//------------------------------//
// 5: Enter Codename LUNA 
// Story: The Life and Times of Caughlin Mare 
// by Casca 
//------------------------------//

	Hours usually crawled in the den. There were twenty-four hours in each day - regardless of Discord's meddling, the scale, arbitrary as it was, held fast as long as its users held it - and each crawled past. Not the dying cripple crawl, but a tarantula kind of crawl. Definitely not fast, but not slow. Purposeful. Dreadful. The excitement of the grand, new project had faded like the heat from a watchglass; it had brought a genuine thrill to the system, but things felt no different any more. The fact was that experiments could only be done for so many hours on end, and options for rest between those rest breaks were limited to watching other projects or going idle. After the other projects became familiar, plopping down on haunches and vacating the mind evolved into a pastime. There was grace in the lack of absolute silence; the combination of that and the scheduled boredom would have driven a good deal of the scientists mad.

Days, weeks in to the final development stage, and Caughlin was beginning to have doubts. She had been too caught up in the research to notice, but now she saw that each letter was taking the Order longer to reply. A side-by-side comparison showed that the handwriting in each was different, and was deteriorating as time went by. Perhaps they were finding it hard to keep up due to circumstances.

"Say, Doctor. Maybe, just maybe, if the Order were captured before we finished the project, what do you think we should do then?" she asked idly, as she gave the rock-sugar lump in front of her a sharp poke.

"Since when did you need to consult me on the alicorn project?" sniffed Whooves. He was looking at the far end of the hall almost decidedly, even though - she followed his gaze - there was nothing there.

Caughlin stared at him. "Really, Doctor? Playing hurt?" 

In the frenzy of fresh work, she and most of the team had dropped their previous activities, and one of that was her tutoring sessions with Whooves. She recalled him poofing about in her reality bubble-testing chamber for long periods of time. Rolling her eyes a bit, she gave him a gentle clap on the head and added, "Yes, Doctor, I do need to consult you at times. After all, I think you're much better at some things than I am."

"I wouldn't mind hearing what those things might be..." mumbled Whooves.

Caughlin flourished a smirk. "The conical flasks were particularly well-polished last week, if I recall correctly."

The far wall was met with a stronger stare. "Those rocks won't turn themselves into sugar unless you figure out the magical cross-matter designation, you know."

"It's 'thaumical', not magical," corrected Caughlin, although she was impressed that he could say it in one stretch now. "And yes, there really are some things. Like Gummy. He seems to like you much better than he does me."

"So you're saying I have a thing for animals?"

"Um, Whooves. We're ponies," said Caughlin, rolling her eyes. "Put things in better terms, will you?"

"Fine, little creatures. Squirrels in the trees, the cute little bunnies, birds flying free and bees with their honey, and that's only if you extrapolate the possibility of you being right." Caughlin could not help but snort as the stallion waved an annoyed hoof. "But what does that have to do with anything?"

"Well, if I'm to have my way, the alicorn will be a foal. And since, you know, the rest of us are simply hermits living in close proximity when it comes to interaction, the task of taking care of them will probably fall into your lap. Literally," said Caughlin. "Wait, no. Give me that hammer."

He handed it to her with a pout. "Why? I'm not a unicorn. Oh, and hey, that brings us to another thing. You know, it's probably just me, but something just feels wrong about the whole 'make the horn the focus' thing. What's wrong with wings and, uh, potential?"

Caughlin chipped away at the rock as she considered this. He had a point. She had actually suggested it before, but the replies had a somewhat haughty vibe to them. Alternate pivot points of energy channeling were, it seemed, hard to understand, as if even suggesting otherwise was silly. She had attributed it to regular, smart-alec stubbornness. She would have to ask Furhich about that some time.

"Personally? I agree with you. Ponies are equal, after all. And you can teach the alicorn that too, when you babysit her."





The den was now noisier than ever. Caughlin's test chamber had been reconstructed as a life-support device, and was now filled with viscous, light green liquid. There were tubes and wires everywhere, splayed across the floor and ceiling like roots. On the walls of the chamber itself were runes and symbols that served to stabilize the thaumic field during union and transfer. Extending from the cylinder was a triagram - a geometric expression of magic direction and behaviour control, three circles linked in a triangle etched into the ground. Utilizing it would aid attending to the physical and thaumical details in the alicorn creation; its design had been a joint venture, incorporating exactly half of each team's concept points.

