//------------------------------// // 1: Oct-tavia // Story: Symphony Shattered // by SteampunkBrony //------------------------------// Symphony Shattered Chapter 2: Oct-tavia My mind was in a haze as I awoke to a sterile white room. I felt as if I had been bucked in the head by a royal guard, and he had done the foxtrot on my skull afterwards. It was about three seconds after I had that thought when I came to the sudden realization that I was securely fastened to some kind of operating table that was holding me vertically. It wasn't all that uncomfortable, in fact it seemed to be formed to support a pony comfortably, however upon recalling the previous nights events, I began to struggle. Or... at least try to struggle. I was locked to that table so tightly that I couldn't move an inch. "Now now, that would be unwise, we are about to start the procedure." A mare's voice came from an unheard source. I saw a one way mirror along one wall. "Wh-what are you doing! Release me at once!" I yelled at her as the table rotated so i was face down. "Now that would mean I couldn't give you my gift." She chuckled. "Sorry about the illusion of myself being a stallion, but I had to conceal who I was from the bystanders you see." I felt my blood run cold at that. That meant if they were searching for me they would be chasing down a non existent pony. I felt a panel open up in the metal I was strapped to that revealed most of my back and I started to scream for help as something else was placed there. "Please stop moving, if you don't this may kill you at worst, or paralyze you at best." The voice said with a hint of indifference. I stopped moving sobbing as a tingling sensation covered my back, which was soon replaced with pain as whatever it was doing stopped and something cold replaced it. "Now this may feel rather odd, but trust me, you'll be fine if you hold still." She said again as i felt pinpricks run down my spine, then a strange sensation all over my body, like my nerves were receiving a slight jolt from a battery. Then, just a suddenly as it had started it stopped. "There that wasn't so ba-" The voice was cut off by a loud bang. "Wha? You will never take me, Dogs of Celestia!" The voice yelled and the intercom cut out. I started to struggle, trying my hardest to break free from the machine I was secured to. four claw from the machine reached around the table and started to undo my bindings. Why is it helping me? I thought as it undid my four legs then lowered me to the ground, the claws quickly snaking back up past the stationary machine i had been attached to. I got to my hooves and started trotting towards the window. "Miss Philharmonica, are you all... mother of Celestia..." someone said through the intercom. "I think so..." I said. "You may... want to look behind you..." The voice said. "What is i-" I let out a scream as i looked over my shoulder to find the four metal arms that had released me were sprouting from my back, the silvery surface seemed welded to my very flesh as the interlocking plates of the back piece flexed with the natural movement of my body. The arms seemed to be able to retract into the metal without harming me. "Mam, please back away from the window, I'm going to try to break it." He said. I nodded shakily taking a few steps back and covering my eyes with a hoof as there was a loud thwack. "Dammit..." I heard him mutter. "There has to be a way..." "Can you control those arms?" I tried to move one as I would a hoof and it seemed to respond, moving as if it were a natural part of my body. "It... seems so..." "Try to smash the window, I'll get clear." He said. "Okay..." I waited a few moments than concentrated on moving one of the arms to smash the glass, and to my surprise two of the metal arms shot out at the window, punching through the shatterproof glass. Due to the fact that it was shatterproof the window didn't fall to pieces. "Well... this may prove problematic..." The guard said. "See if you can open those claws and pull." "Um... okay..." I said, willing that to happen only to find myself pulled towards the glass. I made the two remaining 'arms' brace my body against the wall beside the window, and moments later there was a cracking sound as the window was pulled free of it's place in the wall to reveal two rather surprised royal guards. I... think i may keep these if I can. Despite the circumstances I can see how they would be useful... "I didn't think that would work..." One said. "Anyhow, can you come with us please, we need to get you to a hospital to see if this hurt you in any serious way." "I... okay." I said, willing the arms to retract. The slid back into the mechanism on my back with a small amount of clicking. "Does that hurt?" The second guard, obviously new to the job, asked. "No... I don't even know what it is... that madmare... she kidnapped me then somehow attached this to me..." I said, shuddering. "Here," the younger guard said, tossing me a lab coat that was lying on one of the chairs in the room. "Cover your back with that, the press got wind of the kidnapping." "Thank you." I said, draping the garment over my back without bothering with putting my hooves through the sleeves. "Thank Celestia you showed up before she could do anything else to me... did you catch her?" "Four guards took off after her when she went out the other door, I don't know anything past that." The senior guard explained as we headed down a concrete hallway towards the exit. The stairs led to the entry way of a large mansion. "Who was it anyhow?" I asked. "Shining Steel, an engineer from arcanatech. She disappeared three months ago... I suppose we know where she went now..." The guard said with a dry chuckle. "In any case, Celestia wishes to speak with you." "Well, let's not keep her waiting, and I would like to get this over with and go home." "I understand fully Mam." The guard opened the door in front to a multitude of camera flashes as the press went nuts. I simply walked straight to the rather large royal guard carriage and got in, used to dealing with the incessant shutterbugs. The two guards