Twilight is walking beside me without a care in the world, her tail swishing from side to side with joy, gleefully in the middle of telling me about… something. I’m trying to pay attention, I really am, but even if I was interested I can hardly understand what she’s saying. It is absolutely wonderful that Twilight agreed to hear out Fabric, but does she have to talk about Fabric’s research papers the entire way to my house?
Bracing myself, I try again to tune into what she’s saying, “...which was extremely fascinating, but even I had to scoff at the improbability, not to mention mere implications, of this postulate describing reality. Her hypotheses are alluring, I’ll admit, yet what I read was missing a crucial stipulation for the concept to…” Yep, I still have no idea what she’s talking about.
The house finally comes into view after another few minutes of Twilight’s constant babbling, almost causing me to sigh in relief. I am able to hold the reaction in. A small wing flutter does escape, though. Thankfully, Twilight either didn’t see it or doesn’t understand pegasus body language. Probably both.
We walk up to the door, but Twilight doesn’t seem to be stopping her vocalizations anytime soon. In an attempt to get her attention, I interrupt her, “Um, we’re here. Fabric should be just inside.”
She ceases her lecture and grows visibly excited. “Great! I have so many questions for her!” A checklist appears in a flash of purple, unfurling to its maximum length in seconds. How did she manage to make that without me noticing?
Blinking in disbelief, I raise an eyebrow at the scroll. “It’s… pretty long.” I say. And it was. The thing was at least the length of an average mare, if not longer. Again, I can’t help but wonder when she had the time to write it. Maybe this wasn’t a good idea after all. Twilight might mean well, but an interrogation is the last thing Fabric needs. Taking a deep breath, I explain as calmly as I can, “Twilight, I don’t think this is a good idea.” Seeing Twilight about to interject, I quickly clarify, “The checklist, I mean. Fabric kind of already thinks she is in trouble with the law, and you coming in there to, well, interrogate her would just make her feel justified in thinking that.”
“But- I just-” Her ears lower in defeat and she vanishes her checklist with a burst of light. “You’re right. I’ll try to be concise in what I ask. However, information on the portal she created is crucial. Her methods for doing so were obviously extremely volatile, and a danger to everyone.” She puffs up her chest in outstanding imitation of Rainbow Dash. “Princess Celestia herself is counting on me to determine the cause!”
Trying not to laugh at how much her demeanor resembles our boastful friend, I say, “Okay, that’s fair.” Walking up to the door, I grasp the metal handle in my mouth and pull it open. I glance back to make sure Twilight is following and we both make our way inside. Critters of all sorts are occupying many different nooks and crannies. The wonderful smell of numerous animals seep into my nostrils. I take a deep wiff. “Ah, it’s good to be home,” I breathe out. Twilight’s face instantly turns green.
“Y-yeah, wonderful,” she says.
I beam at her. “Great!” Looking around, I notice that the bathroom door is still shut. Is she still in the bath after an hour? She must be freezing by now! “I’ll go and get Fabric. She was taking a bath when I left, but for some reason she still seems to be in the bathroom. I think she might have fallen asleep, the poor dear. The day must have tuckered her out.” I walk to the bathroom, Twilight trailing me as I continue, “She’ll no doubt get sick if I don’t wake her up, I can’t imagine the water still being warm after an hour!” I knock on the door to the bathroom. “Fabric? You awake?” I softly, but firmly, ask through the door. No reply. Well, that answers that. “Wait here, I’ll go wake her up,” I tell Twilight.
Pulling the door handle with my mouth, I head into the bathroom. The first thing I notice is water splashed across the floor, and that there is still a clean and folded towel next to the sink. The second thing I notice is that nopony is in the tub. It’s completely full of water, but all I can see is the pitch black bottom of the- wait, black? Why is my bathtub black? There is no way it’s that dirty! I just cleaned it last night!
