//------------------------------//
// Introductions 
// Story: Alicorn Construct 
// by Shadowed Rainbow 
//------------------------------//


Year 20 P.S, 
Month 1, Day 1, 
17:49


Awake? The alicorn had a vague idea of what the word meant, but there was too much sensory stimulation going on to process it. 

The world spun around Twilight as she struggled to get her hooves to grip on the tiled floor, blinking as she willed her eyes to adjust. The floor felt cold underneath, and the cold temperature of the room chilled her exposed insides. She glanced down, perplexed at what she was seeing. Part of her chest was open? That couldn't be right; the others around her weren't like that...

A buzzing resounded in her head as the constant blaring alarm ceased, giving some slight relief to the alicorn as the clamor of voices became her sole auditory company. She couldn't make out what they were saying at first, but it was more pleasant at that point than the alarm.

A rush of others like herself—yet also unlike, as she noticed that they all were missing a horn, wings, or both—, surrounded her and gently helped her up. The construct felt comforted at the stability, and managed to keep her legs from shaking. The pounding of additional hooves caused her to turn her head upward, four more ponies racing into the room. 

Dr. Craft paused, nearly causing the Sparkles to crash into him. He slowed his gait, stepping close to the young alicorn. "How do you feel?" 

Twilight fought to stop her limbs from shaking, the other ponies stepping back to let her stand on her own. She glanced around, blinking several times. "Okay... I think..."

Shining had a brought grin on his face, trotting over, but a hoof from Dr. Craft prevented him from going any farther. From where he stood, the white unicorn was smiling at Twilight. "Welcome to the world, Twily!" 

"Twily?" the others asked at the same time. 

Dr. Craft shot a sharp glare at the younger stallion, the parents looking sheepish.

Nightlight chuckled a little "I'm so sorry, Dr. Craft, Shining just is excited, that's all."

Dr. Craft huffed. "Don't go giving her a nickname quite yet. Once she's with you than you can get all affectionate." 

"He's right, Shining," Twilight Velvet said, both her and her husband blushing in embarrassment. "She's still getting her bearings." 

Shing bowed his head. "Heh... sorry." 

Dr. Craft shook his head in exasperation, his eyes trained on the now-conscious alicorn. "Can you show your wings for me?" 

"My wings?" Twilight arched her brow.

A yellow-coated mare with a long green mane gestured to the appendages on her own side, indicating Twilight had them as well. Her precariously-perched goggles nearly fell off her head as she did so. "These, Twilight." 

"Oh," Twilight remarked, taking note of the structures on her sides for the first time. She glanced at the wings on her sides, stretching them out and flapping them slightly. 

The pegasus mare beamed. "Very good!"

"Thank you for showing that, Emerald," Dr. Craft nodded in approval. "Wing functions are looking stable so far." His gaze trained on Twilight once more, who was looking quite a bit happier with her new wings. "You'll have time to practice with them later. For now, we have to get you some more skin to cover up your chest cavity. Then you won't look so out of place."

"Really?" A grin stretched out on Twilight's face. "Then I'll be just like you!" 

"Well, you won't stand out as much," Emerald Harvest said. "Plus your inner circuitry could get damaged." 

"That makes sense... I think." In truth, Twilight wasn't sure what all of the words meant, but at least these ponies seemed to know what they were doing. "It is a little cold." 

The Sparkles and Emerald laughed.

"Ms. Harvest!" 

"My apologies, Doctor," Emerald said, shaking her head in amusement and placinf her goggles back around her eyes. "I just find it sweet when our alicorns have such a budding view of the world." 

Twilight frowned at the word, arching a brow. "What's an alicorn?"

"A pony with the horn of a unicorn and the wings of a pegasus," Dr. Craft said briskly before the others could say anything. "Like you."

"Are there other alicorns?"

Emerald laughed good-naturedly. "Right behind you." 

