When Gustopha awoke, she went about her normal routine. She brushed her mane and coat straight, went and got some breakfast, and then headed to the infirmary. Instead of heading directly to the patient quarters, however, she headed to the cafeteria. Sure enough, Latent Requiem was awake.
A thin, ethereal, white fog hung from his body, draping against him like torn bedsheets or towels. Gustopha noted this, and walked forward. “Good morning, Latent Requiem,” She greeted.
The stallion looked up at her. “Oh, good morning, Princess,” He greeted softly.
“Did you sleep well?” Gustopha asked, sitting at the end of the table.
Requiem nodded. “I slept a lot, that’s for sure,” He remarked.
Gustopha nodded a bit and looked over Requiem’s body. “I see… When did the aura form?” She asked.
“While I was asleep, I think,” Requiem replied.
Briefly, the stallion closed his eyes and shook himself off. From his body came forth the six wisps that had been formed the night prior; however, the ghostly aura hung on his body still, assorting themselves over the floor, bench, and table.
“These six have calmed down a bit, too… It took them a while to fully settle after you left,” He explained.
Gustopha nodded a bit, looking over the wisps. “I see… Have you noticed anything interesting?” She asked.
“Well, they’ve been proper helpful,” Requiem supposed, “If I want something, one of them can go and grab it for me; they’ve fetched me water, helped me straighten out the cot blankets, helped me walk when I was getting out of bed…” He rattled off.
Gustopha nodded a bit. “So you can control them?” She asked.
“I can,” He replied, “But when I’m not, they just sort of handle themselves.”
Gustopha nodded and noted all of this in her head. “I see… What an interesting property,” She hummed softly under her breath. With verdants, she at least had a vague understanding of what she was doing, since she knew all the factors going in. Now, with these spirit ponies, she was flying blind.
“I’ll be honest, I think my wife would love something like this,” Requiem remarked, “A bunch of extra sets of hooves…”
Gustopha tensed slightly at the mention of Requiem’s family. “Right… She’s here in the castle town, yes?” She asked.
Requiem nodded. “Yes, she’s staying in the recovery lodgings, alongside my daughter,” He replied. Gustopha had managed to organize a few inns to take in the families of test subjects while the subjects recovered in the castle, for ponies who wanted to be close to their loved ones just after the trials.
Gustopha nodded a bit. “I believe, after I’m done my surgery today, we should take you to your wife and explain the situation to her,” She expressed.
Latent Requiem nodded. “I’ll be waiting with anticipation, Princess,” He replied.
Gustopha bade him farewell and headed towards the operating room. She tried to remember what Celestia had said to her last night.
“One failure does not invalidate all your successes.”
Even if Gustopha didn’t wholly believe that thought, she needed to keep her mind steady for her patient’s sake. She brought them to the operating room, sedated them, and braced herself.
Sure enough, she did fine. Graft, reroute, return to room for rest. Not a single problem; not even the slightest anomaly. Business as usual. Successful verdant number three hundred and two. Another tally on the imaginary blackboard; and the physical blackboard Gustopha had in her study, when she would return to her room later that day.
It was a relief to Gustopha, really. For once, tedium felt like a warm embrace, rather than death’s covetous claws. Shaking herself off, she found Latent Requiem in his room, and after a bit of banter, led him (and his small entourage of spirit ponies) outside.
The stallion got some looks from passerby in the castle town. His ghostly aura and small trail of followers were most certainly unusual among ponykind; he was the first of… Whatever he was. Gustopha couldn’t think of any good word for it. Somepony who communed with spirits…
Her train of thought was broken by Requiem recalling said spirits.
“C’mon, fellas; you’re giving the ponies around here a spook,” He said softly.
The spirits caught up with him, merging into the aura around him and leaving only faint ripples in their wake.
Gustopha watched this with great intrigue. “You can bring them back in?” She asked.
Requiem nodded. “It took me a bit to figure that out, but now it comes naturally when they aren’t doing anything important. I imagine it’s the same way pegasi just tend to fold in their wings when they aren’t doing anything involving them,” He remarked.
