In Another Life III: A Human(e) Retelling

by Bateman66

So Close, and Yet...

Neuro stared down at the wide eyed Alistair, who in turn, looked back blankly from the floor. It was difficult to determine if he was staring at him or his eyes were so glazed over that they simply reflected back toward wherever his head was facing. Whatever level of consciousness the boy still had, Neuro would need most, if not all, of it gone for his interview to be completed.

Grabbing the human by the shoulders, he lifted him off the floor with mild effort and placed him back into his chair. Lurching down slightly, Alistair crumpled into the soft office chair, his bones rubbery and misshapen from the sedative Neuro had injected into him earlier.

Moving around his desk casually, the good Professor plopped back down into his worn leather wheeler chair and sighed.

“I didn’t want to do this,” he said aloud to Alistair, who more than likely couldn’t comprehend even a vowel of what he was saying. “I’ve always preferred just to get my answers through verbal means rather than physical. It happens more often than you think, especially with rowdier or deranged patients. But you…” he made a waving gesture with his hoof, “you’re different.”

He eyed the reel-to-reel tape recorder that still sat on his desk, archiving everything they’d been speaking about for the past days. He considered clicking the large circular device off and performing the rest of his operation unrecorded. He shook his head in disapproval.

“Your difference doesn’t rest on your physicality or abilities,” he continued, “it’s your stubbornness, your refusal to go along with given rules. Whether you realize it or not, you hate being told what to do, you hate authority. And trust me, I would know, I’m a psychologist.”

One of Alistair’s eyes blinked as his mouth drooped open, possible recognition that he heard what the Professor was saying. And then again, maybe he didn’t.

“And it’s with this stubbornness that I had a creeping suspicion that you would not answer my final question willingly. I knew all too well that you’d hold out; maybe even walk out, instead of answering a simple question that will better all in Equestria for years to come.”

“You’re selfish, I understand that, we all are sometimes, and I know this is probably an uncomfortable experience for you, but that doesn’t excuse you from doing whatever you want. We must know the final piece of your puzzle, for the betterment of everypony and knowledge as a whole.”

He leaned back and sighed into his hooves, feeling a fatigue within himself. He felt more like he was just speaking with himself more so than the boy. And it was with this that he felt an overarching feeling of emptiness in the pit of his stomach, making him feel oddly distant from his current surroundings. He shook his head abruptly to try and keep these feelings at bay.

“Alright,” he said as he folded his hooves back across the table. “Last part of this odyssey and then we’re done. Ok? Done. Do you understand?”

Alistair continued to stare off in space, his face frozen in a misshapen state that left his cheeks and lower jaw hanging absently.

“Do you understand?” repeated Neuro sternly. “You will answer my question, yes?”

A rasp came from Alistair’s throat as his body began to restart. Shifting slowly upwards, his upper torso rose as his body slowly straightened itself in the chair. “I will answer,” he said lowly, his voice seeming to come from a great distance despite him being just across the desk.

“Good,” stated the Professor, “that’s very good.” He cleared his throat slowly, a purposeful procrastination to what came ahead, partially out of excitement and partially out of anxiety. “How did you arrive in Equestria, Alistair?”

“I…” he paused. “A magic act was preformed, one that can allow an individual to move between realms. One that requires energy and focus, and can prove harmful if not performed in the proper manner.”

Neuro Paraprax face hoofed in annoyance. “Yes-yes, very good. But what magic did you perform?”

“The spell does not have a name, to my knowledge.”

“For the love of…” muttered the Professor. “Can you at least tell me where you learned it? Any particular spell incantation or tome?”

Alistair’s empty eyes stared directly forward. “I do not know. The spell was always present in my mind.”

Neuro sighed. “This is going nowhere. I didn’t want for it to be this long and yet—” He looked at the standing Alistair, who in turn, stared back blankly at him. He cursed to himself aloud. “Fine, how about this: Can you show me the spell?”

Alistair robotically nodded his head. “I can show you the spell.” He rose to his feet, as if an invisible crane thrust him upwards immediately. “Where should I perform the spell?”

Neuro waved over to the corner of the room. “Do it over there, I wish to get a good view.”

“Yes.”

Alistair marched over to that corner of the room, his strides stiff and unwavering against the carpet. Turning around, as if to do a military about-face, he looked back towards Neuro. Giving him an encouraging nod of approval, Neuro beckoned for him to begin.

Spreading his legs slowly, Alistair brought his hands down to his thighs, equidistant from one another. Exhaling in and concentrating with his dulled senses, he breathed in deeply. Two bright blue auras of energy appeared in his palms, a shimmering light coming from each end as tiny white sparks jumped off the tips of his fingers.

Rising his hands upwards, he slowly pressed them against his chest, immediately being met with a searing light across his torso. Pressing harder, the energy held in his palms gradually transferred to where he held his hands. Within a minute, the blue energy began to spread about his entire body, covering his clothes and fair skin in a blazing blue spectacle.

The light continued to spread until it encompassed the entirety of his body, erasing any trace of who he was before, minus his spiny hair that had been covered in the process. Raising his hands to his shoulders, both arced in a stoic display of wonder, his body began to ascend towards the ceiling.

“Dear Celestia…” gaped Neuro as he stood behind his desk, the blue cascade shinning him with its glow. Words could not describe what he was seeing before him, an awesome showing of something most ponies had never dreamt of seeing right before their eyes. He sparkled with glee at the spectacle, almost forgetting why he’d commanded Alistair to perform it in the first place. Shaking himself out of his emotional state, he straightened his face back into one of discipline and professionalism.

“Now,” he shouted, suddenly realizing that whatever the human was doing was creating a whirling cyclone of sound within in his office. “Transport somewhere! I wish to see it!”

Alistair, now gracefully suspended equally between the ground and the ceiling, began to gently move his hands back towards his chest. However, he abruptly stopped himself mid-movement.

“No…” he mumbled, his voice coming as a deep roar. “I…no…” Clarity was beginning to pierce through his clouded mind. Whether the chemical Neuro had injected him with was wearing off, or the spell was doing that for him, he felt the pressing control of the Professor begin to slip.

“No!” commanded the Professor savagely. “You will finish the spell and you will show me how you got here, do you understand!?!”

“No…” he repeated, his voice beginning to gather strength.

“You will!” screamed the Professor in anguish. “You are mine to control! You will do as I say!”

“NO!” blasted Alistair’s voice through the room. “I WON’T!”

A shockwave blasted forth from where Alistair hovered, tossing all loose contents through the room in a whirling storm of debris. The blue encompassing energy, as if on a switch, quickly disappeared from Alistair entirely, and he fell to the floor.