Project: Alicorn chapter 4
“Doctor Star has begun prepping the labs aboard the Hearts and Hooves Councilor,” Lollipop said putting his pink muzzle to microphone of the radio set. He gazed out over the dark emptiness that was the Everfree Forest at night, the only light cutting through the darkness came from the cloudship parked over the main facility almost a mile from the airfield control tower he was occupying.
Heart Swan’s voice replied back through the crackling speaker of the long range radio system, “yes, Councilor Daisy informed us that augmentation will be starting tomorrow morning. Is there anything else?”
Lollipop had grown to hate his unofficial mission of reporting progress on the project to Heart Swan for the last few years to insure the pegasi and unicorns didn’t conceal anything to the earth ponies about the alicorns to be. Despite the fact it was a necessary job he still felt guilty, he knew he was just making sure everypony was holding up to their part of the bargain. He didn’t think of himself as a spy despite the fact his nightly “patrols” would take him around the control tower to steal away like one.
“Nothing official sir,” Lollipop said, trying to end another lack luster report.
“What about unofficially Sergeant? What do you know about the others representing their races?” Heart Swan asked begging for some form of political leverage he can use against the unicorns or pegasi at the next council hearing.
Lollipop would do his duty even if he felt guilty about it, but there was a big line between reporting treason and blackmailing his colleagues, “Nothing sir,” Lollipop lied again; he always tried to avoid the question during his clandestine reports for good reason. It was an important note that if he reported Ironwing’s and Shining’s relationship they would most likely be kicked off the team, which creates an overall unstable environment for the project, a risk he wasn’t willing to take for something so minor. I didn’t sign up to be a fucking tabloid reporter, Lollipop thought, the foals don’t deserve to have the project shutdown or changed now, and they will have nowhere else to go.
“Well….that is good Lollipop,’ Heart Swan said with a bitter tone of disappointment, ‘keep me appraised if anything does come up. Heart Swan out.”
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Lollipop entered the mess hall for military personnel on base which now included the foals who were gathered around talking about the final part of the project, a detail Doctor Star chose to finally share now that they were fully enlisted. At the sight of him, each jumped and gave a salute with their fore hooves and stood ridged until they were allowed to return to their speculation.
“At ease soldiers,” Lollipop felt strange saying that now that they were finally fully trained, and felt even stranger when he saw the dog tags around their neck like a hard flanked, dirt pounding soldier that would have served next to and trusted with his life.
“Sergeant?’ Candice asked pointing a hoof to a complex medical diagram she laid on the table, ‘Celestia and I were looking over the augmentation process, and wondered what the effect would be on the specialized cells that we will be producing to grow wings and horns, do they still use our standard DNA template or will our genes be altered to allow for the replication of these new cell?”
Lollipop whinnied at the question admitting to himself Candice definitely deserved the bandage she had for a cutiemark, “That’s a question for Doctor Star I’m afraid.”
“She and the commander are nowhere to be found,” Sapphire said holding back a smile.
“They’re probably discussing the changeover in command…Sergeant,” Lollipop said to the newly promoted squad leader, not aware the rumor of the two had already made its way down to the foals.
“They’re changing positions?” Luna asked innocently. Cloudsoar gave a slight giggle and caught the sideways glances from his peers.
“Yes, Doctor Star’s job is finishing once the augmentation is complete, Ironwing will be taking over and be top dog,” Lollipop stated, as Cloudsoar continued to giggle at his own jokes he was thinking up. I know I don’t use metaphor much but it can’t be that funny, Lollipop thought growing accustomed to the occasional giggles he would get from the pegasus during training, not even PT’ing that colt until the brink of death could ruin his sense of humor.
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Doctor Star was in fact with Ironwing, but they were spending their time drinking in the old control tower Shining had been using as a class. Well more precisely Shining Star was drinking and telling stories of her “wild days” as a young mare at the military magic academy, and Ironwing was humoring her slurring speeches.
“That constellation there….that’s Canis Major, not minor,” Shining said as she wobbled looking through telescope at the heavens above.
“You’re not….. going to be performing the augmentation spells tomorrow are you?” Ironwing asked as Shining used a sloppy telekinesis spell to reposition the telescope.