Gustopha nodded a bit, again noting this in her head. Perhaps that would be her “idling project”: writing down all of the thaumic oddities she had encountered. She could probably at least write an interesting foundational journal.
Requiem led her to the recovery lodging his wife, Restful Sonata, was staying in.
Gustopha smiled as the two ponies embraced.
“Requiem!” Sonata greeted, “How did the surgery go?”
Requiem smiled awkwardly. “Well, not as planned, but I’m here,” He offered.
Sonata tilted her head. “Not as planned?” She asked.
“I… Think we’d better come inside,” Gustopha interjected gently.
Sonata nodded a bit, opening the door to allow the two inside.
“Daddy!” A young filly’s voice chirped, as a small unicorn filly wrapped her hooves around Requiem’s neck.
“Hello, Sonet,” Requiem greeted content, nuzzling his muzzle against the excitable filly, letting her hang from his neck as he lifted his head.
“Oh, Princess; this is my daughter, Reposeful Sonet,” Requiem explained.
Gustopha smiled gently at the two new faces. “It’s nice to meet you both,” She expressed.
Sonata closed the door and sat down on the couch, and her husband walked over and sat next to her.
Reposeful Sonet eventually let go of her father, tumbling to the ground with a small squeak.
Gustopha was a bit surprised; Requiem was the only earth pony in his family, his wife and daughter both being unicorns. Gustopha didn’t know many mixed-tribe families; not that it bothered her, of course, it was just unusual.
“So, what’s this about the surgery not going as planned?” Sonata asked.
Requiem shook himself off, loosing his entourage of spirit ponies. They flopped around the couch and onto the floor, and he offered a small smile.
Sonet didn’t seem bothered at all by the spirit ponies; perhaps because they were only a bit taller than her, and sharing her curious expression. She eventually bumped snouts with one, and seemed to decide they were okay.
Sonata, however, seemed a bit more concerned that a bunch of ghosts just exited her husband. “What… What did you do to him?” Sonata asked, her voice now a bit more accusatory.
Gustopha tensed, but she sighed gently. “During the surgery, I lost control of his magic during the moving phase,” She explained, “His magic exited his body; the source of his magic, being his soul. In essence, he passed away, for a very brief time.”
“But he’s sitting right here in front of me,” Sonata reasoned, her hoof pressing into Requiem’s.
“I wasn’t able to fully recover his magic, but I managed to bind a portion of it, which is why he is alive,” Gustopha continued, “The six spirits you see congregated here are the other six portions of his magic; they’re still bound to him, but they now exist outside of the body.”
Requiem gave his wife a small, reassuring smile. “It sounds bad when it’s laid out as a mistake, but I think it’s a gift,” He expressed, “You keep saying how you wish you had an extra set of hooves around the house, and now I’m seven sets of hooves all on my own.” The stallion had a small chuckle.
Sonata smiled a halfhearted smile. “You’re… You’re okay with this?” She asked.
Requiem pulled her into a hug. “I can still hold you and Sonet tight and be there when you need me. That’s good enough for me,” He expressed.
Gustopha had to fight back tears. Perhaps it was immature to shed tears at such a sappy display, but seeing the unabashed love this stallion had for his wife made the princess’ heart swell.
Sonata laughed a little. “Okay, okay, I remember why I married you,” She huffed good-naturedly, “But do you have to glomp me in front of the Princess?”
Requiem planted a kiss on the mare’s cheek. “Actually, I’d like to ask you something, Princess,” He began.
Gustopha nodded. “Go ahead,” She replied.
“Could you do what you did to me to my wife?” Requiem asked.
The room fell silent, except for Sonet playing with two of Requiem’s spirit ponies.
“Come again?” Gustopha asked, voice slightly choked with surprised.
“Well… Like I said, I think this whole thing is a gift,” Requiem expressed, “A gift I want to share with my family.”
Sonata and Gustopha shared a brief glance, neither of them fully accepting what Latent Requiem had said.