Quickly trotting up to the tub, a single hoof slips out from under me. I emit a sharp gasp and spread my wings reflexively, giving them a few quick and hard flaps, barely saving me from crashing head first into the edge of the tub.
Twilight rushes into the bathroom, no doubt having heard. “Fluttershy! Are you okay?!”
Carefully regaining my balance, I respond, blushing a bit, “I-I’m fine, I just slipped on some water by going a bit too fast.” I ruffle my wings, a bit shaken, as well as embarrassed, from almost falling.
She raises an eyebrow. “Why were you running in the bathroom?” She looks around, and her eyes rest on the still full tub. “Actually, better question; where is Illuminating Fabric?”
Nervous and confused, I answer, “I, um, I don’t know?”
“But I thought you said she was in the bathroom?”
“I, I... but she should be! The bathtub is full of water, and her towel is still unused! I don’t know where she is... The only thing I noticed is this weird black stuff settled on the bottom of the tub.” I gesture to the tub with a hoof. She walks up to the tub, but upon stepping into the puddle of water she lights her horn and grasps the towel. She then places the it on the ground, soaking up the water. With a nod, she steps onto the towel and observes whatever it is in my tub.
Feeling even more embarrassed for slipping when I should have just cleaned it, I walk up next to her and examine it as well. Whatever it is, It’s taking up the entire base of the tub. Every now and then a silver metallic gleam ripples across the dark uniform surface. It’s almost as if it sucks the light out of the room. I nervously glance to Twilight, herself seemingly transfixed with wonder. “T-Twilight, what is this?”
“I have no idea! It’s unlike any material I’ve ever seen or heard of!” She excitedly exclaims right in my ear, said ear flicking in response to the loud noise. She then asks, “Are you sure you have no idea where it came from?”
“I’m positive. I’ve never seen anything like this either.”
Twilight gains a thoughtful expression. “This is peculiar. The fact that this is the last place Illuminating Fabric was either means it’s related to her in some way, or it being here is a huge coincidence. Regardless, I need to scan its composition to even begin to understand what it is.” Her horn begins glowing a deep pink. “Stand back, I don’t know how it’ll react. I’ll be casting a small barrier around the tub first, just in case.” She smiles a bit sheepishly. “This is actually my first time casting a barrier spell this size, but I’m pretty sure I can do it!”
With that the light around her horn reaches its brightest point, causing me to shut my eyes. When the light dies down I don’t notice anything different about the tub. “Um, Twilight? Did it work?” I ask.
She suddenly swings a hoof, which stops just short of the the tub with a clang, forcing a pink bubble to ripple into view. “Yep! It works just fine.” Her horn glows once more, this time with less luminosity. “Now I just have to scan it. This shield was designed by my brother to allow the magic of the caster through, but not much else. As long as I cast it correctly it shouldn’t interfere with my analysis spell.” The pink glow surrounds the black form in the tub, and almost immediately ripples flow across its surface in what appears to be a random fashion. “Amazing! To be able to respond to external stimuli in such an organic way, it must be alive in some way!”
Alive? I squint. Is it actually a living creature? I face Twilight with wide eyes, fearing for its safety. “Twilight stop! You might be hurting it!”
She continues her spell. “Don’t worry. The most it’ll feel, if it is indeed an animal, is something akin to being tickled, or maybe just a mild irritation. Nothing painful in short bursts.” Her horn stops glowing, the creature instantly ceasing its spasms. “Besides, I’m already done.” Her brow furrows up in confusion. “That’s strange, the spell’s results are all over the place. I’ve never seen anything li-” She cuts herself off, looking for all the world like she’s seen a ghost. I follow her gaze and right in the center of the bathtub are two stalks breaching the surface of the water, with… w-with two s-severed eyes attached... S-s-staring right at us… P-pony eyes.
The eyes blink, causing my heart to skip a beat. Oh... my head… Everything goes black.
