“So you chose to follow?”
“-- show reverence to Mishrii. Hopefully, this gift suits you.”
“I apologize, without being conscious--”
Gleaming like pools of stilled quicksilver, a dozen arms descended. Flesh parted and muscle was stretched taut as mechanical limb twisted it into ever denser forms.
“Do not forget your purpose.”
The young girl sat in place, motionless and unmoving as a furniture, on a ratty old rug. Pink eyes focused intently on the everything that no one else seemed to perceive or care about as a soft breeze push at her white, shoulder-length hair. With a faint whistle, rusted holes in the wall made themselves known to the girl; she spared them only a cursory glance with her eyes, but it was then she’d move in the last two hours.
“I’m sorry, ma’am, but the margin of error on our evaluations is less than point zero- zero- zero- zero- one percent.” The doctor explained. Though his body was wholly enshrouded in a hooded red-leather long coat and his face was obscured by artificial darkness, his body language told the tale. Luminescent orange shades peered over the women in front of him before quickly turning his attention to the woman’s husband.
“Is there any recourse?” Asked the man from his secluded corner. He had yet to change out of his brown, oil-stained coveralls. Metallic shavings and various fluids mixed in random splotches across his chest, denoting a long day’s work. Sweat and heat, the scent of a working man, wafted off his body as he gently stroked his chin hair. “Surely, an Alchemist of the Combine has some idea of how to fix my child.”
A single finger adjusted the Alchemist’s shades. “You are correct, Refiner Acolyte. Your daughter… is unique. The results of my test point to damage and deformation of Alreona’s anterior temporal lobe and minor damage to her central nervous system. It can be repaired. Completely.”
“But?”
“But with resources on Teszura as scarce as they are, such an intensive procedure is nigh impossible without a grand sum and many hours. Time is no issue, though, as I do not believe her condition will worsen.” He kneeled down and patted Alreona’s head, the girl jerking briefly at the sudden contact, before going still again.
“Surely there is some way to bypass this cost, some way to help my daughter,” the father begged.
A blacksmith’s hammer rang out as it shaped orange-hot steel.
It was unwanted noise, drowning out Alreona’s consciousness with extraneous information. One moment the craftsman sounded as if he were within arms reach, yet within the same breath could be heard from far off in the distance.
It’s happening again, just like when I was a child. A stroke to the left, a stroke to the right, hissing water, nine-hundred and eighty-two degrees Celsius, steel, coal… It’s too much...
No. Alreona let her mind drift back to her time in the Combine and what they taught her. I did not allow my curse to define me then; I will not allow it to now.
Her first lesson cut through the haze in her mind like an obsidian blade.
Clear your mind; focus on the immediate, she remembered. In her minds-eye, she could see everything going on in her head. Each and every thought and calculation, every stimuli, and every response was laid bare before her introspection. Web-like in its weave, her mind blazed with over-activity. It was utter chaos but her path was clear now; she could fix this. The first step was compartmentalizing the information flooding her into logical categories. A place for everything and everything in its place, as the old saying goes.
Pestle ground against mortar, crushing various hard-shelled materials.
Strengthen the bonds; embrace the possibilities. Alreona’s thoughts more akin to a sloppily organized portfolio at this point. Thoughts, emotions, and sensory information were all with like data, however, there was no internal order to the groups and they lacked the complex relations, connections, and references that facilitated coherent thought. Her magic coalesced over the haze of her mindscape, picking at each thread of thought and rebuilding the pathways she’d formed over years of study and training.
Unoiled wheels squealed in protest as they clacked over cracks and spaces on a stone floor; A nervous “Will you marry me?” followed by an ecstatically yelled “Yes!” was the first of the voices she noted, but countless others made themselves known; Rhythmic pulses numbering in the hundreds, some far, some near; some strong, some fading, sent Alreona’s mind reeling; “It hurts!” Wailed a man, his voice cracking mid-way through his agonized cries.
Shut out the inconsequential; enforce clarity. Sounds of the world bombarded her, stealing her concentration and adding useless junk to the processes of her mind. Like a rock through a busy spider’s web, every noise destroyed whatever progress she made. Alreona was not going to allow this, she would not lose to her own weakness after having come so far. Her magic was a scalpel sharpened and honed to slice away imperfections, and with it, she sliced at her perception. Everything too far, too loud, or too numerous was cut away and analyzed before being reconstructed into useful information.
All is consolidated into one single master equation. That is what the Combine had taught her. That in the end, a single truth connected all existence. Everything could be simplified to one. At this moment her one was the single loose mental thread hanging from her mind. Her thoughts were like a loose ball of yarn. All she had to do was pull...
Alreona’s mind, once alight from overstimulation and unordered junk information quickly settled. The final vestiges of an echo quickly faded away as similar sounds, albeit much quieter, clawed their way out of her throat. It was a terrible sound: monstrous, disconcerting, inhuman. But she knew it was her voice.
Alreona’s world snapped into focus. Far-off noises, rapid-firing nerves, and overbearing scents ebbed away until nothing but her immediate surroundings remained.
Her body fell slack, catching itself on something-- chains if the rattling was any indication-- before hitting the ground. Everything felt so right, yet so wrong. The information was coming in faster and in larger quantities than ever before but she could process it.
A single drop of water struck a puddle, sending ripples across its shallow surface; the only movement in the cell whatsoever. No light penetrated the room and only weak echoing splashes accompanied by hitched breaths betrayed anything more about the space.
“Hold!” a woman forcefully decreed.