“...Well, in theory, yes,” Gustopha supposed, “There’s no part of the procedure that wasn’t repeatable.”
Sonata held out her hoof for a moment. “Wait a minute,” She said, “Requiem, this happened to you by accident, and now you want me to undergo it as well?” She asked.
Requiem gently set a hoof on her chest. “I know it looks like an accident, but you and I both know that a mistake can only be so lucky before it’s fate,” He reasoned, “Besides, the Princess knows what she’s doing. It’ll just feel like a quick nap.”
Sonata seemed quite hesitant, looking at her husband with a serious expression.
“There’s no rush to decide,” Gustopha promised, “I would need to adapt the procedure to repeat such at result; not to mention, I haven’t performed a surgery on a unicorn before, so I’d need extra preparation time for that.”
Sonata blinked, but nodded. “I’ll think about it, Princess. Requiem and I need to have a serious talk about it,” She expressed.
Gustopha nodded a bit. “By all means,” She replied, giving a gentle smile, “Believe me, your husband’s request is as big of a shock to you as it is to me.”
Requiem smiled. “I’m sure she’ll see it my way,” He expressed gently.
Gustopha thought for a moment. “You’re free to spend some more time with your family,” She offered, “Just remember to be back at the castle for sundown.”
Requiem looked at the band on his front hoof’s ankle. It was a small band of some tough fabric, magically fastened around his wrist; an answer to how civilian patients would be let in and out of the castle. “I just show the guards this, right?” He asked.
Gustopha nodded. “That’s correct,” She replied as she stood up, preparing to leave the family to their devices, “Take care; please get in contact with one of my guards, should a problem arise,” She expressed.
“We will,” Restful Sonata promised, “Thank you for the care you’ve shown my husband, despite everything.” There was a reassuring warmth in her voice. Did the entire family just not believe in punishing negative outcomes?
Regardless, Gustopha left the inn and quickly headed back to the infirmary to check on her latest subject. After a quick check up and some reassurance that everything was okay and normal, Gustopha headed back to her room.
She sat before her desk and cleared herself a fresh area to lay her newest note journal. She had amassed quite a few; distillations of all the notes she had taken, and one particularly large binder outlining refined procedures.
Gustopha looked over her notes, realizing how little she knew about unicorn or pegasus biology. She was familiar with earth ponies snout to tail; she could have built one from the ground up if she had all the right parts. Yet, she was so unfamiliar with the other pony races. Thus, she got some fresh books from the castle library and began to study.
As she was writing down a hypothetical procedure, some thoughts cropped up in her mind: If the procedure involved no body part additions, how would the magic flow work? Could a unicorn even also have spirit ponies?
Gustopha fervently marked out empty boxes for future notes as the night went on; pages left otherwise half-filled due to a lack of testing. It all came back to that one, crucial point:
Needs more data.
Gustopha marked out several points of interest before going to dinner with Celestia. Gustopha was planning for it to be another early night.
“You look a bit frazzled, Gustopha,” Celestia hummed as she began to eat.
“My schedule just got interesting, again,” Gustopha admitted, staring at the bowl of hot, fresh soup before her.
“Oh! Well, that’s good news, isn’t it?” Celestia asked.
“In theory,” Gustopha replied with a small sigh, “The subject whose surgery I botched yesterday… He wants me to do the same to his wife.”
Celestia blinked. “He wants you to botch the surgery?” She asked.
“Well, not botch it, but reproduce the result,” Gustopha explained, “He seems insistent that’s it part of some higher being’s ‘plan’.”
Celestia thought this over. “...So what are you going to do?” She asked after a long moment.
“I’m allowing her to have the final say, and preparing in the event I receive the answer I’m hoping won’t come,” Gustopha expressed.
“You’re hoping she’ll say no,” Celestia observed, “If you’re not comfortable with it, why are you going through with it?” She asked.
Gustopha bit her lip, and went quiet.
Celestia leaned in a bit. “Gustopha?” She inquired.