Dear Caughlin,

After much consideration we have finally decided to agree with you on the use of a newborn foal for Project ALICORN. We will no doubt have difficulty obtaining this foal, not to mention the time cost required for it to mature, but given the circumstances this should be for the best.

Sincerely,

Dr. Klipit,

Chief Scientist of the Order of Order

She gave a silent cheer as she read the letter aloud to everypony. The usually irritating sideways jabs the Order was fond of did not matter. She had won. Everything was in place now. The equipment, the calculations, the amounts and measurements needed were all set. Now all they needed was a sample of Horn, Wings and Potential, as well as a foal... the Order, of course, were to send them these items. How exactly they were to go about it, Caughlin did not want to think about. She only knew that the fruit of their labour was approaching soon, and she was excited with anticipation. The letters had assured her that many parents would give up their foals for a chance of them achieving saviordom, and the samples could be obtained from donors... So the letters had said at least, but her conscience was willing to take their word for it. How else would the Order get them, after all?

Three days later, in the wee hours of the morning, Caughlin stirred to the noise of sharp crying. Head spinning, she made her way out into the main hall, lighting the way with her horn. There was a basket there, together with three ominous-looking black boxes. Immediately she perked up and began shouting, voice magically enhanced with a spell:

"Team! TEAM! Get over here! It's go time!"

She then examined the boxes. On one of them was a note, hastily scribbed:

Do not open

Do not ask "how" nor "why"

Just do it

Under any other circumstances she would have done all three, gleefully marking ticks next to them, just because somepony had the audacity to order her around. But this was now. She had a project to complete.





The procedure was simple enough to understand. The foal was to be suspended in the liquid, sustained by a gas-providing mask. The three boxes containing the essence of the characteristics were to be placed in the triagram, with the "director" in a fourth circle to start and oversee the magic processes. Standing in backup circles were a unicorn, a pegasus and an Earth pony to "provide thaumic support" should she fail to carry out the union (how they were to do that, they themselves were not sure; Caughlin sincerely hoped that it would not come to that point). With that done, the "director" was to implant the essence into the foal through the runes, slotting the product thaumatic field into the gaps of her own body. In short, like the thaumic equivalent of put-the-peg-in-the-hole, except you had to build the pegs first. And put all three into the same hole. 

It had sounded easy. Why then was she so nervous?

"Whooves, get ready," she murmured, clenching his hoof tightly. "If anything goes wrong, you know what to do, the chamber first and then me..."

"I won't have to," said Whooves, grinning and clenching back. "You're Caughlin Mare, remember? Smartest pony in all of Equestria, and whatnot. Besides you don't want to risk me using my time-jump under pressure. Who knows what could happen?"

"Good point. When we're done with this it's going to be regular training sessions for you from now on. Until we can be sure that you won't rewind history or whatever." With a deep breath, she let go and Whooves stepped out of the circle.

"Everypony clear and ready?"

"Yes!"

"Let's do this." She closed her eyes and lowered her horn, and entered a trance as she gave the elements the first spark toward union.

"Well, well, what's this?" asked a dreaded voice amusedly, taking her out of the trance. Oh no. An assistant rushed up and placed a pair of earmuffs around her head. She had to stay focused. Let the others handle Discord, please, please don't mess up. Dammit, Caughlin, focus!

She refused to look back. All she saw were the insides of her eyelids, but the scene played out as fresh as day: from the sidelines, ponies were trying to explain things to Discord and stop him from going over. Their squeaky voices travelled regrettably well. In front of her, she felt the elements rejecting each other, and tried to delve deeper into the thaumic realm. It felt like conducting surgery with hooves moved with magic. If only she could reach their plane, she could activate her tools - all the runes - to coerce the elements together-

And suddenly she was there. She could not hear anything. She risked opening her eyes to see the world around her. The den was gone. It had been replaced instead with a vivid swirl of colours, from pink to yellow to green, rushing around her like a sea. It was like being on that other drug Team 7 made three years ago, but much more real. She could think in this place. In front of her were the three elements, pulsating lumps of red, blue and green. All she had to do was merge them together.

I'm in the thaumic realm, she realized as she tried a step forward. Then another. I'm in a freaking different dimension.

