"Aaaaah!" Bellesmith shot up, her brown eyes wide and brimming with tears. Her horn glowed brighter than the sun. The cap over the end of it was smoking. The arcane wires fused to the metal piece were burning red. "Mmmmff—Aaaugh!"
"I thought you pulled her out!" Dalton shouted, sweating in the pale managlow.
"We did!" one of two ponies garbed in white exclaimed. They rushed across the dimly lit chamber and huddled around her, grabbing her limbs and trying to hold her in the seat. "Her leylines are still fused!"
"Apply more buffers to the sphere divide!" Dalton exclaimed, passing beneath an illuminated sheet of glass. "We must get her out more slowly than this!"
"It's too late! She's cut off from the sequence—"
"We can't afford to lose another!" Dalton shouted, his wrinkled face awash in concern. "N-not at this rate of the subject's decay!"
"Hnnngh—Beloved!" Bellesmith sobbed, biting her lips until they bled. "I want to see him! Blessed Spark! Blessed Spark, save me!" She jerked back as a heavy spasm struck her.
"She's collapsing!"
"Detach her! Detach her!"
"Sir! The instruments—"
"I'll take the blame for whatever happens! Detach her now!"
The metal cap popped lose. A stub of a unicorn horn sparkled in the pale light. The arcane coils above Bellesmith hissed and buckled. Metal shards littered the floor.
She panted, her entire world shaking. Glancing around the dark room in a pale sweat, she saw flanks of silver metal. A box sat in a pedestal directly across from her, shimmering from a focus of magic beams. Beyond that hung a tall metal cylinder. With a mechanical hiss, the device sunk into the floor. Steam rose; so did her eyes. A translucent window stretched close to the ceiling. Dark equine shapes loomed, still and ominous.
"Hold my hooves, darling!" Dalton said. "You're going to be okay! I'm going to get you back to your husband..."
She gnashed her teeth. Her brown eyes shook, darted, and flickered red-on-yellow.
Then all turned dark.