“I’m torn, Celestia. I’m really, really torn. On one hand, I’m scared of it, but on the other… I’m intrigued,” She expressed, “It’s finally something new. Something I haven’t done before. A new challenge to prepare and study for.” Gustopha met Celestia’s gaze. “If both I and my patient are willing to go through with it, who am I to deny them the opportunity?” She asked.
Celestia reeled slightly in her seat. “Gustopha…” She replied slowly, “I understand, but please do not push yourself chasing radical theories and trying to appease your subjects,” She expressed, “Give yourself a night or two to sleep on it.”
Gustopha nodded a little. “I plan to; her and I both, in fact. We’ll decide when we’re both ready, and not a moment sooner,” She proclaimed.
Celestia smiled a small smile. “Good,” She replied, “It’s okay to put your hoof down now and then, you know.”
Gustopha sighed gently and nodded. “I know, Celestia,” She replied.
After dinner, Gustopha set herself to bed so she’d be up early.
When she woke up, she took her notebook, quill, and ink and headed directly to the infirmary, finding Latent Requiem in one of the recovery rooms.
“Good morning, Princess,” Requiem greeted.
“Good morning,” Gustopha returned, sitting before the stallion, “I was wondering if you could help me answer some questions,” She explained, voice slightly hurried. She still had a surgery to perform this morning, after all, but her mind was running to rampant with thoughts and theories.
Requiem was slightly caught off-guard by how hasty Gustopha was, but nodded. “Ask away, Princess,” He replied.
Gustopha looked over her board and took a small breath in.
“First: How do you feel?” Gustopha asked.
“I’m feeling fine; seeing Sonata and Sonet again perked me right up,” Requiem replied.
“Okay, good… Have you experienced any strange feelings since the surgery?” Gustopha asked again.
“Well… I felt a little lofty when I was first waking up, and I feel a tingle whenever I recall or loose my spirits,” He explained.
Gustopha nodded, writing some things down and continuing. “I see, I see… As an earth pony, have you noticed your connection to the earth or physical strength weakening?” She asked.
Requiem nodded. “Not fully, like I’ve heard some of the verdants talk about; I still feel it, just not as strongly,” He explained.
Gustopha’s eyes lit up as she jotted hard in her notebook.
“Retains earth pony characteristics.”
“Alright, I see,” She replied, “Does the feeling change in intensity if you recall or disperse your spirits?” She asked.
Requiem shook his head. “It’s pretty consistent unless I tucker myself out deliberately,” He answered.
Gustopha nodded fervently. “Last question,” She began, “Have you noticed your spirits exhibit any earth pony-like traits?”
Requiem thought long and hard. “...Actually, I did,” He replied, “Just last night, as I was going to bed, one of the laundry carts was barreling towards me; just one of the spirits planted its hooves before me and stopped it dead as if it were a full-grown pony. Then, it got all tired and returned to me until I woke up in the morning; that’s one of the getting tuckered out cases that weakened my connection to the earth for a little while.”
Gustopha nodded slowly. “Sounds like earth pony strength to me,” She murmured, writing more things down.
“If I may, Princess, what are these questions for?” Latent Requiem asked.
Gustopha took a short breath. “In short, I’m probing to see if the spirit ponyism interacts with your being an earth pony,” She explained, “If it does, that means it can coexist with your magic as a pony of a given tribe; ergo, I don’t need to remove anything if I’m performing the procedure on, say, a unicorn.”
Requiem seemed to catch on quickly. “This is about planning for Sonata, isn’t it?” He asked.
Gustopha chuckled gently and nodded. “Read me like a book,” She admitted.
Requiem smiled a bit. “Well, you’ll be happy to know her and I hashed it out last night,” He replied, “She took some convincing, but she agreed.”
Gustopha tensed slightly, but nodded and forced her smile. “Good,” She replied, “It will take me a week or so to clear my schedule and finish the procedure, but then I’ll be clear to get her prepared for operating.”
