“You were born on that beach, but that’s the day you grew powerful. At least until I came along.”
She was back in her workshop. That cocky imitation of her voice spoke while still in the shadows. Over its shoulder was a heavy bag made of thick canvas with magically secured latches. The weathered old thing brought back memories of chasing down injured soldiers and sending them back into the fray. That was also when-
The dark figure stepped into the light and stopped just before the energy that kept Arcane suspended motionless on her feet. The mare was a mockery of herself. Her fur was black and eyes almost as gold as the metal itself. Her hair was a straight lavender with a center part like her own. Her lips weren't the pink of Arcane’s skin, but a soft plum.
“Oh, does this look familiar?, the dark mare lifted the heavy travel bag up high so one of the silvery medallion-shaped latches cast a reflection from moonlight. A set of turquoise-green eyes stared back at her.
“Pleased to meet you, hope you guess my name.”
Age 19
Her new bag slouched between hooves as she sat reading an old book with yellowed pages and moth-nibbled edges. Every few seconds her left ear flicked out of annoyance. The other nineteen teenagers took random spots in the lecture hall chatting endlessly about why they were pulled out of their classes and driven miles to be here. For the past two hours they were held in the proverbial dark while a brown-splotched barrel-chested stallion sat on a professor’s desk, arms tightly crossed and eyes scanning his ‘guests’.
“Hey.” Her twitching ear picked up a voice so close she felt the breath against the sensitive fur lining the inside. Her eyes cut over to a short curvy green mare. Her emerald horn was dim, thus not being used at the time. Once Arcane made eye contact the curvy Ethereal gave her no time to say a word.
“Do you know why we’re here? The soldiers that escorted me didn’t say anything. I was seriously about to freak out.”
Arcane looked for any answer to satisfy the one interrupting her reading of “Transmutation and spells not to attempt alone”. Many of the ponies sitting in the four tiers of curved black tables and Victorian oak chairs were around nineteen like Arcane, two looking much younger than that. The other common feature was berets and military cadet uniforms, though the multitude of colors and symbols on their shoulders suggested they all came from various academies all around the country.
It was obvious this had something to do with the military. That gorilla of a stallion had the familiar posture of a drill sergeant doing the one thing all drill sergeants hate doing, sitting patiently. The question was ‘what for?’. Arcane looked over her unwanted companion and noticed a fine glimmer on the cuffs of her orange NorthWind Academy jacket. She leaned close enough to invade the mare’s personal space and get a better look.
“You’re onto material sciences too?”, Arcane spoke with a neutral tone in an attempt to kindly suggest she wasn’t looking for friends here.
“Yes!” The green mare said in delight, either ignoring or not understanding Arcane’s tone. The short mare grabbed Arcane’s wrist with both hands and bounced in her seat. “Finally! I have someone to talk to! My focus is arcane metallurgy. Finding the right process to break down magically infused gems was the hardest part, but after more failures than I can remember I managed to infuse elemental effects directly into cobalt steel.”
A subtle blush colored Arcane’s face. She preferred books over people. Books always had something useful to say and never bothered her with questions she answered time and time again. Being surrounded by people she had no interest in felt so much easier. She could easily ignore people who had nothing to say, but then random interesting people came to make her simple absence of distraction nearly impossible.
“That’s impressive, but I’m not sure why… conduction, right?”, a hint of excitement betrayed her disinterested act.
“Yes! How did you guess that so fast? Enchanted weapons and tools are nice, but they need command words or be activated by magic. This way-“
“Anyone can use them with a thought!”, both of them screamed out at the same time like the teenage girls they were.
“Cadet Heart, Cadet Gears! This is a lecture hall, not a slumber party. Please keep it quiet.”
The heavy stallion’s voice boomed without having to shout.
“Iron Heart, please to meet you, Miss Gears”
“Arcane Gears, likewise.”, her voice was soft and shy when not trying to act like she was made of stone.
“So… what is your speciality?”, her arm hooking into the bend of Arcane’s elbow.
Arcane’s ears swiveled nervously as the green mare leaned into her shoulder.
“Well, I am training to be a medic, but I’m more interested in mineral contents in biological systems. I had the idea after my professor Maud Pie crushed a Fire Ruby and used the fragments and a pressure incubator to grow a new set of fire gems. It took forever to get the samples and formulate the liquid catalyst, but I did it. I made ‘the state of being a Celestial’ into an elemental stone.”
“Why would you want that?” Iron Heart’s brow furrowing. If you're already a Celestial then you don’t need it. If you’re not Celestial then you can’t use it without it going haywire. Your existing aspect would synergize with the new one and the power would rise exponentially. The best case scenario is you go crazy.”
She gave a shrug, “One problem at a time.”
Iron Heart let go of her arm and leaned back from Arcane. A moment of silence stretched between them as the short mare looked at her new friend as if for the very first time.
“Arcane, you’re not planning to Ascend, are you?”
Her eyes grew wide at the suggestion and smirked.