Fluttershy’s sudden collapse breaks Twilight out of her stupor. She rushes to her side and shakes her a bit, all the while moving her mouth as if she is saying something, but I don’t hear her for some reason. Oh, right. I’m just a pair of eyes right now, aren't I? Buck, this isn’t good. I could change back to normal while she is checking on Fluttershy, but that would just create more questions than answers. There is no way I can hide what I am right now, but they do not know I am Illuminating Fabric. The best course of action is to change back into myself and show her I am who I say I am. I just hope she believes me…
Concentrating, I picture my previous body in my mind’s eye. My flesh creeps up and around my stalks, filling the gap between them. My entire head quickly forms, and my body soon after. Naturally, water gets absolutely everywhere with the speed of my reformation. Finally back in my ‘normal’ body, sounds, tastes, and smells ram into my senses, almost overwhelming me.
Quickly getting used to my body again, I take a deep breath and turn towards Twilight. My eyes widen at the sight: she is shielding Fluttershy with her body, charging up some sort of spell, fear and panic obvious in her features. Starting to panic a bit myself, I immediately try to show I mean her no harm. “Waiiit! It’s me, Illuminating Fabric!” I yell. Granted, it’s a bit blunt, but I don’t really know what else to say.
A burst of indecision flashes across her face, but in the end she ceases charging the spell. However, her stance doesn’t change. “What are you? H-how did you get in Fluttershy’s house? Why are you pretending to be Illuminating Fabric?!” Her words drip with hostility, as well as a hint of fear.
What should I say? Starting from the begining sounds like my only option. “Th-” I choke a bit due to nervousness. If I buck this up who knows what will happen? I take a deep breath, I only have one chance at getting her to believe me. “This happened to me after the collapse of the wormhole I created. Long story short, I woke up with these… powers? No, that’s not the right word. Nothing about this is magical. In simple terms, I’m now made up of machines smaller than any living ce-.”
Twilight interrupts me “But that doesn’t make any sense at all! No pony made machine can possibly function at that scale, not even with magic!” Her stance grows more aggressive. Uh-oh. “Tell me what you did with Illuminating Fabric!”
Sweating a bit, I just barely choke out, “B-but that’s who I am, I swear!” I know she most likely couldn’t hurt me, but if she decides I am a threat I am royally screwed. Celestia no doubt could destroy me, regardless of how strong my new body is. What could I say to convince her? Maybe telling her how I escaped from the thaumanetic nullification cuffs would give me some plausibility. “I escaped from nullification cuffs by passing them through my limbs, like so.” I lift my forelegs up out of the tub and let them drip onto the ground. This causes her eyes to widen, not with fear, but with a hint of curiosity. “How else would I get out of them?”
She seems to think for a moment. “Celestia never told me about how you escaped.” My eyes brighten. She said ‘you’, not just my name! That’s progress! “Although, if you really are Illuminating Fabric, you could tell me how exactly you got your portal to work, since she hasn’t published anything hinting that she was working on it. If what you say sounds plausible, I’ll believe you.” Hmm, just tell her how I made the portal? I’ll have to simplify it a bit, because we hardly have the time for a lecture.
“Alright, I’ll try my best. I’ll have to simplify it a little, though, as I’m sure you’ll understand.” I take a deep breath and start. “At first there was this small little issue of accumulating enough tri-harmonic magic, due to the fact thaum glands can only produce a finite amount in a given time. An amount that isn’t nearly enough to raise the energy state of the thaumanetic field to the level of which I required. I fixed this problem by designing a machine to do the job of dozens of thaum glands at once.” I pause, taking a deep breath. “After that, I had to build a very specialized projection device to focus the tri-harmonic particles. However, this was very tricky considering the spell pattern I invented is three-dimensional, not your usual two-dimensional pattern easily put into a book. As you well know, two-dimensional spell patterns draw out the instructions for three-dimensional spells, the two dimensional pattern being the ‘shadow’ of a three-dimensional spell in a way. My three-dimensional pattern draws the shadow of a four-dimensional spell.”