Alreona’s vision returned, quickly settling on the pair of light magenta eyes directly before her. What is this? She grunted, trying to lean away from her offensively close company. As she pulled back, the scene set itself before her.
Crude spears of wood and iron targeted her while their wielders steadied their defensive stances. Curious beings closely resembling Earth equines clad in gold painted armor dexterously followed her body’s every twitch. Surprisingly human frowns and furrowed brows mixed with various forms of animalistic body language relayed their grim determination to protect and serve. A few of the armored creatures shivered weakly or held awkwardly stiff postures, their bravados wavering slightly under the stoic gaze of the unknown creature.
They were, however, ultimately not what Alreona sought. Her roving gaze quickly locked onto the being she’d been face-to-face with a moment ago.
The eyes she’d been staring into belonged to small, lithe equine sporting an off-white coat and pink mane. Whatever the being actually was its curvaceous form, soft features, feminine tone suggested she was female in sex; at least if human norms were applicable to her species. More striking than her strange proportions and clear sexual dimorphism displayed between the males and females of their species were the horn and pair of wings.
“So I see that you have finally come to your senses,” the mare huffed, addressing Alreona. She slowly lowered a wing, placating the guards. “My guards were prepared to cut you down, despite your restraints. But I knew, though your eyes were frenzied and your claws were at my throat, that there was intelligence behind your gaze.”
The alien appendages near the mare’s throat twitched. My body is drastically different than I recall, however, I am unsure of exactly what occurred after following Yther. Alreona thought, her body sending millions of signals confirming the extent of the changes. “Your species is unfamiliar to me. What are you?” Her voice was hoarse and beastial, rumbling with new, powerful bass. Gone were her previous gentle, dulcet tones. While curious about her body, more exploration would have to wait.
A spear thrust towards her face was the immediate answer she received. “Silence, beast! You are in no position question our Lady!” one of the guards shouted.
For a brief moment, the idea to test the give on her restraints in an attempt to headbutt the offending guard overcame Alreona.
“Excuse him, he does not know his place and presumes and speak for me.” The mare turned to her guards and pointed to the door with a wing. “Leave us.” Celestia’s guards gave her a quick, respectful bow before backing out of the cell.
“Had it not been for Starswirl and the castle magi, I would have had you destroyed were you were found,” Celestia ranted, circling her prisoner. “The castle doesn’t have the resources and the military cannot spare the soldiers needed to guard and feed you. No one would have questioned the execution of a monster.”
“Is your plan still to terminate me?”
“No. No that I have seen for myself that you are just as intelligent as my ponies, I cannot simply murder you in cold-blood.”
She is emotional. Her judgment will be compromised. Within the heart of her frustration may be an avenue leading to my release. “Then perhaps you can tell me why are your people in such dire straits?”
“Simple. War,” Celestia answered, deadpan. “As you have no doubt noticed, my people-- ponies-- come in seven subspecies. The specifics of the species are not important at this moment, just know that the kingdom my sister and I rule over is a haven where all tribes of pony are welcome; not everypony appreciates that. And so we fight. We fight and we die. No matter if we win or lose, advance or retreat, the injured die of infection or cannot survive their wounds.”
She hummed in response. “Interracial tensions were once similar between my people. However, that does not explain the state of your fighting force. Why will so many succumb to infection and injury despite a successful retreat?”
“Everypony is doing their utmost, there simply are not enough healers to save them all. Those who will not make it through the night are comforted as best as possible and allowed to pass. ”
Alreona took a deep breath. “Release me.”
“I assumed you were intelligent. Clearly, I was mistaken.” Celestia gave her a flat look, clearly unamused.
“Regardless of the being you perceive before you, I am a medical expert and researcher of life; I can double, perhaps triple the survival rate of your ponies if allowed to.”
Celestia turned away. Alreona, though, could see the muscles strain as the mare clenched her jaw and ground her teeth. “Can you really? Save them, I mean.”
“I would not make such a seemingly outlandish claim if it were not possible. I am as certain of my skills, Celestia, as I am of your people’s resolve.”
Celestia sighed, her horn lighting up. “I’m giving you this one chance.”
The binding golden chains fell away, fading in a shower of golden energy as they unclasped from Alreona’s body. Finally unbound, she could get a better gauge of her strange new body.
Alreona lifted her hands (now claws) to her face. She’d seen the natural, beige armored appendages earlier, but it hadn’t seemed real then, despite the massive feedback she’d been receiving from her body. Now, touching her claws to her chest and hearing the clack of whatever bone-like material covered her body, she could no longer ignore the sensations coursing through her.
What has Yther done to me? Whatever she has forged me into, it is no longer even close to human. Though she knew this was not entirely true; it was more about genetics than any physical modifications present.
Now that she was free to rise to her full height, she towered over Celestia by nearly a foot. While still vaguely humanoid and feminine in figure, every inch of her body that didn’t need to bend was protected by the same porcelain shell, segmented at the joints like some sort of modern art rendition of an insect. Her upper torso was like a lithe suit of natural, form-fitting armor. Orange material, almost like that of gossamer, draped down from her collarbone and shoulder, creating a natural mantle. From her armored waist, the same material sprouted in a form mimicking a waist cloak. Twitching madly behind her, an armored tail, easily as long as she was tall, extended out from where her tailbone should have ended. She couldn’t see her face, but it still felt human, for the most part.
However, with all of the changes to her body, the most jarring was that she was now digitigrade. The more she focused on that fact, the more unbalanced she felt, leaving her no choice but to let it go for now.
“If you are satisfied with your condition, come. We have little time.”