It was then that Twilight turned, noticing for the first time the other alicorns present in the tubes. All of them didn't seem close to awakening like her, and quite a few looked more, well, unfinished. "Other awake ones?" 

"Oh, there's plenty of other awake ones," Emerald Harvest said with amusement. "You'll get to meet them later." 

"But first," Dr. Craft interrupted, looking more annoyed by the second at the pleasantries. "It's time to take care of what's important first—getting you stitched up." 

At the beckoning of Dr. Craft's hoof, Twilight cautiously trotted forward, walking in step with the Sparkles as Emerald Harvest led the back. 

Shinning beamed at the alicorn, who was looking around the lab with a wide-eyed wonder. "I'm Shinning, by the way. I'm going to be your big brother!" 

"Don't get too carried away there, Shining," Mrs. Sparkle said gently. "She has to go through Placement first to make sure she's okay."

"And then what?" Twilight asked eagerly, a spring in her step as she nearly hit the unicorn family with her wings on accident. 

"Then you get to come home with us," Nightlight said. 

Twilight's gaze brightened, her jaw dropping. "Really?!"

"You're rushing her too fast into things!" Dr. Craft barked, his horn glowing the same red color as his mane. "Wait until you pass and then you can get all excited." 

Twilight's ears drooped slightly. She felt the light nudge of a hoof at her side and noticed Shining grinning down at her. 

"I'm glad you're awake, Twilie," Shinning said. 

Twilight grinned back, feeling her heart surge—perhaps literally—and this feeling of being alive and moving.

"So, um, what do you know, exactly?" Nightlight asked. He lowered his voice in the hope of bothering Dr. Craft less. "Are you excited?" 

"Of course I'm excited!" Twilight exclaimed, not bothering to keep her voice down. "I've never been awake before and now look at me—" The alicorn was so excited that she unfurled her wings, wincing as they met resistance and she heard cries of surprise from the neighboring ponies. 

"Ow, careful!" 

Twilight paused, immediately folding her wings back to her sides again. She gave sheepish glances up toward the ponies who had now stopped walking. Mrs. Sparkle tried to force a smile, while Mr. Sparkle had placed a hoof on the side of his face. Twilight could see a scratch forming, glancing at her left wing and could see a bit of metal poking through the tip.

"Oops..." She winced.

Dr. Craft rolled his eyes, his horn alighting with magic once more, as a cloth was tossed from a stray worktable over to Nightlight. As the dark blue stallion murmured his thanks, Dr. Craft sighed as the door to the containment units shut behind the group. 

This was going to be a long day.





About half an hour later, Twilight stumbled out of the containment chamber, able to land with her hooves on the ground with out tumbling on her face. A black wire of scarring could be seen around her chest, and a bright red laser shot out from the top of the cylinder. The stitching faded to a color that matched her coat, before shrinking to a thin point and vanishing altogether. 

"Alright, you can remove your goggles." 

Emerald Harvest placed her goggles over her mane once again, while the Sparkle family removed each of theirs. The white goggles became briefly illuminated by the colors of their magical auras, before the eyewear was set to rest inn the small bin waiting on the table.

Twilight stretched out herself more fully, glancing down at her now-covered chest. One wouldn't even be able to tell it had been open in the first place. "I feel a lot better now!"

"You look a lot better too," Nightlight added with a chuckle. "No more open organs." 

Dr. Craft nodded in agreement, heading toward the door which opened in his presence, the others following through. Twilight trailed behind the group with a newfound bounce to her step, looking at the other ponies.

Twilight beamed, trotting around the group as they travelled through one of the many hallways, a whoosh of air sounding behind her as the door closed. Turning down another blue-tiled hallway, Twilight turned her gaze around. She could see various other ponies, dressed as Emerald Harvest was, white lab coats with colored trim along the edges. Some were green like Emerald's, while others were blue, gold, and violet. Different ranks perhaps?