“Nope,’ she said indignantly, ‘I’m a researcher, I just sit back while the medical unicorns do the work….then I’ll be back in Canterlot working for Councilor Daisy again. Do you know she offered me a job as magic advisor?....The bitch!” Shining said hammering her hoof down for emphasis, “Everypony will be sent off to their own parts of Equestria and never see each other again,” she said lowering her head in sadness and taking another drink.
Ironwing sighed, “I know I’ll miss you too,’ even though both Ironwing and Shining had agreed that they would one day have to separate and not become too attached to each other, it still didn’t make it easier for them, ‘And I’m actually keeping some of the Lightning Bolts on for a special unit, high commanded insisted we needed a battalion sized force for the team’s support. By the way, do you have any ideas for a name? Lightning Bolt support battalion 14 doesn’t have a nice ring to it.”
“How about, Ironwing’s Lightning Bolts?’ Shining asked waving a hoof in a grandiose fashion in mockery. Shining caught the unamused glance of Ironwing and replied, ‘….I don’t know, how about the Thunder Bolts?”
“That might work actually, I don’t think there’s a SkyNavy SNI unit named that yet,” Ironwing said scratching his chin with a hoof as he thought.
“Really? You would think at least one other pony would think of it.”
Ironwing continued on, “I’m sure you’ll get a job on another project Shining, hey I could put in a good word for you with Admiral White Cloud, maybe-“
“No!’ Shining yelled sending Ironwing’s ears back in shock, ‘I will earn it!...but thank you.” Shining left her telescope and wobbled over to Ironwing, “thank you soooo much, it’s the nicest thing anypony….” She trailed off as she stumbled to the floor.
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“Don’t worry sister, I will be here when you wake up,” Luna said patting her sisters hoof while she laid on the gurney. A red and white medical unicorn watched on, floating Celestia in bed keeping her from falling through the cloud floor of the Hearts and Hooves while she had the procedure performed.
“But…I’m going in before you,” Celestia said raising an eyebrow to her sister who simply returned a reassuring smile as a brown pegasus nurse pushed the floating bed into the operating room.
Luna watched her sister disappear behind the doors to the magic surgery room and returned to the group waiting for their name to come up. Crystal, Cloudsoar and Luna were the only ones still waiting their turns under the horns of the doctors. Luna decided to wander about the ship, not wanting to break up the private conversation of the two pegasi who were reassuring each other and trying to keep from panicking.
Luna made her way to the gymnasium aboard, hoping to get more than just a work out for her weightlessness spell. It was empty besides a few pegasi clad in the new black uniforms of the “Thunder Bolt” support teams. Luna smirked as she saw the bucking bag going unused and trotted up to it. The cloud lined walls of the ship absorbed the sounds of the heavy hoof strikes Luna began throwing at the bag.
“Hey,’ a brown coated Thunder Bolt pegasus said, ‘you’re one of the students aren’t you?”
Luna turned to the mare that stood with her comrades leering at her, “Yeah, I am, and you are?” she asked sincerely.
The mare and her friends dodged the question as they got up and strode past the exercise equipment that now went abandoned, “You’re Luna right? Yeah, I had a friend guarding the base on the last test and I hear that you,’ she said poking her hoof into Luna’s chest, ‘you broke his wing, docs say he won’t ever be able to fly like he used to, might be discharged from the SkyNavy.”
Luna looked up at the mare’s stern face realizing that talking likely wouldn’t fix this, “I’m sorry,” she said halfheartedly.
“Yeah, see I don’t think you are brat,’ she said growing louder and stuffing her muzzle to Luna’s nose, ‘but we’re going to make you.”
Luna decided to hit first, from all she had learned from Darkbeak the lesson she valued most was strike first before you get hit by those talons. She dropped down and swept her leg under the mare, sent her buckling forward, Luna dove forward and speared her horn through her shoulder effectively taking the fight out of her. The two other stallions however were not phased and jumped on Luna, smashing their hooves down on her as she was pinned beneath them. The dark filly managed to free her back leg rolled and sent a hoof into the jaw of one of her attackers. His mouth burst with blood as his teeth cracked and Luna freed herself from the injured pegasus’ grasp only to pin the remaining soldier herself.