Requiem nodded enthusiastically. “I’m grateful you’re willing to do this for me,” He expressed, “It’s not exactly within your mandate, I’m sure.”
Gustopha smiled gently. “I’m not here to homewreck,” She expressed, before looking at the clock, flinching a bit, “Oh, but I have been here too long. I’ll see you later,” She bade, standing up and quickly leaving the room.
Gustopha hurried to her surgery and prepared her subject, directing all her focus to the task at hand. If there was one thing her scare had given her, it was focus. Her task came and went easily enough, but that didn’t change how she went through the motions almost mechanically, with the precision of… Well, a surgeon.
Once she was done, she headed back to her room. She had notes to manifest into a procedure. Meaningful notes; not just mere speculation. Conjecture, perhaps, given the sample size of one whole subject, but it was the best she’d get without deliberately botching a surgery.
Finally, after a brief interlude for dinner, she had a workable procedure. It was rough, perhaps, but arguably simpler than the verdant grafting procedure. Since no biological operation was involved at all, there was no medication warm-up or cool-down period; it was all done in the realm of magic, where no such drugs were necessary. It all came down to magical grunt, which Gustopha had plenty of. She’d been so excited about finishing it, that she passed out at her desk instead of in her bed.
The next day was very busy for her, however. Before her first surgery, she got a very important call from one of the nurses in the infirmary: May Showers was foaling.
When Gustopha got to the maternity ward, May was already giving birth, Stoneheart standing next to her dutifully. Gustopha carefully moved in to observe, standing at a respectful distance to avoid interrupting the actual maternity staff.
May groaned in pain from the effort, but under the careful supervision (and mild magical assistance) of the infirmary staff, she gave birth to a healthy filly.
“The name, sir and ma’am?” One of the doctors asked.
Stoneheart and May shared a tender glance. “Rising Seed,” May said, panting a bit.
May held the baby close as she came down from the intensity of the birthing, clutching Rising Seed in her front legs. Rising Seed was already crying, but calmed as her mother’s snout touched her own.
“Shh… It’s okay, sweetie,” May cooed gently, “Mommy, daddy, and the Princess are all here.”
Rising Seed looked up at them with squinting infant eyes.
Stoneheart smiled gently, chuckling very slightly. “She’s got your squint,” He joked.
May huffed softly and squinted at him. Gustopha noted the similarities, and gently walked forward.
“May I see her just for a moment?” Gustopha asked gently.
May nodded, leaning forward a bit. Gustopha took the newborn with all the stillness and care she could muster, bringing the infant close to her face. Sure enough, under the newborn’s still damp tail, was a carefully concealed bud of plant.
“She is a verdant,” Gustopha said, gently lowering the infant and cautiously hoofing her back to May.
“I suppose that means your experiment was a success?” Stoneheart asked softly.
Gustopha smiled gently. “She wasn’t part of the experiment,” She reasoned, “But that does mean that the verdant race will live on. It’s life’s way of blessing our efforts.”
The foal began to smile; just a little bit.
“Look, look, she can tell,” May said softly, “You’re the first natural born verdant, sweetie…”
Stoneheart smiled. “Let’s not reduce her to a statistic. First and foremost, she’s our daughter,” He said gently.
Gustopha nodded a bit. “Well-said as usual, Stoneheart,” She replied softly, “No matter what, she’s very special.”
May smiled, occupying her newborn daughter with gentle nuzzles and kisses as Stoneheart and the Princess talked.
The happy moment was cut a bit short, however, as Aerated Turf was brought into the room. She was huffing and panting hard; she, too, was now foaling.
Thus, the scene repeated. Stoneheart took Aerated’s side, and Gustopha observed cautiously as the pregnant mare finally gave birth.
When the baby colt was released, he didn’t cry. He simply stared up at the doctors with curious eyes.
“Goodness, you’re a stoic little one,” One of the maternity nurses cooed, “What’s your name?”
“Bluster,” Aerated Turf expressed, still panting hard.
“Bluster… What a lovely name,” The nurse replied.