“Hel’s panties. Why would I do something that stupid? I’ve read ‘The Unicorn’s Folly’ too. I know all the warnings, read up on Queen Crystal’s failed attempt at eternal beauty. I read ‘King Sombra’s Fall’ as well. Moral of the stories? Everyone who attempts to become an Alicorn on purpose eventually corrupts. Even Queen Luna was corrupted when her heart fell into jealousy for her sister.
I have no desire to be an Accended. I mean, aren’t you at least a little curious about what you’re missing? Imagine flying through the air, your body knowing exactly what to do before you realize it. Instincts as fast as lightning. Once I saw a Celestial catch a baby bird who fell out of a tree. His ears were covered with headphones and his hand just flicked into position the very moment that chick fell into his peripheral vision. It took him five hoof steps to realize he was even holding it. I swear his reflexes were smarter than he was.
How about being a Terran? Imagine feeling the grass grow under your feet. Imagine knowing the moment a flower will bloom, or when a cloud will start to rain. Imagine feeling the emotions of a speechless animal so clearly they may as well be talking to you. Sure, you can imagine lightning and throw a thunderbolt, but can you know the second a cloud will do that on its own? I’ve never known an Ethereal who could.
That doesn’t make you feel the very least cheated?”
There was, at least, a little sympathy in Iron Heart’s eyes as Arcane spoke. The green unicorn leaned in slightly as Arcane described the point of view from Pegasus and Earth types, then raised an eyebrow close to the end.
“Hey, how did you know I was Ethereal?”
“Cadets, fall in!”
They could feel the shout in their chest. The moment the verbal thunder spilled out of the older male stallion every cadet sprung onto their hooves and stood with arms at their side. Along the stage of this lecture hall a slender black stallion made his way from a set of double doors to where his thicker companion waited.
He stood with arms behind his back, his eyes scanning the twenty young cadets scattered along the rows of tables. His face held a scar that ran from his left cheek and across the center of his forehead. His dark blue duster’s collar was decorated with a General’s rank.
“Good Afternoon, Cadets. I apologize for the wait, but I hope the reason we brought you here will make up for that.
As you are all well aware, every cadet who joins any military academy in our kingdom is required to keep any classified information under penalty of imprisonment or death when in war time. That said, I will give you one chance to walk away now. An escort is waiting outside to take you to your dorms or outside residences.”
Silence, apart from one dry cough.
“No takers? Excellent. The bad news first. We have credible rumors that the Dragon Kingdom is in possession of a Mirror Portal. Not only does this violate our treaty, it can potentially threaten multiple realities and expose us to others hostile to our own. It is almost certain this will lead to war.
The good news is we now have a tool that can help us immensely, and it’s all thanks to you. We always look for the best and the brightest, but all twenty of you have made discoveries that sped up the development of our project by nearly three decades.
Knowing that war is inevitable, we need you to perfect and set up mass production of what is essentially your combined effort.”
The black stallion reached into his long coat and pulled a cigarette pack-sized green box with an opaque glass panel.
“Holy Hel, that’s a Pandora Box.”, Iron Heart muttered under her breath.
The black stallion placed the cap of his index finger along the glass and waited for a green line to travel from left to right. The finger-hoof gave off a soft glow before the box opened with a click, disabling the incendiary explosive that would have otherwise dissolved the contents of the box and the hand that held it.
A murmur rose between the small group that quickly settled down when the General cleared his throat. The contents consisted of two rather simple looking stud earrings with Opal stones, one golden and one silver.
“They did it. Those bastards used my research.”
Arcane squinted to focus on the metal of that stud. She could swear there was some kind of tendril made of faded light squirming around. It was so disturbing she was glad to be the only one who could see it.
“Our research.” Arcane continued before the two teenagers met Eyes. Both of them had an odd bond at that moment, like two girlfriends that just found out they were pregnant. The baby in question was in a box and owned by the military.
“If a Celestial sustains severe damage to their shoulder blades or the fourth node of their spine they can lose the ability to manifest their wings and reflexes weaken. Even after years of physical therapy a number of our soldiers after the Third Changeling war still lack the ability to fly. These Emulators have successfully re-established their ability to manifest wings in three veterans for a period of fifteen minutes. With a perfected version of these emulators I believe we can send injured soldiers back into the fight and restore their natural abilities.”
General Raven nearly smiled seeing all the young faces with barely restrained enthusiasm. They all remained at attention and did their best not to make noise, but the impetus of youth and this new mission made most of them squirm in place.
“Sergeant Boulder will go over the details with each of you before you are escorted back to your dorms. Pack a bag and get some rest. We will return to move your belongings to Canterlot Academy. We will meet here on Friday at 0600 sharp. At ease.”
The following four hours were not so exciting. One by one the cadets signed transfer orders, level four confidentiality agreements, shared patent agreements, and other legal paperwork. By the time it was all said and done Arcane felt worse than her first day of basic training.
The group was allowed to exit the lecture hall and guided by the Sergeant to Canterlot Academy’s driveway where a convoy of black auto-cars were lined up.
“So, I guess we are classmates now.”
Iron Heart remained close to Arcane the entire short trek from lecture hall to curve. As they walked, the short Ethereal leaned into her side. She simply assumed it was due to fatigue until she spoke. Not a hint of that assumed sleepiness showed as the short mare stood before her.