The satisfying pop from the wing of the last pegasus told the filly the fight was over. Luna and the stallion fell from the air as his wings failed him; his plan of flying away with her on his back didn’t go the way he wanted. With a magical flare of her horn, Luna lightly floated to the cloudy floor tossing her growing mane from her face. The Pegasus however fell like a sack of bricks, the floor giving an amusing “poof” as he hit the fluffy white floor.
“Subject Luna, please report to the medical wing for surgery,” came a voice over the public address system as Luna examined her handy work.
The filly looked back at the injured ponies as she trotted away, “I’m sorry….” She whispered to herself as she left them behind to tend to their own wounds.
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Celestia had felt pain before, from the shock-batons the soldiers used to use to train her and the others, to being stung by the spasm inducing poison from a manticore tail. But what the white filly woke up to redefined torture. She had mercifully been asleep for the actual procedure, but when she awoke; her agony shook the room with magical force beyond that of any unicorn.
Celestia gave a horridly pained scream followed by a wave of magical energy echoing from her. It felt like her bones were on fire, her blood felt like it was ready to burst from their veins and her muscles tore themselves apart. Celestia threw her head back with another scream and found the tip of her long horn hitting the magical field the staff had erected around her. Celestia bucked and hit her back on the roof of the bubble, No not my back, she realized with surprise, my wings! Celestia had been told she would have wings and was excited to see how Crystal and Cloudsoar lived their lives but now they were just another part of her that hurt.
“Celestia,’ came a familiar sweet voice from Doctor Star, ‘please get back into bed, you can’t be thrashing about.”
Celestia fell to her knees and squeezed her new wings around herself to try to physically fight the pain she was feeling. She ground her teeth together and opened her mouth to let out a soundless yell. She couldn’t bear trying to get back onto the hospital bed in the small room, so Doctor Star would have to be content with her laying on the floor to wallow in a puddle of her own agony.
Celestia sat still trying to keep the destructive pain and magical spasms from growing or changing in anyway. After hours of agony she could finally tolerate it enough to walk. Celestia stood and calmly asked the tired looking unicorns that imprisoned her for the safety of the ship to let her go. Celestia walked past the pair and realized that the ponies who were probably taller than her a few hours ago were now almost 2/3rds her vertical height, the tips of the ears just reaching the base of Celestia’s long neck.
The private room Celestia had spent her torturous hours opened into a common room for low priority injuries. From what Celestia was told this wing of the hospital ship was sectioned off for her and Candice, while the other levels held everypony else. However, Celestia and Candice weren’t alone apparently; the common room had 3 of its beds occupied by pegasi soldiers who suffered traumatic damage.
“Candice…” Celestia strained to speak; her jaw felt like it was locked in place and whole muzzle felt out strange on the rest of her face. Celestia rubbed her nose with her hoof and found her face was longer than it was once before, an unexpected change that she noticed with Candice too.
The light red filly towered over the pegasi resting in their beds. Candice was the first to go in and first to come out, taking the chance to look over the new patients having their joints put back in sockets and bones splinted. Candice looked so alien, she was still shorter than Celestia but her white mane split around a giant horn,and she struggled to keep from knocking over IVs with her new set of large wings.
Candice looked to the white filly in awe, “wow, you’re….well you’re like me.”
Celestia nodded, “I’m glad to see you’re ok.”
“Well, the spasms have stopped. Hey, later can you teach me how to levitate stuff? It would be a lot easier to stick needles into patients with magic so I don’t have to use my mouth-“
Candice was interrupted by an announcement over the PA, “All medical staff to level 3, hurry we have an emergency,” yelled a panicked pony from the other end.
“Celestia….Luna and Crystal are one level 3…” Candice said in a worried tone that struck Celestia to the core.
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Level 3 was full of medics trotting about, carrying bags, bottles and other tools in magical fields or their mouths. Celestia caught sight of Doctor Star who was talking feverously with a unicorn doctor on the other side of the large room. Celestia got a nice view of the scene with her new height and saw that she was blocked by a wall of ponies from reaching her teacher. Celestia realized through her panic and concern for her sister that she was longer using the weightlessness spell that kept the unicorns aboard safely and instead benefitted from the same traits the pegasus had. Celestia gave a powerful flap with her large wings and positioned herself above the unicorns stuck with their hooves on the clouds and tried to dodge the pegasi buzzing about. She was able to quickly get across the room with little trouble, not counting the nurse she accidently kicked in the head with her new elongated legs.