hopped in as well and closed the door behind us as the carriage took off. I extended one of the mechanical limbs to look at it, inspecting the intricate claw on the end. The guards seemed fascinated by it as well and we all jumped when a six inch spike extended suddenly from the center of the claw. "I have a sneaking suspicion that whatever that thing is... it was originally meant for military use..." The younger guard muttered once we had all stopped. "Or climbing." The older guard said. "Think about it, those claws probably can't grip walls too well on their own so you'd just drive the spike into it." "That makes sense..." I said as the spike retracted. "I'll fiddle around with them more later, when we're not in a carriage. I don't want to discover any fire talismans right now." "That... would be appreciated." The older guard chuckled at the look of sudden realization on the younger guard's face. "Anyhow, we're almost to the castle." I used two of the arms to drape the lab coat back over my shoulders. I'll admit... they are useful. "That looked... totally badflank." The younger guard said as he chuckled. "Now all you need is a pair of sunglasses and an awesome nickname and bam! Mare-Do-Well comic villain." I laughed at that as the older guard scowled at him. "No no, it's quite alright. My roommate reads those comics and I can see why he says that. Besides, it helps lighten the mood." I smiled as the older guard chuckled as well. "So long as he hasn't offended you Mam." There was a slight jolt as the carriage touched down in the castle's gardens and I was quickly ushered into the castle through a side door. I caught a glimpse out of a window at a large crowd of press ponies waiting for the carriage to arrive. "That's a clever trick..." I said to the guards escorting me. "Works every time, you'd have thought they'd catch on by now." the younger one said as he chuckled. "Then again, it's the press. They don't want to miss a scoop so they will stake out in the most illogical places. You don't even want to know where we've had to drag a few of them from." I giggled as we entered the throne room, bowing to the princesses as got close. "Your Majesties." "Octavia thank the heavens." Celestia said, sounding very relieved. "I am relieved to see you are alright. Guards, please exit and secure the throne room, except you two." She said to the guards who had escorted me to the castle. There was a brief chorus of hooves and doors closing, followed by a series of knocks on the various doors signaling the all clear. The guards had swept the room with magic before leaving to ensure there was no way to listen or look in to the throne room. "There, now we may talk freely." She said stepping down from the throne. "You never know who may be listening in." She sighed. "How are you? That must have been quite the ordeal." "I am fine... well almost but we will get to that." I grimaced, not sure what the princesses would make of the device welded to my back. "Thou art lucky that thy kidnapper was so brazen in their actions, the night guard spotted them and followed the carriage to the neighborhood before it was lost. Henceforth it was a simple matter of searching the nearby properties for any trace of thee. We found thy bow tie upon Shining Steel's doorstep." Princess Luna said levitating my purple bow tie over to me. "And here is thine cello, one of the guardsponies retrieved it before his return to report on your capture." "Thank you for keeping it safe, it was a gift from my grandfather..." I said taking the rigid hydra leather cello case in my hooves and placing it on the ground in front of me. "You said you were almost alright... what did you mean by that?" Celestia asked after I had put my bowtie back on. I sighed and removed the lab coat with my hooves. The princesses gasped at the device. "She attached this to me." I said. "What does it do?" Celestia asked, sounding nervous. "Aside from this, nothing I have found so far." I said extending the arms out. "I still am unsure where it stores all of that metal..." Luna's jaw hit the floor as the thirty-some foot mechanical limbs extended from my back. "It is... odd to say the least, they feel almost like natural limbs... except there is no touch sensation." Luna flew over as her speech went into overdrive. She started babbling about magitech, how impressive the discovery was and so on. "However, I think it's fused to me." I chuckled as Luna froze in place mid-air and fell to the ground with a thump she had been examining one of the claws. "F-fused to you?" Celestia stammered. "I think so... I don't know for certain but... just look at where it meets my back..." I said trotting over to Celestia. She leaned in and gasped at the sight of the seamless transition from skin to metal. Her horn lit up and I was encased in a golden aura for a moment before it faded. "It... it appears that you are correct Octavia..." Celestia's eyes were wide with shock. "The device is permanently attached to your spine. I don't know how Shining did it but whatever it is, you are stuck with it." She said bluntly. "Well... I'll be honest it could be worse." I sighed. "How... art thou not panicking?" Luna asked, a bewildered look on her face. "Thou either has nerves of steel, or an addled mind..." "After living with Vinyl Scratch for six years, it takes a lot to unnerve me." I smiled slightly. "You do not want to know half of what she brings home. At one point she found a cockatrice and brought it into our living room. It is a good thing I had a spare cello case or I probably would be made of stone right now." "You are joking right?" Celestia asked. "Please tell me you're joking." "I wish I was princess, I wish I was." -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- A/N: Well here we are, chapter one of symphony shattered. It doesn't seem much like the description yet, however this is just setting the stage so to speak. Comment below on what you think please. Also, this is a secondary project, and will probably end up not written to the same standard as my main project, the vampony chronicles Ciao, ~steampunk