“Yes, it certainly seems like that.” She cursed in her head. Her cheeks were hot and she knew the blush was showing. Iron was grinning wider.
Arcane was saved from the awkward moment by a nondescript stallion in a long leather coat and driver’s cap. With a few muted words he escorted Iron Heart to one of the many vehicles, opening the back door for the green mare.
“It’s okay, I got this one.” A similar driver was about to approach Arcane as General Raven saluted and excused him. “Miss Gears?” Opening the back door and waiting for Arcane to step inside.
They drove for a solid hour in silence as tall buildings passed by. The majesty of Canterlot gave way to increasingly humble store fronts and residences. Once the only artificial light was the occasional rural home and starlight filled the sky, General Raven finally spoke.
“So, what does it look like?”
“What does what look like?”
“My horn, or should I say what’s left of it.”
Arcane turned her head from the landscape passing by beyond the passenger-side back seat window and looked into the rear view mirror. She squinted and finally noticed it. The flickering pale line was so dark blue that it was nearly black. It looked like the spittle of a leaky fountain pen sticking out from that nasty scar which ran over the General’s forehead.
“I don’t think you would like to kno-“
“I was the first to test the Unicorn version. Sorry, ‘Ethereal’ version of the emulator. I swear something I lost returned while it was active. I hadn’t felt that clear minded since Crystalis tried to take my head off. I will never forget that jagged horn of hers. It was a physical horn, an actual hard bone jutting out of her head like some insane sacrificial dagger. Okay, maybe it was chitin at that point. Oh, and I saw the transformation. In a bright flash of green light she went from spoiled princess to bug-momma in seconds.”
Perhaps the General didn’t want to know about his horn after all?
“Can I ask why you’re not wearing it now?”
“I could simply tell you it’s Military property, but to be honest I am used to who I am now. Gears, no one talks about it, but there is a downside to being an Ethereal. Your mind never quits. Life is endless worry and thought even when you go to sleep. Losing my horn freed me, showed me how much I was overthinking and obsessing over the smallest things.”
“I think I understand.”, she said in the tone of someone that wanted the conversation to end.
“My deepest fear is that you don’t. Growing crystals from extracted biological samples is a pretty extreme thing to do. It was brilliant like Frankenstein was brilliant. I’m not telling you to stop, I’m just asking that when you come to the line between smart and insane that you step back.”
The vehicle slowed as they turned into the driveway of MidPoint Academy. They paused long enough for the automatic gate to swing open and turned right onto a large circular cobblestone street. She passed the squat building Freshmen stayed in during basic training. In the dead center was a refurbished royal mansion that served as classrooms and the Normal dorm.
The General came to a stop when reaching the newest building in the campus. High marks came with perks in these academies. The building was a fourth the size of the main structure but made in the same curves and swirls of classic Canterlot design. Midpoint Academy’s private dorm.
Arcane let herself out and bent down to look through the passenger side window.
“General, permission to speak freely?”
He stared right into her eyes as if trying to read something off her irises.
“Go on.”
“If you want me to swear under the effects of an honesty spell then I’ll gladly do it, but I’ll tell you the same thing I’m about to. I’ve read virtually everything about Ascension. I don’t want it. I’m pretty sure my inner self is someone I don’t want to meet, let alone become.”
Raven gave Arcane a tight smile and a small nod.
“Goodnight, Miss Gears.”, he said with a distinct lack of ease before driving off.
Arcane entered her room on the third floor with a weary sigh before mumbling the word ‘Lux’. An enchanted hanging lantern in the center of her three by two meter bedroom lit the humble space.
Her furniture consisted of a wardrobe, single bed, desk, a long table, and her babies.
“Hey sweeties, I hope you didn’t get too hungry while I was out.” A few clicks of her hooves brought her to a mid-sized aquarium decorated with false rocks and rainbow hued light. Taking a small canister from close by she carefully shook a few healthy servings of fish flakes. She took a few moments just to look at the black and white spotted fish with huge magenta eyes and orange fin tips as they reached the surface and burbled up the flakes greedily.
“Guys, it’s been one hel of a day. I’m a part of a team working on top secret stuff, I met a cute girl, and thanks to her I finally have an answer to that little stumbling block. Mineral infused alloys, why didn’t I think of that?”
Arcane sat up and grasped the edges of the aquarium to carefully slide the tank away from the pink wall, rotating it 90 degrees to expose the back. Her hand pushed a lower corner to make a hidden panel click out of place and fall away, exposing the source of that rainbow hue. Seven fist-sized jars stood in a row, their walls thick enough to contain immense pressure. Each contained a fluid that glowed one of seven classic colors: red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, indigo, and violet.
She reached further into that hidden space to pull a leather notebook and flipped it open to the last of many dog-eared pages plus a pencil keeping her place. On the page was the date and a spreadsheet with numbers that wouldn’t have any meaning to anyone besides her. The only thing labeled clearly were the seven columns of that sheet. Crown, Eye, Throat, Chest, Solar, Lunar, Mundus. She leaned in close to each jar and noted the growth of tiny crystals forming in their glowing solutions, jotting down their progress.