She tried to take a peek in several of the doors in the hallway as they opened and shut. She saw one blue-coated unicorn hurrying into a room with papers strewn about, her light blue mane shining under the light of her horn as the papers were surrounded by the glow of her magic. Another door to the left had an orange pegasus race through a large interior, a group of alicorns hovering around a track and dodging obstacles with their wings and magic. 

That must be one of the alicorn training areas! Twilight couldn't deny that it actually looked like fun, but the door shut before she could even call out a "Hello" to her alicorn kin.

Now even more intrigued after seeing what she would likely soon participate in, the newly-awakened alicorn practically hopped next to the others. She was thrilled that she had gotten proper skin and blended in much more with the others. "Now I look just like you guys! Except..." 

She trailed off, eyeing the marks that the others had on their flanks. While Dr. Craft and Ms. Harvest wore lab coats that prevented their marks from being seen, the Sparkles had marks that very-well matched what they were called, as far as she could tell. The alicorn pointed at their marks. "What are those?" 

"Oh, they're cutie marks," Mrs. Sparkle said helpfully, the corners of her mouth turned up in a smile. "Every pony gets one when they find out what their special talent is. It's a magical process that almost everypony goes through." 

Twilight's gaze brightened as she trotted closer to the Sparkles, eyeing the marks. "Will I?" 

"Well..." Mrs. Sparkle frowned, glancing at the two scientists. 

Ms. Harvest nodded. "You should in time, Twilight. The other alicorns here have gotten their marks eventually, I assume you'd be no different. Besides, not having a mark if you're not wearing anything would have you stand out." 

Twilight nodded in understanding. The fact that there was a prospect of her getting a mark eventually filled her with hope. 
Her mind ran with a plethora of questions—the laboratory, cutie marks, it was all a lot to take in. Not to mention that obstacle course test the alicorns seemed to be doing. Were all the tests like that?

While it was true that she was different, at this point she looked just as alive now as the Sparkles and the scientists were. She spread her wings and flapped them, bringing her to levitate a few inches off the ground. 

"I can't wait to get my cutie mark!" Twilight's horn shine with a magenta aura in excitement, and a burst of magic suddenly shot upward. The force of the blast and the surprise of it sent Twilight to the ground again, the group of older ponies cringing a little at the smoldering indent now on one of the ceiling tiles. It didn't look like it was going to fall over, but it seemed that tile would still need some fixing. 

Dr. Craft's mouth was set in a thin line. 

Twilight's ears instantly dropped as she cantered up to him, the glow around her horn completely gone. "I'm sorry! I-I didn't mean it, it just happened!" 

"It's alright, Twilight," Mrs. Sparkle said quickly, putting a hoof comfortingly around the alicorn's neck. "It was just an accident."

"And at the very least," Dr. Craft added, "it shows that your primary genestock attributes are functional. We're going to have to work on that and teach you properly." 

Twilight nodded as Mrs. Sparkle stepped away, giving Dr. Craft as determined a look as she could. "I'll try to learn everything I can about magic! I won't let you down!" 

"Well, you're awake and functional," Dr. Craft said. A tone entered his voice that almost sounded to Twilight like a sense of pride. "That's a start, at least." 

The group then came to a larger set of open doors in the lobby of the laboratory. The surface of the doors were crossed with black rims, while the windowpanes looked to be a stark white. Emerald Harvest ran a hoof to the left side of the door to allow a green panel to light up along the blue-gray wall. The doors opened to reveal a dark interior that looked as if it extended forever, fluorescent lighting shining above. 

Twilight frowned, unable to see anything beyond the darkness. She stepped forward slightly, poking her heard into the entryway and glancing up, squinting in the light. Only the lights themselves greeted her. She withdrew from the square room, looking backward at the ponies who had accompanied her. "What's there?" 

The Sparkle family looked at the young alicorn, their faces falling. 

"Well, we have to leave, Twilight," Mr. Sparkle said reluctantly. 