Twilight seems about ready to burst with a question, so I nod my head in her direction. “So your spell manipulates space-time itself, not just the distance between objects like a normal teleportation spell?” She asks me with wide eyes. She seems genuinely interested! My ears perk up as a burst of happiness flows through me. I think she might just believe me.
I answer with a smile, “Yes, my spell changes the probability of the fabric of spacetime itself, not just the distance between two collections of particles. At first I tried to do this using the much, much, simpler method, but it turns out that you can’t affect another universe without changing spacetime, and that requires four-dimensional spells. This means I needed a way to draw the spell pattern on the underside of a ring, and then be able to physically rotate said ring in any direction. The pattern is way too precise and complicated to do mentally. However, the spell pattern isn’t just spatial, but temporal as well. I had to find a way to change the amount of particles being emitted over a certain period of time, in effect making a dynamic spell pattern. ” I stop my explanation, realizing that Fluttershy is still on the floor, and that honestly should be a priority. “Anyways, I feel that is enough. We need to help Fluttershy up. I’ll explain how I used a computation machine to sequence the changes in the spell pattern later.” Her eyes light up at that, but she quickly gets back on track.
“Alright, I believe you. Help me with Fluttershy, okay?”
I nod, and I try to get out of the tub, but my horn smacks into something with a dull womp, causing my vision to go pink for a second. What is this? A barrier? When did she cast a barrier? “Uh, Twilight? A little help here?”
Her eyes widen. “Oh, right. I cast a barrier just in case you were hostile. Can’t really blame me, considering the scare you gave Fluttershy and I. I’ll dismiss it.” Her horn glows for a split second, just long enough for the barrier to dissipate with a wet plop.
As I get out of the tub, I land on something squishy and wet. I look down and notice a thoroughly soaked towel, said towel partially submerged in the giant puddle across the floor. I give Twilight a sheepish smile. “My bad. I’ll, uh, clean this up..” Evaporating it would be the easiest option, but doing that would make the room way too steamy. Guess I’ll just have to collect the water and transfer it back into the tub.
After placing the water in the tub and pulling the drain, I notice that I am still dripping onto the bathroom floor. Could I make my fur and hair hydrophobic? So far I have been able to change things without thinking about the structures too much, so this should work. Getting back in the tub, so I don’t get water everywhere, I concentrate on all my hair. Instantly, I feel a slight tingly sensation throughout my skin as all the water clinging to me is repelled. “Well, that was easier than expected,” I whisper to myself.
My fur is perfectly dry getting out of the tub, but Twilight stares at me for some reason. She’s biting her lower lip, almost as if trying not to laugh. “What?” I ask, a bit miffed.
She lets out a snort. “Sorry, it’s just that you’re so fluffy!”
With a groan, I realize she’s right. I’m fluffier than I’ve ever been before. Ugh, this is embarrassing. Wait, I could just force my hairs back into place, instead of sticking out like they are now. My fur, mane, and tail style immediately reform themselves with a slight tingle.
“How are you doing that?” Twilight asks in obvious fascination.
On my way across the bathroom to Twilight and Fluttershy’s position, I explain, “I have full control over my entire body, which includes the cellular level.” I bit my lip, debating if I should open this up for conversation or not. “I’ll tell you more about it later.”
She gives a nod, and then proceeds to check Fluttershy over. “I already checked her pulse and breathing when she first collapsed, both of which seem normal. Of course, since I’m not a doctor I could be wrong, but she appears fine.” She lifts Fluttershy’s head with magic and feels around with her hooves. A few seconds later she places the head on the floor and gives a relieved sigh. “Thank Celestia, she doesn’t seem to have hit her head on the way down. From what I’ve read about fainting she shouldn’t be out for more than two or three minutes. At most. It’s already been over a minute, so she should wake up any moment now.”