Focus, Caughlin, drawled a lazy voice. She spun around. Nopony else was there, but she got the message. She moved up and there the elements were, throbbing pulses of colour in the sea of hues. She grasped them gently; they felt like spongy clay. As she moved them together she could feel them repelling, like magnets. She tried a bit of magic to overcome the forces, to dispel the repulsion. It worked. With gentle prods and harder nudges where the tension felt strong, where it simply felt right, she got the lumps together. They seemed to dissolve into one another, becoming one mass. It was complete.

And with that, she found herself back in her own body, suddenly feeling weak. The black boxes had disappeared from their circles. The runes along the cylinder were glowing brightly, charged up with the thaumic field.

"Must I do everything around here?" spat Discord, rolling his eyes. "Go on, Caughlin. Finish it off."

Something clicked, and Caughlin gaped. "Wait, so you mean you-"

"Yes, yes, I gave you the ethereal shift into the thaumic realm. It wasn't easy, I can tell you," snorted Discord. "Ponies are such inflexible creatures at times, especially you with your reality affinity. Finish the procedure, silly mare, before the union dissipates!"

Nodding dumbly, she turned back to the cylinder and strained at the mechanisms, just waiting to be powered. She could feel the foal's pulse and vital signs as the triagram's energies linked her up to it. She had not yet examined the foal, but she realized that it was a unicorn. Not that it mattered, though; as a newborn she had literally no magical energy in or around her. The union slid perfectly into her neck, where the power soon flowed through her - up her spine into her horn, through her back and into her belly. There was a loud screaming that wrenched Caughlin's eyes open. Wings were beginning to sprout from her back, no larger than a chicken's, while her horn was glowing brilliantly. She tapped back into the scene and used her own magic to contain the burst within the foal. It had to remain in her, all of it, or there would be an imbalance. Just a little bit more further ...

And the crying ended, and Caughlin felt the burden lift. The foal had stopped crying. It was asleep, or unconscious from the pain. She sincerely hoped it was the former.

"V... vital signs."

"All present, Caughlin."

"Good. Good. Good job, everypony." She stumbled out of the circle and faced Discord. She bit her lip and bowed. "And...thank you, lord Discord."

Discord sighed and shrugged. "I suppose. I'll let you ponies off the hook for being too preoccupied to even greet me, but I will not do so again next time. Not that there'll be a next time, mind. Since you've already completed your little project. Right?"

"Well, my lord, there is still the issue of bringing her up and developing her abilities as an alicorn..."

"Yes, yes, but you know what I mean!" Discord made a few exaggerated flails. "The flashy lights, the liquid, the hoopla. Even though it was very entertaining, I expect that this would be all packed up and tossed somewhere. I haven't seen anything quite like it since those televised shows." He peered at the suspended foal curiously. "What is she called?"

Caughlin walked up to the cylinder. The foal was a midnight blue, with a blue mane, looking like an adorable creature of the night. "I don't know, my lord."

"You don't know? For Equestria's sake, Caughlin, lighten up a bit, will you, and just name the thing already!" Discord looked at her, then back to the foal. "Perhaps something like Tirek. An old friend of mine."

She stared at it. Quiet, peaceful, reminiscent of the night sky above she had stared at almost every night. Well, that, and also midnight blue.

"Luna," said Caughlin. "We'll call her Luna."



 

That night, they had a celebration, albeit a quiet one - they did not want to wake up Luna, nor were they capable of partying hard given their disposition to work. The food was better, though, there were drinks all around, and most importantly everyone was relaxing, something nopony had the luxury of doing in a long time. They even tried a bit of dancing to music from a "juke box" they had designed a year and a half ago.

"This is fantastic, Doctor," said Caughlin, laughing as she swung him about clumsily. "We did it! We actually did it!"

"I know, right?" Whooves was clearly happy as well. "So is this one of those little moments you were talking about? Because I sure can dig it."

"Little? What are you saying, you silly filly? We just created an alicorn! We've achieved history!"

"No, not that." Whooves was blushing furiously, and stammering. "I mean, hearing and seeing you laugh like that. It... looks good on you. And sounds good from you. You know, not that one is better than the other, but..."

She opened her mouth to say something, but thought better of it, and in a rush of mischief she gave him a peck on the cheek instead.