Aerated Turf held her son close and smiled gently. “He’s got your stone face,” Aerated teased with a soft huff.
“Karma,” May remarked from the bed over.
Stoneheart just chuckled and shook his head. “Some discipline to tame his rowdy mother,” He teased back.
Gustopha smiled gently, again approaching to inspect the infant briefly. Sure enough, there was a bud, just below the foal’s tail.
“That’s two healthy, natural-born verdants,” Gustopha explained, “Congratulations, all three of you.”
“And congratulations to you too, Princess,” One of the nurses replied, “This is as much of a step forward for you as it is for them, isn’t it?”
“It’s a step forward for everypony,” Gustopha expressed, “A door now opened, that will never be closed.”
After spending a few more minutes interacting with the parents and their new children, Gustopha had to leave to attend to her other medical duties. Namely, making a non-born verdant. It was a bit strange in her head, really; there were now verdants in the world that were not made by her hoof. She hadn’t been kidding: The door was open now, and it couldn’t be closed.
Despite her morning excitement, Gustopha had no issue performing her surgery. Things were finally different, and exciting. She hoped it would last, really. Then again, she had over half of her verdants done now. There were lights in the tunnel, now. Lights of hope. The tedium wouldn’t last forever.
The rest of her week went fairly uneventfully, and before she knew it, she had Restful Sonata in her operating room.
“Now, though this is a purely magical procedure, I’m still going to sedate you. The spell is very rigorous, and chances are, you’d be traumatized. The sedatives will keep you from witnessing anything upsetting,” Gustopha explained as she drew some anesthetic from a flask, moving towards the unicorn.
Restful Sonata nodded. “And once I’m out, that’s it?” She asked.
“When you wake up, you’ll have your own gaggle of spirits,” Gustopha explained.
Sonata chuckled a bit. “Is that the proper scientific term? A ‘gaggle’?” She quipped.
Gustopha chuckled. “I haven’t had time to figure out names for everything yet,” She admitted.
“Now, a little pinch,” Gustopha said gently, moving closer, but hesitating.
“Go ahead. I’m ready now,” Restful Sonata promised. She flinched slightly as the syringe pricked into her, its contents injected.
“Now, you get comfortable. Sleep will come soon enough,” Gustopha explained.
Sonata nodded, laying flat on her front and closing her eyes. Like with so many subjects before, the sedatives kicked in quickly. However, this procedure would not be like any that came before it.
Gustopha sat before the sedated mare and closed her eyes, working entirely via magic.
Unicorn magic at first glance should have been easier to work with, but it was very stubbornly routed through the horn. It took some effort to begin pulling it free, but then it flowed easily.
Gustopha was mostly going by feeling. She had only managed to get perhaps a third of Requiem’s magic back into him after the split, so Gustopha took two thirds of Sonata’s magic and then stopped the flow. Gustopha then eased her grip on the removed magic, allowing it to split apart into six wisps. She wondered if the number of spirits was significant, but didn’t ponder for too long. Carefully, she rebound each wisp to Sonata’s internal magic reserve. Like Requiem’s, they bounced and wobbled around at first, but soon settled into steady orbits.
Once satisfied everything was set properly, Gustopha opened her eyes and took a deep breath. She’d done it. She’d made a once-accidental result on purpose. Carefully, Gustopha moved the still sedated mare to the cot, and rolled her out to a recovery room.
When Sonata awoke, she felt heavy and groggy. Her head ached, and she thought she heard a dull roar of murmurs in the back of her mind.
Then, the soft sound of her husband’s voice. “Good morning, honey…” He greeted gently.
Sonata’s eyes slowly opened to the sight of her beloved standing over her gently, one of his spirits perched on his shoulder like a curious bird.
“Good morning…” Sonata whispered, “Did it work?”
“It did,” Requiem said, “The Princess says you handled it like a champ.”
Sonata’s eyes opened a bit wide, and she rolled onto her side, heaving gently. “...I’ve got a serious headache…” She murmured.