Anxiety rushes through me. The thought of Fluttershy seeing me and thinking of a monster is too much. “T-Twilight?” I nervously start. “Do you think we could maybe leave out the fact that I’m what made her faint? I really, really, don’t want her to look at me and be reminded of what obviously terrified her so badly that she lost consciousness.” I almost beg, trying to look as pathetic as possible.
She stares at me with narrowed eyes for a few seconds, causing me to fidget in place a bit, but her eyes soften soon after. ”I’m sorry, but even if I did lie to Fluttershy, she wouldn’t believe it. Fainting doesn’t usually cause memory loss, after all.”
Sighing, I concede her point. “You’re right.” My ears fold back as a wave of despair flows through me. “But she was so nice to me, now she’ll just see me as a monster.”
“I highly doubt that.” Twilight counters in a firm tone, causing my ears to perk up. “Fluttershy is one of the most accepting ponies I know.” She states, eyes full of pride. “She’s treated vicious manticores as if they were harmless kittens, so I guarantee after you explain to her what you are she’ll be absolutely fine with it.” Both of our ears flick towards Fluttershy’s prone form as she makes a sudden groaning noise, her wings twitching as she regains consciousness. Twilight smiles at me. “Perfect, she seems to be waking up. I’ll leave the explanation up to you after I help her up.” She leans into Fluttershy’s side, giving the shaky pegasus much needed assistance as she stands up.
“T-thanks,” Fluttershy says. She ruffles her wings and looks around, her eyes widening with delight as she spots me. Smiling brightly, she exclaims, “Oh, there you are, Fabric! It’s so good to see you!” Nervously, I smile back. She tilts her head in confusion. “You weren’t in here when Twilight and I came to find you. In fact, all we found was the-” Her eyes widen. “T-the eyes.” She squeaks, and flees in a blur of pink and yellow, settling in the corner of the bathroom, using both her wings to hide her face. Was it really that terrifying?
I give Twilight my best bemused look. She only shrugs. That… isn’t very encouraging. My redundant heart starts pumping faster as a feeling of dread creeps up on me. Great, the anxiety is back. How am I supposed to tell her what I am if this is going to be her response? My breath catches as I look at Fluttershy’s cowering form. Easing her fear should be my first priority. “Fluttershy, there are no eyes in the bathtub anymore, it’s perfectly safe now,” I softly tell her.
She peaks through her wings and looks at me with her teal eyes. “Really? W-where did they go?” Oh Celestia, why did she have to ask that question so soon? What’s the best way to answer? They say the best way to take off a band aid is all at once, so maybe the same rule applies here?
Taking a shaky breath, I go for it. “Okay, please don’t freak out, but the strange material you saw below the surface of the water was me.” Seeing her eyes widen, I explain further, “I can change my body into almost anything biological, so those eyes you saw was just my way of quickly seeing what woke me up. I swear I wasn't trying to scare you!” Still seeming uneasy, she glances to Twilight.
Upon seeing that the unicorn is unperturbed, her demeanor does a complete one-eighty, and to my utter shock she walks right up to me with a curious glint in her eyes. “So, you’re not a pony? That’s so exciting! I’ve never heard of a sapient creature that can change forms like you can!” She says with a flutter of her wings, her face positively beaming.
What, does she think I’m some kind of exotic creature or something? Well, it’s better than her being fearful and cowering, but it’s not really accurate. Would she even understand the difference between machines smaller than viruses mimicking life, and actual organic cells?
My body instinctively leans back as she gets even closer, examining me with big eyes. “You look perfect! I can’t even tell you aren’t a pony!” She then gets a little too close to my flanks for my liking. “You even have a cutie mark!”
Feeling a bit self-conscious, I blurt out, “Yep, one-hundred percent pony to the naked eyes. No need for an in depth examination!”
Her eyes widen as she quickly scurries away from me. “Oh I’m so sorry! Was I being too invasive?” She apologizes, lowering her head and hiding behind her mane in apparent shame. Great, now I feel guilty.
