Of Bone and Steel

by joe mother

Flicker (Rewritten)

FLICKER

Twilight looked back on herself and screamed. She began to hyperventilate, becoming light-headed.

“What’s happening?!” she said, falling onto the ground and putting her hooves over her head. “Why?!”

Spike stood in shock, unsure of how to comfort her. He watched as she shook, her cries filling the silent air.

“Should we get everypony else?” Spike asked.

“I don’t know,” Twilight replied, looking up at the wall. “I don’t want them to see me like this. I may just make them get too worried over something. What if they can’t fix it? Then they’ll keep worrying and worrying and worrying!”

She got up and stomped her hoof.

“I want this to stop!” she yelled, her voice cracking. “All of this crap!”

There was a moment of silence as Twilight began walking to her bedroom.

“Twilight!’ Spike called out, running to her.

“I don’t care!” she yelled, pushing him away. “I don’t care what happens! Stupid metal can grow out of me all it wants! I DON’T CARE!”

Spike opened his mouth but kept silent as Twilight left. He let her go, then stood.

“That wasn’t like her at all...” he said to himself, going to the kitchen.

~

Twilight pressed on the rods, feeling only little twinges of pain as she did. She remembered yelling at Spike, and she felt the urge to apologize.

“What came over me?” she whispered, pulling at the wires on the rod and feeling it ripple under her skin. She shivered and dropped them. “Weird.”

She had lost all interest in panic now. Something was wrong, but now panic was not necessary. It was more important to figure out what was happening. She heard a small sound as her door was opened, and she turned to see Spike enter with a tray with two glasses. He was staring at her with surprised sadness.

“Twilight, you’re all sparkly,” he told her, setting down the drinks, coming closer in a dreamy trance. “Like a gem...”

She looked at herself, and light reflected into her face from thousands of metal flecks in her fur. Turning, it reflected tiny waves across the room and all the books. She grabbed at one of them and yanked it out.

It was followed by a slow dull pain and a trickle of blood. Twilight dropped the flake and saw that the end that had blood was sharpened to a point.

Spike continued to get closer, drool coming from his mouth. His eyes were wide in awe.

“Gems,” he muttered, only an inch from a large metal bit on Twilight. She pushed him away.

“Spike!” she said, snapping him from his trance with a snap.

“Oh, sorry!” he said with a blush, wiping the drool from his face. “You looked like a gem, and well...”

“It's ok,” she said, looking again at the metal from her body. “You couldn’t control it.”

“What about the things in your back?” the dragon asked, tapping the rods.

“They’re a part of me,” Twilight said. “I just don’t know how. The wires lead into me, but how far in is beyond me. It could go all the way up and down my spine. I don’t want to test and find out, though.”

Spike moved one of the wires, and he watched it move beneath her fur, “That’s weird. Really gross.”

“Don’t do it,” Twilight said, taking his hand off. “It feels strange.”

Spike still stared at it, moving around her back, looking at everything on the rods. He noticed the rods were also covered in the metal fibers, glinting just barely brighter than the rods themselves.

“Why do the metal pieces not have blood coming from them?” he asked, flicking one up. “Are they fitted perfectly like that?”

“Obviously, or I’d be bleeding out of every point of my body,” Twilight said. “I don’t think that’s a very important question compared to the rods. Are they supposed to be like wings?”

Spike shrugged, “Could be. Looks like it.”

“Why are they only rods? Are they just half complete?”

Spike went back over to the tray with drinks and brought it over. He handed Twilight one of the glasses. She drank from it and sighed contentedly.

“I’m so confused,” she said, tapping her hoof on the ground.

“I’d be surprised if you weren’t,” Spike replied, sipping slowly at his drink. “It’s all one big weird piece of chaotic mess.”

“Chaos?” Twilight asked, perking up.

“I swear, don’t just jump to conclusions,” he said, rubbing his head in exasperation. “Discord doesn’t do this kind of thing. Besides, we froze him in stone again.”

“Alright,” she said, slumping back down. “After we finish, I’m going to run some tests. I want see if it’s emitting anything.”

“I’ll go with you in case you collapse again,” Spike replied, gulping down the rest of his drink. “Can’t have that.”

“Are you being sarcastic with me?”

He merely stood and started walking from the room.

“I’ll go get the stuff set up.”

