//------------------------------//
// Bonus - Lab Notes 
// Story: Twilight Shimmer 
// by BlackWater 
//------------------------------//








Fascinating,” Professor Theory leaned back in his chair as Doctor Horse reviewed the newborn’s life signs.
“I may be the medic here,” Horse began, “but I get the feeling I know less about what’s going on than you.”
Seeing the doctor’s sidewards look at him, Theory turned his chair back to his terminal readouts. “Genetics and physiology are too closely linked for you to not have your own ideas, doctor. We have more knowledge in common than you might believe. For example, the lack of reliability of data based on lab tests not involving real world variables.”
“If it concerns the infant’s welfare than you have to inform me,” the doctor insisted and pulled up a rolling chair to sit next to the professor.
“Twilight and I discovered that RP9 has the incredible capability of triggering male characteristics in mammals with the absence of a Y chromosome. The probability was extremely rare, however. About one in four thousand, which was at the limits of our test trials.”
“A Y substitute? Impossible. Chromosomes are too complex,” Horse stroked his chin in contemplation.
“You can say that about magic too but that’s what RP9 is responsible for. It really is a magic gene,” Theory responded with the same fire that had been in his eyes when he first began studying the topic. “We called it a gene but it’s really more of a mutagen. It takes many genes to form complex traits and RP9 does it by being the control gene, so to speak. But we were doing the trials on non-human mammalian DNA. To do live trials on four thousand human conceptions...well...needless to say.”
“Of course.”
“I’ve been monitoring development since this child’s conception,” Theory continued and looked to the newborn in the observation chamber. “The development was different in Twilight. The gene triggered faster than in any of the trials. Without more cases to judge by, I can’t give an accurate prediction. However, I theorize that there may be a serious issue with RP9 concerning reproduction – for the original Equestrians, I mean.”
Horse furrowed his brow. “I don’t follow.”
“The child,” Theory explained, “may have had over a two in three odds chance of being male. If RP9 is the Equestrian equivalent of the human Y chromosome then it could cause unknown genetic development in the infant normal to pure Equestrians. I don’t expect anything, bad but Twilight’s white contagion could cause these traits to be exaggerated.”
“In other words, a super magician,” Horse hummed in thought.
A beeping sound made the professor look back to his terminal screens. “Magic fluctuations are already being detected. Stronger than Twilight’s...”
The doctor stared at the newborn behind the glass with the concern of a medical professional not capable of handling the needs of their patient. A deep maroon aura seemed to hover around the baby.
“Stable, though. No danger to him or others,” Theory nodded at his screens. “You know, without more subjects, I can’t follow through on my theories. But RP9 never triggered on it’s own, which leads me to believe that Equestrians might experience the opposite effect and actually have lower male populations. I can only imagine how that might affect their culture and politics.”
“Never?” Horse crossed his arms. “Then how did the species propagate?”
“Reality answers that question, doctor. Either more genes are present that I am not aware of when on the other side of the portal or it simply reacts differently when paired with an opposing Equestrian DNA package. I would bet on the latter. Hence my disclaimers.”
“I get the feeling that someday someone will write a book about all of this,” Doctor Horse remarked.
“I hope not,” Professor Theory argued with a small smirk at the corner of his lips. “It would be boring as hell.”