I decide to mollify her. “No no, it’s fine. I haven’t told you exactly what I am, and examining me like that won’t help. In fact, I don’t think I could fully explain what I am to you.” This is not entirely true. I could explain what I am to her, but some of the words for what I am don’t actually exist in the Equestrian language yet. “The first thing you should know is that I was actually a pony yesterday. Through a process I do not yet fully understand, I was changed into a collection of very tiny machines. This means I am not actually alive… Or at least in terms of how we as ponies define life.”
Fluttershy squints her eyes in confusion. “Um, but aren’t cells just tiny machines anyways?” Twilight stares at her in obvious surprise, to which Fluttershy responds to her by saying, “I remember you talking about the differences between animal and plant cells a few weeks ago. You said cells are little biological machines when you talked about them, which made sense to me. It was actually pretty interesting if I’m honest.”
“I guess I did say cells were machines, didn’t I?” Twilight says. “I haven’t really gotten enough information to say for sure how different Fabric’s components are to actual cells, but I assume when she says she is made of machines, she means something a bit different than cellular biology.” She then looks at me. “Actually, do you think you could explain how you work in greater detail? I would love to take notes!” To my utter surprise, she levitates a notebook and quill out of her mane. Is she serious? By the look of her smile and rapidly swishing tail, it seems so.
“Um, Twilight, Fabric?” Fluttershy begins, anxiously fidgeting while looking to the door. “Can we talk about this someplace other than the bathroom? Like maybe, um, my livingroom?” Twilight and I look towards each other, then around the bathroom.
“You’re right.” Twilight tells the pegasus. “We’ll follow you out.” I nod along with her statement, and all three of us make way through the door.
Upon exiting the bathroom, we are halted just outside by the annoying little bunny ironically named Angel. “Angel, what’s wrong?” Fluttershy asks. He rolls his eyes and points to the window, showcasing how dark it’s getting. Huh, is it really that late? Fluttershy’s eyes widen with panic. “Oh no! I need to feed every critter!” She turns to both of us. “I’m very sorry, but in a few minutes it’s going to be absolutely packed with animals while I feed them.” Packed with animals? More than it already is? Sheesh, that’s crazy.
“Alright, I understand,” Twilight tells her friend. “You must be very behind as it is.” She then glances in my direction. “Would you mind following me to my home? It’s a library, so it should be pretty quiet. I’m also under the impression that you need a place to stay for the night, and I can offer you a guest room.” Oh, that’s nice of her. “It’s also very convenient because Celestia appointed me, along with a few others, to study the side effects of your, uh, failed experiment. Your help would be greatly appreciated.“ She enunciates ‘greatly appreciated’ in such a way that it feels less like a request, and more like a demand. She wants me to help figure out what kind of damage the portal might have caused, and since it was my fault I really can’t say no.
With a firm nod I say, “Of course I’ll help, it was my fault after all.” My eyes the lock on Fluttershy’s and I give her my best smile. “And thank you for being so nice to me, even when you figured out I’m not really a pony anymore. And thank you for the, um, being there.” I may have broken down crying in front of Fluttershy, but I don’t want to blab about it in front of Twilight.
Luckily, Fluttershy seems to understand my wish for it to remain private as she responds. “It was no trouble, I’d do what I did for anypony, or even anything. It really was nice meeting you. I may not always go looking for new ponies, but I always love meeting new friends.” She paws at the ground while giving me a soft smile. “I hope you and Twilight get along without any trouble.” She says this with a sidelong glance to Twilight, to which said unicorn smiles nervously. What is that about?
“It was wonderful meeting you as well, Fluttershy. I’ll try to visit you whenever I have time.” In the spur of the moment I decide to give her a short hug in gratitude. She tenses a bit in surprise, but quickly relaxes and softly squeezes back. As we separate, I turn to Twilight. “Alright, lead the way.”
“Great! I have so much to ask you when we get there!” Twilight turns to leave, her tail swishing in excitement. I give Fluttershy one last smile, and then follow Twilight to the front door.