Twilight smiled a little, but quickly stopped. It was not the time to be smiling or happy. It was a serious issue.

“If this gets any worse, I’ll go tell my friends,” Twilight said, finishing her drink and standing to follow Spike. “Wait...”

It then occurred to her. Write a letter to Celestia.

“Why haven’t I done that already?” she asked herself. “I should’ve–”

She stopped mid-sentence and froze. She shook her head and blinked a few times.

“What was I thinking about?” she said, looking around. “Oh, well. I’ll remember it eventually.”

She went down to go help Spike. When she came down, she found him attempting to drag the readings machine across the room.

“What are you doing?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Doesn’t it go over here?” he asked, pointing at the wall.

“No, it doesn’t,” she said, pointing at the set of bolts on the floor. “It’s bolted to the floor there because it belongs there.”

“Oh!” Spike said. “I thought that was just to keep it safe!”

Twilight creased in her eyebrows in concern. Spike had helped set up down here plenty of times. How could he unbolt the machine and move it across the room?

She was about to ask when she paused and forgot what she was about to do. Spike had already put the machine back in place and bolted it down.

“Good job setting up, Spike,” she said, hooking the steel rods up to machine with electrodes and wires. “Pull the lever.”

He did, and the electricity coursed through her body. She shook as it traveled all throughout her. It tingled, but it did not hurt or burn. She watched the readings pile out through shaky eyes, and as she blinked, her eye zoomed in on it.

Twilight almost screamed, but held it in. The shaking became magnified from the zoom, and it made it even harder to see the readings. When Spike cut off the electricity, the eye zoomed back in.

She stepped forward and looked at the readings.

“What is this?” she asked.

There was a single line running across the paper in one line at a never-changing level. The line was her heartbeat, and there was none.

“What is happening?” she asked.

Author's Note:

Sorry for the wait!

Comments

[the other sans]

“Its ok,” she said
Spike went back over to the tray with drinks and brought it over He handed Twilight one of the glasses
She watched the readings pile out though shaky eyes

1. It's.
2. Forgot your full stop in the middle here.
3. Through.

I can only guess two things from that scale reading. One, is that she has no brain waves emitting from her meaning she could be classified as 'brain dead'.

Two, is that Spike got the wrong device and it's a Richter scale and the line means no earthquakes are happening.

[Mauser1888]

Yay! This story is still alive! Excellent update.

[Sketchy Markks]

4817068 Or it's her heartbeat..?

[Zaralann]

Awesome chapter!

[joe mother]

4817789
4817068

It's her heartbeat. I'll go clarify that and fix the errors.

[Sketchy Markks]

4818593 MUCH better.

[joe mother]

4819448

Thanks. I wrote some weird convoluted thing for some reason.

[Sketchy Markks]

4820722 Whenever I try to write, I have the largest and most unnecessary complicated words set up everywhere. It's a real mess when I also try to use complicated phrasing.

Such is the reason my story is not published.

[MoonSparkle The Vampony]

Whats going to happen to twilight?and why is thr chapter name flicker? I want more of this!

[superfun]

When is the next chapter coming out?

[joe mother]

5702490

I have no idea. I've been busy lately, so I haven't gotten the time I'd like to work on these stories. I'm working on them a little at a time, though!

[superfun]

5706205 Okay, just wondering.

[CrazedTimeTravel]

I'm dying for the next chapter here

[CrazedTimeTravel]

6762734
My Christmas wish is for this to get a new chapter

[Ocean Man]

Hope to see this continued. Also i hope this isn't a story where she is forced to to do evil things. Hopefully like she transforms. And then they beet the monster or whatever. But she has to stay like this. I just really like the idea. Especially with that picture. Really gives you a good idea of what she looks like( She should also have the clothes in the picture) And the picture also is just awesome

[Viper5012]

You should definitely finish this. I do have a question though. Was this complete previously? If so, where did it go when you started rewriting it?

[joe mother]

8100547

This was not complete when I started. I think there were like six or seven chapters? Anyways, my latest blog post explains where I'm going in writing stories.

[Viper5012]

8100791
Ok then :)
Although I meant where did the old chapters go.

[joe mother]

8100823

They are on this story still but I unpublished them.

[Thezearcher]

I clicked the link and got derpy, not the story but derpy.
Help me find it please?

[Crystonian]

8648164
Probally got deleted