• Published 19th Oct 2012
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Eljunbyro - Imploding Colon



Bellesmith must perform experimental tasks in order to keep herself and her beloved safe.

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The Sequencing

Bellesmith stared off into space, remaining still as a statue as two unicorns in white uniforms fitted a metal cap to the blunt end of her horn. They murmured numbers and figures to each other, fastening arcane cables to the cap and affixing it to a mechanical contraption hanging from the ceiling of the small laboratory.

After a deep breath, Bellesmith glanced up. She eyed the sheet of glass, but saw no shadows beyond it. Her eyes wandered towards the far end of the room, spotting the porous metal box that stood on a pedestal straight across her seat. At the wall beyond it, a pair of metal tracks stuck out of the ground, empty and bare.

"You appear calmer than yesterday, darling," Dalton said, his gently smiling face coming into view. "Did you get enough rest?"

Bellesmith swallowed hard and said, "Professor Garnet gave me some good advice."

Dalton nodded, brushing an aged hoof over his mustached. He remarked, "He gave you advice? Or a steady dose of fear?"

Her chestnut eyes fell to the floor as the unicorns finished hooking her up to the arcane contraptions.

Dalton sighed. With a hopeful smirk, he patted her forelimbs and eased her back into the seat. "We will go about it easily this time. I promise that the session won't end with such a jarring disconnect."

"I don't know if we can afford 'easily,' Dalton," Bellesmith murmured. Her soft eyes pleaded with him. "Shell is getting impatient. My beloved—"

"Will be safe, I promise you," Dalton said. His wrinkled coat glinted in the pale mana light. "It's like I keep telling Mildred: Shell is simply a lot of hot air and an appetite for medals. He's all talk and no Spark. He couldn't even pretend to interfere with this project, for there's not a magical bone in his body that understands the sequencing."

"At this rate, he'll understand it well enough." She squinted and asked, "Why are the Enforcers so desperate to grasp the power of this subject?"

"I try not to let the military affairs of Ledomare affect my concentration," Dalton said, "And neither should you. We have tasks to do, and if we wish to see our beloveds again, it's best that we did or jobs dutifully. Remember, Belle..." He squeezed her shoulder and let go. "The Spark is pure and immaculate. If nothing else, trust in it."

"I'll try," she said, nodding.

The unicorns beside her exclaimed, "Sequencer is ready!"

"Prepare the first sphere!"

"Aligning with the subject!"

Dalton and the other technicians trotted away. The arcane coils connected to Bellesmith's horn started to glow with crimson light. She took a deep breath and tried to close her eyes, but the billowing light from ahead of her caught her attention, as it always did.

The box on the pedestal was emanating a ruby aura. With a mechanical hiss, the floor at the far wall slid open. A familiar cylinder rose into view. An aperture opened in the silver heart of the pillar, and a beam of light passed from it through the box and towards Bellesmith's seat.

"And lock!" a unicorn exclaimed.

Bellesmith hissed through her teeth as a deep dizziness overtook her.

"Sequencing with sphere in t-minus five... four..."

The young mare whimpered, her eyes twitching from brown to red to brown again. "Beloved..."

"...three... two..."

She jerked as her whole body was electrified. She had four limbs, then eight, then four again.

"...one."

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