Gustopha nodded a bit. “That’s to be expected,” She explained, keeping her voice low to not agitate said headache, “I can only assume it’s similar to the muscle weakness your husband felt.”
“It goes away,” Requiem promised, his muzzle gently pressing to Sonata’s.
“Where’s Sonet…?” Sonata asked.
“She’s safe in bed in the inn, being watched over by the housekeepers,” Requiem reassured, “It’s late.”
Sonata nodded a little bit, her eyes stiffly closing. “I’m tired…” She admitted.
“The sedatives are likely going to mess with you for a bit,” Gustopha explained, before looking at Requiem, “You should go rest. I’ll watch over her tonight.”
Requiem hesitated, but nodded. “Alright,” He replied, gently kissing Sonata’s snout, “I love you, honey.”
“Good night, Requiem,” Sonata murmured gently, watching as the stallion left the room.
Sonata drifted in and out of sleep for several hours, punctuated by Gustopha somewhat noisily writing in her notebook.
“What are you writing?” Sonata asked after a couple cycles of waking.
“Everything I learned from the operation,” Gustopha explained gently, “That’s the first time I’ve ever done it intentionally.”
Sonata nodded a bit and managed to roll herself into a seated position.
“How are you feeling?” Gustopha asked gently.
“Still a bit tired, but the headache’s gone,” Sonata explained.
Gustopha nodded. “I see…” She replied softly.
“So… Where are my spirit things?” Sonata asked.
“They were visible for a while, but retreated into you some time ago. You need to call them forth,” Gustopha explained.
Sonata nodded a bit. “How do I do that?” She asked.
“...I’m not exactly sure,” Gustopha conceded, “Requiem said it came naturally to him.”
Sonata nodded slowly, and lightly kneaded the bed with her front hooves for a moment, attempting to wake her legs up some more. Then, she felt an intense shiver run along her spine, and her whole body shook with it. Six roughly orbular wisps of multicoloured light sprang forth from her body.
Gustopha smiled a bit. “Ah, there they are,” She hummed.
“Requiem’s looked like ponies,” Sonata remarked.
“They started as formless wisps, like that. Try controlling them; maybe get them to sit down,” Gustopha suggested.
Restful Sonata closed her eyes and focused. Her horn illuminated, and all the wisps were held static in the air. Then, shapes formed from the wisps, one by one; little unicorns, roughly the same size as Requiem’s earth pony spirits.
Gustopha furiously scrawled in her notebook, taking in the information.
“They’re unicorns,” Sonata observed as she opened her eyes. As her horn ceased to glow, the spirits tumbled to the ground; a couple landed on the bed, and one even landed directly on Gustopha’s head.
Gustopha looked up and around at the small group of spirit unicorns and chuckled. “That they are,” She remarked, returning to her writing.
“So if Requiem’s spirits had earth pony strength, would mine have unicorn magic?” Sonata asked.
Gustopha nodded. “Try getting one of them to levitate the glass of water,” She suggested, pointing to the water on the counter. It was typical to leave fresh water for patients when they woke up; post-surgery dry mouth was not pleasant for anypony.
Sonata closed her eyes, and sure enough, one of the spirit unicorn’s horns ignited, lifting the glass and bringing it to Sonata’s lips. Sonata accepted it in her own magic, wincing slightly as she took a sip.
“...My magic’s grip isn’t as strong,” Sonata admitted, “I can feel it.”
Gustopha nodded a bit and wrote some more down in her journal. “That’s expectable. Given that your magic is now split between yourself and the spirits, it stands to reason you have less of a share of your own magic to work with.”
Sonata nodded a bit. “But the spirits account for the disparity?” She asked.
Gustopha smiled and nodded. “That’s correct,” She replied.
Sonata nodded a bit. “...I’d like to see Requiem before I fall back asleep,” She requested.
Gustopha nodded a bit. “You stay here, I’ll go get him,” She offered.
Sonata nodded quietly.
Gustopha went and roused the stallion from his slumber, bringing him over to Sonata’s room.
The two ponies embraced as they were brought together again.