“Doctor Star!’ Celestia yelled over the rabble of the medical ponies as she hit the floor with enough force when she landed that a puff of white material burst and floated away from her hooves, ‘What’s going on?”
“Celestia…’ Shining Star gasped at the results of her years of effort, ‘oh, an accident happened during the augmentation process….”
Celestia felt her eyes water, “was…..was it Luna?” the short pause in between question and answer felt like ages, ages for Celestia to think about what her life would be like if she had lost her sister.
“No,’ Shining sighed, not nearly as relieved as Celestia was, ‘it was Crystal. She’s alive, but in bad shape, the capable ponies here will pull her through, I’m sure of it.” She wasn’t sure of it at all, and she couldn’t bear the thought of losing a student to the spell she had created.
Celestia instantly felt guilty for feeling relieved that Crystal was the unfortunate one and not her sister. After the unicorns had thinned out and Candice finished helping the doctors she joined the waiting Shining Star and her white coated companion to prepare them for what they were going to see.
“She’s ok, well, she’s stable. But… you should see for yourself,” Candice said in a tired and concerned way that made Celestia feel simultaneously bad for Candice and the wounded Crystal at the same time.
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Celestia muffled a gasp as she saw Crystal, or at least what she was told was Crystal. All of the team was different, and looked a little different: they had longer faces, skinny bodies and longer limbs, but Crystal had changed beyond that. The beautiful green on green filly was horribly warped by the augmentations. Celestia had felt like she was being torn apart when she changed, but Crystal was the physical manifestation of the pain of becoming an alicorn and looked like she was actually sundered by the process. The only thing that reminded Celestia of what she once was her blue green mane, but now the silky strands of her hair appeared to have melted and fused together into green sheets and thick locks with ragged holes mixed in where the stands hadn’t melted together. Her coat still looked green, or at least had a green tint to her naked black leathery skin. Her bulls-eye cutie mark was now gone or covered up Celestia couldn’t to tell from the bedside.
She slept and from what Celestia guessed she hadn’t seen herself yet. She looked horridly peaceful as she napped, her mouth open and snoring exposing the two large fangs that protruded from the top of her palate. She was an alicorn like Celestia, but she looked like a nightmare of what Doctor Star had intended. She was tall, large and lanky like Candice and Celestia but her limbs had large holes cutting though them around her hooves, she had a magical horn but it was twisted and knotted like a sickly tree branch, and her once graceful wings were replaced by a disgusting membrane like the wings of a bug.
“What happened?’ Celestia asked, pained for her friend, ‘why? Why did she?”
Doctor Star did something Celestia had never seen from her mentor, she cried with heavy pain and guilt in her heaves and tears, “I…I just don’t know what went wrong…” she continued muffled behind the hoof she forced against her own muzzle to keep from openly sobbing. “I….” she didn’t finish her sentence, and instead galloped out of the room tears splashing to the floor behind her.
Cloudsoar rushed into the room as soon as he could, still limping from the pain of the augmentation.
“Oh….’ Cloudsoar said under his breath, clearly shocked at the sight of his close friend as well. Cloudsoar flew over to the bedside and put a hoof on Crystal’s hollow looking limbs, ‘Is….Will she be ok?” the blue alicorn asked.
“We don’t know the long lasting effects, but she’s alive, Cloudsoar I’m so sorry…” Candice said looking down at the mutated alicorn still unconscious.
“We should leave them alone yall,” came the unique voice of Sapphire from beyond the door of the medical room that was becoming cramped with the large size of the alicorns, beckoning them away with a head shake.
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“Luna hey,” Celestia said quietly to her sister lying on the bed. She was awake, but the contorted expression her face and eyes snapped shut told Celestia that she was still experiencing the aftermath of the treatment.
Luna’s eyes opened and widened at the sight of her sister, “wow, sister you’re….’ she said giving into the welcome distraction of her only family visiting. ‘is this normal?” she asked strained, wincing in agony.
“Yes, but give it an hour,’ Celestia smiled, realizing just how much she was grateful Luna made it through, ‘Did you already get past the magic spasms?” Celestia asked, realizing that it may not be safe to visit her sister if she was a magical time bomb.
