neutrality with pen above paper. "You're going to be here a while changeling. If you answer questions, and be a good little monster then I may consider asking Luna to just throw you into the badlands. Instead of imprisoning you for the rest of your natural lifespan. However long that may be."
I watched her eyes. Read her expression, made mental notes, watched for weaknesses and strengths.
The purple unicorn took a half-step back, turning one leg over her body (in annoyance, irritation, discomfort?) at my staring, the silence; unnerved by my unblinking eyes . centering herself, Twilight breathed and put the mask back on, speaking with veiled annoyance "How long does your species live?"
I watched, silent by choice and default. Having no magic to alter my throat, allow me to speak.
Twilight asked "do you have a name, beside 'changeling' for your species?", her irritation clearer, but still masked by neutrality. She took another step back though, masking it with a cough as her hoof moved.
I continued to be silent, and remained silent as Twilight moved down her list of questions, growing more irratated, discomforted, by my staring with each query.
I remained stoic, simply watching while her hair sprang loose, voice ever more heated by anger while her flank pressed against the mirror in nervous discomfort. An hour in, Twilight's temper frayed into breaking with an almost audible *snap*.
"WILL YOU STOP STARING AT ME, AND ANSWER QUESTIONS?!" Her mane flared into Fire. Crackling and popping with her angry eyes wide, full of flames. With a lit horn the unicorn leveled her head towards me, "I WILL FIND OUT *EVERYTHING* Whether you like it or NOT!"
I will admit I panicked, feeling the heat and seeing my doom approach, I closed my eyes and cringed, feeling my chitin begin to warm up, my wings aching with the heat as Twilight's horn built up a Beam of Sure Destruct-
SPLOOSH
...Spike dumped a bucket of water on her head.
I wish I was kidding, I wish I could tell you of my abuse, the tragedy of my incineration under Twilight's manicured hooves. Of my Chitin popping, cracking and melting way to smoke while my insides burned, Twilight realizing too late my death to be a mistake....
But instead Spike came in like a chubby slapstick artist, and jammed the metal bucket of icy liquid Right onto his guardian's head. He looked just as terrified as me, but at both of us. He even smiled at me, the draconic mouth turned up in a reassuring little half smile while he bodly shunted twilight out of the room, Squeaking "No vaporizing the test subject Twilight, even if he's annoying!"
I had no words to speak, and no way to say them. I think Twilight was much the same, stumbling mutely out with Spike leaning on her front, The little drake promising her calming tea, fresh cookies and a relaxing book, pleading almost in his bargaining for her not to be mad at him.
On his way out, Spike collected the clipboard, gave me a *thumbs up,* and closed the door with a final "Sorry 'bout that, dude. She get's the same way when Pinkie doesn't make sense." His claw raised up to whisper an aside through the crack "I know you look creepy ... But I heard from Redheart that Fluttershy's getting better fast.. So I can't really stay mad."
He trundled off. Leaving me confused, lost. Mildly hopeful. Utterly confused.
I barely registered when Twilight yelled "DUDE?!" from above me...
And almost forgot to listen in.