“Did you have a good sleep, honey?” Requiem asked.
Sonata smiled and nodded. “I did; the Princess was good company,” She replied gently, “Plus, now we match,” She expressed, lightly nodding towards her small paparazzi of spirits.
Requiem nodded and shook himself out, releasing his own payload of ethereal ponies. The two groups of spirits lined up to interact, curiously staring at each other.
Gustopha watched the two ponies share an odd look. “Is something the matter?” She asked.
The couple pressed into each other firmly, not saying anything. Gustopha observed as they both recalled their spirits in unison, before Requiem stepped a short distance away from his wife.
Sonata and Requiem both stared at each other for a long moment, before their eyes closed.
Gustopha yipped and jumped back as a large wisp of magic came from each pony, whizzing to their partner and being absorbed by their aura.
Requiem and Sonata both slowly opened their eyes, shaking out their spirits. Sonata now had a single earth pony spirit in conjunction with five unicorns; likewise, Requiem seemed to have the lost unicorn in addition to his entourage of earth ponies.
“...What did you just do?” Gustopha asked after a quiet moment of observation and notetaking.
“I think we just traded spirits,” Requiem explained softly.
“It came naturally, like an invitation,” Sonata expressed, “Something calling out to me.”
Gustopha nodded and jotted this down. “I see… Does the traded spirit respond to your orders?” She asked.
Requiem hummed for a moment, looking at the glass on the counter. After a few seconds, the traded unicorn spirit’s horn glowed, and it magicked the glass over to him. He took it and set it down.
Gustopha, again, wrote this down. It was all valuable information. The idea that an earth pony could, in part, accept a unicorn’s magic and use it as their own… Gustopha, just for a moment, supposed she could believe Requiem’s theory that it was all part of some grand design beyond anypony’s understanding. Surely such an ability wouldn’t arise from pure chance.
Requiem then let out a small yawn, and Sonata soon followed suit.
Gustopha gave a small smile. “I’ll let you both sleep,” She expressed, “We can discuss this more in the morning.”
Sonata and Requiem embraced one more time, before Requiem let go and backed away a bit. “I’ll see you in the morning, honey,” He bade gently.
“Good night, Requiem,” Sonata bade, resettling herself in the infirmary bed.
Gustopha and Requiem then left the room, Gustopha gently pulling the door closed behind her.
Requiem smiled gently at the princess. “Thank you,” He began softly, “Because of you, my wife and I are closer than ever.”
Gustopha returned the smile, and nodded a bit. “I suppose I owe you thanks as well, for being so accommodating to such a mistake,” She expressed with a small sigh, “Any other pony would have likely demanded I be prevented from ever operating again,” She admitted.
Requiem gently nudged her with his snout. “Mistakes happen,” He said softly, “Life likes to surprise us. We can either wallow in misery and assume every surprise will be bad, or we can accept the surprises and appreciate that we don’t know everything.”
Gustopha smiled a bit and, again, sighed softly. “Well… Tearing your lifeforce from your body isn’t exactly what I’d call an appreciable surprise,” She expressed.
“Being made into something truly special, and becoming closer to my wife because of it, is an appreciable surprise, though,” Requiem retorted, stopping as he got to the door of his room.
Gustopha briefly halted herself, and nodded a bit. “I suppose you’re right,” She replied gently, “Good night, Requiem.”
“Good night, Princess,” Requiem replied.
As Gustopha finished the walk to her room, she sat down at her desk and reviewed all her notes. They were a complete mess; only comprehensible thanks to assorted arrows and tables sorting columns out manually rather than intuitively. She yawned a bit; it was late. Closer to dawn than dusk, at least, so she decided she’d rewrite it tomorrow…
Tomorrow.
She had no surgeries lined up for tomorrow. For the first time in a long while, she had nothing to worry about, save for figuring out what exactly was going on with Requiem and Sonata’s new states of being.
Gustopha settled into her bed with no intent of waking up early the following day. She’d worked late tonight, even if it had been more of a personal project.