“Yeah….that was the worst of it right?”
“Yes. You know,’ Celestia said leaning her long neck to meet eye to eye with her sister, ‘I still remember when you were first born. When you were a new born you used to go through magic quakes, you would cry and cry and let out bolts of lightning that would keep me up at night,” Celestia laughed.
“How do you still remember that?’ Luna chuckled, ‘you’re only 3 years older than me.”
“Well, mom and dad would tell me most of it.” Mom and Dad, Celestia realized she hadn’t thought about their parents in months, they wouldn’t even recognize us, especially now. ”I’m glad you’re Ok Luna…”
“Why wouldn’t I be?” she asked as a new wave of pain twisted her newly elongated muzzle.
Celestia sighed and removed the smile from her face, “Crystal, she…”
“What?’ Luna asked, concern replaced the pained look on her face, ‘is she…..?”
“No,’ Celestia said solemnly, ‘but, she’s hurt, bad. I want you to rest sister; we need to be our best for her when she wakes up-”
A terrifying and pained howl echoed from the room next door, telling Celestia Crystal had finally woken up. “Get your rest sister, I will comfort her,” Celestia said, dreading the task she must face.
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“Look at me! I’m a fucking bug!” Crystal shrieked, her voice added a strange new reverberation and flanging to everything she said. Crystal flapped her tattered wing to attempt to fly again, she flapped them faster and faster to try and stay afloat. The beating wings carried her high in the air, but unlike the graceful wings of a pegasus or an alicorn these thin sheets buzzed like a storm of angry insects.
Celestia looked around at the alicorns there, and noticed that all but Luna and Cloudsoar where there to help. “Crystal, we-“ she began to say.
“Don’t call me that!’ she said franticly and disturbed, ‘Look at me, I’m not Crystal anymore I’m….I don’t know what I am!” Crystal tore the dog tags from around her neck with those new fangs and flung them to the floor.
“Crys- girl, come on down here,” Sapphire demanded, careful to avoid provoking her more. Crystal obeyed the new Sergeant and landed, still rightly upset. Sapphire smiled and put a hoof on her shoulder,”Look, we’re gonna help you get through this, just like you helped us all those times. Right yall?” she asked looking to the others in the room.
Celestia and the others gave a reassuring nod and smile, which seemed to help the troubled Crystal.
Doctor Star had overcome her own feelings to help her student in need, “Crystal?’ she asked meekly entering the room of ponies that now towered over her, ‘Is there anything I can get you?”
Crystal looked at her twisted hooves and the floor, “Where’s Cloudsoar?”
Celestia had hoped that her visiting with her close friend would cheer Crystal up, but the opposite seemed true. Cloudsoar was friendly and put on a happy face like always, but cold and Celestia obviously wasn’t the only one to notice, after a brief awkward conversation between the two, Crystal slinked off looking even worse.
Once Crystal left, Sapphire dropped her mask she was holding to comfort her wounded soldier and turned on Cloudsoar, “What the fuck is wrong with you?” Sapphire asked jabbing Cloudsoar in the chest.
Celestia didn’t feel like joining an argument with Cloudsoar, or listening to one, instead she decided to talk with Luna again to make sure she was still alright.
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Lollipop returned to the control tower once night fell and queued in the proper channel for this week of conversations. “Councilor, are you there?”
“Yes Sergeant, I was beginning to wonder where you were,” the haughty earth pony on the other end said.
“I’m sorry sir, but there was a lot to deal with, three pegasi are in the hospital, apparently Darkbeak planned an unofficial test with Luna at the last minute, one she passed easily. Also one of the foals didn’t take the augments well she’s alive but heavily mutated,” Lollipop said with a sigh.
“Really? Daisy had said that there was an accident, but that it only caused ‘minor complications’, was she lying?” Heart Swan seemed to buzz with excitement at the idea of having a new piece of political dirt to use.
“I certainly wouldn’t call it minor sir, she should be able to perform as an alicorn but the doctors have been examining her unique physiology-“
“Sergeant, we must know what those medical files say if she offers any advantage, we must know of it.”
The pink pony closed his eyes and contemplated for a brief moment, “yes sir, I understand I can get them by the end of the week.”
“Make if five days Lollipop. Heart Swan out.”