//------------------------------//
// Measure Of a Mare 
// Story: Just Winging It 
// by arcum42 
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Scootaloo had an awful itch near the end of her muzzle. She reached to scratch it, but the straps holding her legs in place wouldn't let her move more than an inch. Ponyfeathers. Agreeing to this had been a really bad idea. 

She'd gone down the stairs to the basement, following Twilight. As it turned out, her basement was huge, and filled with all sorts of weird gadgets. Twilight had headed straight for one of the biggest and most impressive of them all.

It towered over both of them, every inch of it covered in lights and switches of various sizes, levers, meters, and all sorts of otherwise incomprehensible doodads. Scootaloo's eye had been drawn to two metal balls that a spark periodically leapt between, and a few quartz crystals sitting in special metal brackets, wires wrapped around them. She had to wonder how Twilight kept Spike from eating them.

Twilight had then asked her to lie on a metal table that was hooked by several big bulky cables to the humming device. Scootaloo still wasn't totally sure why she had gone along with it, especially when Twilight immediately started strapping her limbs down to the table.

"Twilight, I can't move," Scootaloo said, pointing out the obvious. "I thought we were just going to take some sort of reading of my magic levels."

She seemed oblivious for a moment as she adjusted the straps carefully. Then she replied.

"We are. The thaumapotentiametronometer is delicate, though." Twilight gestured at the device next to the table. "Any movement could throw off the readings."

Twilight turned away from Scootaloo to a nearby workbench, and when she turned back, Scootaloo saw that she had a container filled with some sort of gel in her hooves. Her auntie had warned her about getting in situations like this. She shivered.

"Is the temperature too cold down here, Scootaloo?" Twilight asked. "I can turn up the heat if you'd like."

"Twilight, what are you planning on doing with that?" Scootaloo said. Something in her tone of voice must have conveyed itself to Twilight. She looked at the container, as if suddenly realizing how this could be construed.

"Oh, I just need this gel to attach the electrodes so they'll hold in place firmly," she explained. "If one of them slips off, the circuit won't be completed properly, and we won't get any results."

Alright, that almost made sense. And it would ultimately help her reach her goal of flying. And she kept telling herself that as Twilight attached electrode after electrode to her. Electrodes at the base of her wings, behind her ears, under her forelegs, right by her dock (and that one had made her squirm uncomfortably), and what seemed like all over her.

She felt like her fur was coated with that gel at this point. When I get out of this, I'm really going to need to wash up properly. She frowned. Assuming I get out of this.

"Are you absolutely sure this is necessary, Twilight?" That big machine seemed to loom ominously over her.

"Any scientific project needs as accurate of a base value as possible," she lectured, "and if you really want to increase the amount of magical power you have, we really need to know the number of EMU's we are starting with."

"What's an EMU?" Scootaloo asked, confused. Wait, isn't it a large, flightless bird? Is Twilight making fun of me?

"An EMU would be an Equestrian Magical Unit," Twilight recited, to her relief. "It was set forth as the standard unit for measuring magic by the Royal Thaumaturgical Council of Mareheim in 143 Anno Caelestis, replacing the older use of the thaum..."

"Right. Unit for measuring magic. Ok."

"And that should be all the electrodes attached." Twilight walked over to the machine and started flipping switches and adjusting dials.

"Um, how long is this going to take, anyways?" Scootaloo asked. She did trust Twilight, didn't she? She even seemed to remember that they were vaguely related somewhere down the line. "Auntie Vinyl and Octy are going to get worried if I'm out too long."

"Oh, not long," Twilight said absently, her mind clearly elsewhere. "I just need to do some calibration."

She flipped a few more switches, looking at the levels on various meters. Then she stopped for a moment. "Right! The helmet!"

Walking back over by Scootaloo's side, she lowered a metal helmet covered with lights onto her head. Twilight then started to do adjustments to make it stay properly in place. Given that one of these was tightening a buckle on a strap to the very last hole, then making a new hole to get a good fit, Scootaloo started to wonder if this equipment was even designed for somepony her age.

"And it takes all this just to get a reading of my magical strength?"

"Well, actually most of this equipment is multipurpose." Twilight flipped a few more switches, and put on some goggles. "Reading the precise level of magic in a pony or object is one of its functions, though."

"And it's safe?" Scootaloo asked, fishing for reassurance.

"Of course. Everything I've read about it says it should be perfectly safe." Twilight lowered some metal globes directly over her, then put another set of goggles on Scootaloo, which, admittedly, probably looked pretty cool. "Of course, I've never actually tested it on another pony before, but plenty of respectable scientists use the same equipment all the time."

What type of respectable scientists, Dr. Frankenstein? It's never been tested? "Twilight, I really don't know-"

"And that was everything!" Twilight bounced in place and clapped her hooves in glee, scary-looking grin on her face. "Let's crank up the power!"

She pushed a lever up a notch on the control panel. An ominous hum started building, coming from the equipment. Electricity began to arc between the two metal spheres above Scootaloo. She yelped as a spark passed within inches of her. "Twilight!"

"It's perfectly safe. Watch!" She put two of her hooves on two other metal globes attached to the main machine, letting raw power flow through her. Her mane stood on end, as did her fur, but she seemed otherwise unharmed. Though with the maniacal gleam in her eye, it was a bit hard to tell. "Millions of volts, but practically no amperage. Harmless."

Scootaloo looked at the electricity arcing over her skeptically as her fur started to stand on end. It had just run through Twilight without incident, but this was still pretty unnerving. And she could feel something running through her body, especially around the electrodes. 

Twilight slid the level up another notch. The humming increased, and the quartz crystals seemed to be glowing. She felt a tingling, itchy feeling all over her body.

"Oh, don't worry if you have a few involuntary muscle spasms," Twilight suddenly said. "The straps will keep you safe, and they should go away as the readings finish."

She then pushed the lever up another notch.

Muscle spasms? This wasn't sounding safe at all! "Twilight! I don't-"

Then it felt like every single muscle in her body contracted and expanded at once. And again, and again, sending Scootaloo into spasms of agonizing pain. She let out an unholy shriek that seemed to last for an eternity and the world turned red as she heard Twilight scrambling for the controls.