//------------------------------// // Uncoordinated // Story: I'm Afraid of Changeling (and other short stories) // by Cold in Gardez //------------------------------// Sometimes Twilight Sparkle’s experiments went so well, she just had to sing. Tonight’s test was getting close to that point. The bubbling solutions in the flasks before her were all transforming nicely, just as the textbooks had predicted. The fumes were all easily contained in the giant metal hood above the table, and she was barely dizzy at all this time. Her lab coat was a bit worse for wear, splattered as it was with dozens of tiny smoking holes where one of the solutions had gotten a bit too enthusiastic in its reaction, but a lab coat was a small sacrifice in the name of science. Besides, she had a closet full of the things. Almost good enough to start singing, but not quite. She made do with humming for now, entirely unconsciously, and filled page after page in her notebook with observations. There! That flask! The test strip sitting in the bottom of the clear fluid was turning a dark shade of purple, indicating the presence of free, unbonded protons. She squealed, wrote another note, and continued humming. She could barely hear the shouting and crashing from the floor above, where the Cutie Mark Crusaders were doing research of their own for some new project. She’d wanted to help them, but these experiments weren’t going to conduct themselves, and you couldn’t really leave bubbling flasks alone without burning down the laboratory. Again. So she’d told Spike to help them. From the sounds of things, he was doing a fine job. She finished the final note and hummed louder, and for a moment a snippet of song slipped from her mouth. “...the extra electron just gets in the waaaaayyyyy...” She adjusted the flame beneath one of the flasks. “And that’s why they call it beta decay!” And then she heard something unexpected. Something odd and deeply troubling. From the floor above, absolute silence. She waited, then turned away from her experiments to the stairs. Atop them, the door leading to the rest of the library was open, and the three fillies gazed down at her with curious expressions on their faces. “Oh, hey girls!” Twilight said. She set her notes down, pulled off her goggles and trotted toward them. “How’s your studying going?” “Great!” “Good, I guess.” “Boring!” Twilight gave Scootaloo a little frown. “If it’s boring, you must not be doing it right. Didn’t Spike show you how to use the card catalogue?” She paused. “Also, where is Spike?” “Uh, he said he had to go outside for a bit.” Sweetie Belle said. “I think he’s mad at us for making a mess.” “Oh, don’t be silly, girls. Spike loves cleaning!” Twilight tilted her head. He did love cleaning, didn’t he? She’d have to ask him later. “Anyway, do you want to see a really neat experiment?” “Is it an experiment in how to get cutie marks?” Apple Bloom asked. She took a tentative step down the stairs, followed by the others. “Huh? No, I’m measuring the organic oxidation potential of various compounds. In particular, I’m testing for direct electron transfers in a one-electron reduction reaction...” She trailed off, realizing the stairs were empty. The three crusaders were back up at the door, getting ready to close it. “Uh, acids!” she shouted. “I’m making acids!” That got them. They stopped, the door open only a fraction, and stared down at her. Seconds passed in silence. “Acids?” Scootaloo asked. “Those sound... kinda cool.” Twilight nodded, a smile on her face. “Not just cool, girls, they’re fun! Come take a look!” Slowly, reluctantly, the crusaders returned down the stairs. They paused at the bottom and gazed about the laboratory, staring for a moment at the complex array of smoking beakers and flasks behind Twilight. Then, to her great disappointment, they turned as one to a different corner. “What is that?” Sweetie Belle asked. “That?” Twilight turned to give it a frown. “Just an old experiment on quantum coordinate engineering. It didn’t work out very well, I’m afraid.” The portal in the corner was a flashy thing, both figuratively and literally. Bright sparks shot from its glowing rim, occasionally filling the laboratory with their bright actinic light. Inside the swirling maw, bands of indigo and violet churned around each other, all spiraling toward a central point that seemed to swallow all light. “It’s, uh...” Apple Bloom blinked. “What is it, again?” “I told you, it’s an experiment on quantum coordinate engineering. Don’t stare at the center too long – it emits pretty strong ultraviolet radiation.” “But what’s it do?” Scootaloo started to reach a hoof toward the circle, jerking it back when a sudden spark shot out toward her. “It’s like a portal. The array around it confuses the universe’s underlying coordinate system, so objects that go through it come out somewhere else.” “Come out... where?” Sweetie Belle took a step closer. “Hm.” Twilight paused. “You know, I’m not sure? Could lead anywhere, I guess.” She turned back to the table filled with her smoking flasks. “Anyway, these are the solutions I was talking about. Do you see that strip of paper at the bottom? When it turns blue, it means there are free protons in the solution, indicating the successful production of a redox compound! And look! This one’s already starting to turn! Isn’t this exciting?” Silence. She turned around to see an empty room. Hm. “Sweetie Belle? Scootaloo?” Nothing. Up above, there came the sound of a door opening and closing, followed by clawed feet on her wood floor. “Spike!” she called. “Are the girls up there with you?” “I thought they left!” he shouted back. A moment later he stuck his head in the door and then walked down the stairs. “So... you haven’t seen them?” She gave the portal a nervous glance. “No, why? Where’d they go?” That was an excellent question, and the potential set of answers included almost the entire universe. The entire universe, with the exception of the laboratory and the floor above, which she had already determined did not contain the girls. “Umm...” She was saved from answering by the sudden loud ring of the laboratory’s telephone. Spike walked over and picked it up. “Hello? Oh, hi Rarity! How are...” he trailed off. Faintly, Twilight could hear the high, almost shrill voice of her friend on the line. Spike held the phone away from his ear. “Uh huh. Uh huh. I see. Are you okay?” More shrill words from the telephone, and now Spike was staring at her. “Oh. Oh, that’s terrible. No, I’m sure it will be fine. Yes, of course. No, I’m not just saying that. I don’t care what your mane looks like, you’re still the most beautiful pony in town. Uh huh. Uh huh. Wait, what? She... he is? Okay. Okay, just... just hold on. We’ll be there in a minute.” He set the phone down, still staring at her. A bead of sweat started trickling down her temple. “So... how is Rarity?” she asked. “She seems fine. Oh, she did mention that a dark, terrible hole in the universe appeared in her boutique, filled it with smoke and tentacles, then suddenly vanished in an explosion of flame that ruined her mane.” “That’s... good?” “She also mentioned that Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle were there when the smoke finally cleared.” Ah, mystery solved, then. She smiled and was about to congratulate herself on another successful experiment when Spike continued. “And she added that Sweetie Belle is now a colt.” “A... colt?” “Yes, as in, not a filly. Male.” “I see... Well, I’m not sure how any of that could have happened.” Her traitorous eyes darted toward the portal. He followed her gaze and sighed. “Again?”