A small gasp left Twilight's throat, and for an instant she fought to get her lungs working right. "Why?"

"We were permitted to come here for a short time, just to see you. We didn't think you'd wake up when we were here, but you did, and..." a soft smile appeared on Nightlight's face as the trio looked at one another, than back to Twilight. "We already like you." 

Twilight's mechanical heart leapt in her chest. "Really?" 

"Of course!" Shining beamed. "And I'll be—" 

"Shining..." 

"Oh, right, sorry." The young stallion crossed the front of one forehoof in front of the other, looking sheepish. "No more affectionate nicknames."  

The family stepped into the room, smiling softly. As Emerald Harvest stepped into the room, pressing buttons on the inside, the Sparkles each waved a hoof farewell.

"Bye, Twilight, Mrs. Sparkle said. 

"See you later, I hope!" Mr. Sparkle added.

"It was great to see you, LSBFF!"

"Shining..."

Twilight managed a sad smile as the doors began to close, shyly waving a hoof herself at the unicorn family. She noticed that their eyelids were slightly drooped as they left, their cheerful expressions slipping. Did they already feel as attached to her as she did to them?

The doors closed, and Twilight could hear a whirring behind them that was ascending upward. She listened carefully for their voices behind the door, but she simply heard the fading whirring of machinery until they were out of sight. A silence replaced it.

"Ahem." 

The noise of another pony clearing his throat finally turned Twilight's gaze away from where the Sparkles had left, staring into the stern green eyes of Dr. Craft once more. "Come on, it's time for us to go."

Twilight cleared her throat, her footsteps slowed as she walked behind the stallion. "Will they come back?"

The alicorn sighed at his gruff manner. She wished that it had been Emerald Harvest who stayed, at least she was more willing to talk. Still, Dr. Craft appeared to be the leader of this operation, and she wanted to impress him. Maybe the more I impress him, the more likely I'll pass my Placement? Just gotta think of some topic of conversation...  "So, um," she began, a slight tremor in her voice. "What's your—"

"I know you're wondering about our cutie marks, and there will be time for questions about how magic works later." Dr. Craft gestured more firmly with a hoof, the purple alicorn following a bit quicker in his wake. "For now, it's time for you to meet our Interface." 

Any questions buzzing around in Twilight's head regarding the scientists' marks were silenced at the reveal of this new information. Dr. Craft didn't seem the type to be willing to answer random questions, only inquiries as to his current topic of conversation. And this "Interface" was apparently all he wished to focus on for now. Best to go along with it. "What's an Interface?"

"The Interface is our monitoring system," Dr. Craft explained, his voice echoing through the metal halls, accentuated by his hoofsteps. "She oversees everything, serves as a trainer to the alicorns here, and generally keeps everyone in check. There's little that she can't see." 

Despite her thoughts drifting toward the Sparkle family, and Dr. Craft clearly being annoyed with her questions, Twilight found herself getting excited again. Curiosity on the current topic at hand won out. "Do you just call her Interface?" 

The stallion opened his mouth, then closed it again. Twilight noticed his eyes look away from her slightly, seeming intent on having his face turned straight ahead. "The Interface is known by her proper name as the Cybernetic Electronic Lifeform Engineered for Scientific Troubleshooting and Immediate Assistance. But obviously that's much too long for casual conversation."

"So what do you call her?"

"It's best if you call her by her short-hand name." 

The stallion rest his hoof against the door, the surface underneath shining with a green pulsing light as it began to open. 

"Come in," a voice said behind the door. "Welcome, Twilight—I mean, EP114."

Twilight started. "How did you know my name?" 

The voice laughed as the door began to open, a pair of magenta irises visible amidst bright white. "I know almost everything."

As the door began to open, Twilight tilted her head upward to see the words that had appeared on the door, harboring a green glow before fading:

C.E.L.E.S.T.I.A.