Chapter 2: Death And Rebirth
Deus Ex: Equine Revolution
By Melon Hunter
Chapter 2: Death And Rebirth
“She’s still alive! Over here...”
Lyra gazed at her, still locked in their embrace. She said nothing. She didn’t have to.
“What happened to her?! Oh, Celestia...”
“Get her to the medical facility! NOW!”
The spark in her eyes, the warm smile on her lips. That was more than enough.
“She’s stopped breathing...”
“No! Come on, stay with us!”
“OK... stabilising. What a mess...”
Lyra reached forward, caressing her cheek. “We can change the world...” she whispered.
“It is worth it. Go ahead with the procedure.”
“...but nothing will tear us apart,” Bon Bon finished.
“We can fix her.”
“I love you. You know that, right?”
“We can fix everything.”
“I’ll always love you.”
-------
Bon Bon awoke with a jerk, tangled helplessly in her bedsheets. She struggled against them as if drowning, gradually freeing herself from her fabric prison. Laid atop her bed, she curled up against the cold, quietly sobbing until the pain of the nightmare—the memory of that awful night—gradually ebbed away, leaving her spent and shivering.
She pushed her sweat-soaked fringe out of her face to regard the clock on her bedside table. 4:12 AM, it decreed. Hardly a healthy time to awaken, but like every other fragment of her life, her sleeping schedule had been thrown into chaos ever since... ever since... that day. Six months had done nothing to heal her.
Beyond that was a damaged photo frame, a shrine to that golden past, when she still shared her life with another. Perhaps fittingly, the glass of the frame was cracked in a spider’s web pattern, separating the two ponies in the photo, a scar from her hurling it across the room in a fit of rage. She wished she hadn’t, but at the time, the first time she’d seen it after the incident, it had been too much to bear. Both subjects were now lost to her. One had been taken from her by the very devices she’d helped invent, and the other... changed beyond all recognition.
She hadn’t just lost her lover that night. She’d lost the very feeling that she was still equine.
No natural pony had a body like this. Her cream coat suddenly gave way to a sleek, matte black surface at the shoulders, extending all the way down to her hooves. Her hips had been replaced too, fused to artificial approximations of her hind legs, the same black material extending up to her flanks and almost obscuring her cutie mark. Surgical sutures criss-crossed her chest, the only evidence of the tinkering with her internal architecture, artificial components replacing their failed organic counterparts. They could fix anything, even a broken heart. But only literally. She’d been built upon, changed, improved. Her body was no longer her own, but a billion-bit experiment, irrevocably attached to augments most ponies could only dream of. And all it had cost was her life and her soul.
A trip to the bathroom was just another exhibition of paradise lost. The lyre, still casually dumped in the same place on the sofa where it had been abandoned a lifetime ago. The same bowl that had held her alfalfa stew, stained by the mould that had grown in it. It had taken her nearly two months after returning home, as weak and wobbly on her new limbs as a newborn foal, to bring herself to clear out her last meal. The fractured mirror she’d never bothered to replace, its damage a consequence of the same fury that had claimed her photo frame. Mirrors reflected what was really there; the discordant, broken image of a pony it presented to her was the only reflection she deemed fitting.
The augmented pony shuffled around her cavernous apartment, slowly going through the same ritual she had developed since she’d returned here. Her forehoof unfolded into a paw to take a black, woollen longcoat from a hook on the wall. It had been on mail order, the only thing to welcome her home once discharged. She’d hoped to show it off to Lyra, once. She shrugged it on, and opened the door to the balcony, and was met with a harsh, freezing wind, a relic of a winter not quite passed. As the door closed behind her, Bon Bon looked down at her augmented limb, folding and unfolding her hoof again and again. The Griffon Paw was her partner’s legacy, and she would be with it until the day she died. Whether that was a blessing or a curse, she couldn’t possibly say. She looked out upon the sleeping city of Canterlot, nestled against the mountain as the biting gale blew about the metropolis. And she thought.
-------
Eventually, pangs of hunger forced her to retreat back inside, shivering from the cold. It had been nearly two hours since she awoke, most of that time spent contemplating... well, everything and anything. Ever since her resurrection, her life had been busier than ever before, preparing her for a new existence as an Aug. Rehabilitation and physiotherapy, training on using the more clandestine augmentations that had been installed into her, a reawakening of combat skills that had grown rusty since leaving the Canterlot police force. Yet, even with this to focus on, she’d felt a loss of purpose. Arguably one of the most advanced pony enhancement projects ever, and nothing to actually work on. Left to its own devices, her mind easily wandered into unwelcome territory, dwelling on things perhaps best forgotten.
She stood in front of her fridge, looking at the still unfamiliar face reflected in its polished steel surface. As she had suspected at the time, she’d lost the use of one eye thanks to the explosion in the lab, and its twin had fared little better. Not good enough. In their place, smooth alabaster orbs had been inserted, blazing golden irises obscuring the lenses and mechanisms hidden within. The force of the blow from the aug harness’ leg to her head had fractured her skull. Not good enough. An intricate framework had been inserted to knit together the bone, and parts of it extended out from just behind her eyes to accommodate shaded lenses, currently retracted. Somewhere along the line, somepony had decided grafting sunglasses to her face would be a terrific idea. Wonderful.
And—she pushed aside her blue and pink mane—she’d once been an earth pony. Not good enough. Because there, inserted neatly into the circular scar left on her forehead, was the only other miraculous survivor of that laboratory: the horn aug. That had been a bittersweet discovery upon waking. She’d gotten her wish, but the one pony she truly wished to see her as a unicorn was lost to her.
A discreet sound emitted from the holoscroll she’d left on the worktop. Somepony wished to contact her. Bon Bon pulled it towards her, absently tapping at the surface while she rooted around in the refrigerator for something vaguely resembling breakfast. The face of a white unicorn appeared on the scroll, framed by her immaculately curled indigo mane, her blue eyes sparkling with an energy that nopony had any right to possess this early in the morning.
“Oh, my dear! I hope I didn’t wake you!” Rarity exclaimed, her voice made slightly tinny by the second-rate enchantments on the device.
Bon Bon stared down into the flat device, a window onto Rarity’s world. She’d spent ninety minutes on a windswept balcony. Of course she looked a mess; it was anathema to the notoriously prissy unicorn. “No... been up a couple of hours, actually,” she said flatly. “Something important?” Stupid question. The head of PR for Sparkle Industries hardly contacted employees at such unsociable hours for a casual chit-chat.
“Why yes, as a matter of fact. Um...” Rarity seemed taken aback somewhat by Bon Bon’s deadpanning, a rare slip of the polite facade she normally maintained. “Twilight wishes to meet with you. Today, at ten.” Twilight? The Twilight Sparkle? She sighed slightly. Her previous interaction with the head of the company had been an awkward apology delivered some time after that fateful night. The bookish unicorn had meant well, and her meetings with her before that had been cordial, but she’d let the encounter sour her relationship with her overseer. No amount of grovelling would bring back the dead. What did she want now? “I know you last met under unfortunate circumstances, but she means well. Please, my dear. Don’t let it rule over your life.”
Rule over her life?! That was all she had left; that one night had torn apart everything she’d held dear, and now she was being told to just forget about it? “I’m sure she does,” Bon Bon growled, letting her resentment simmer, for now at least.
“Also, there’s your monthly appointment at the MANE clinic at eight,” Rarity continued, seemingly oblivious to Bon Bon’s building anger. “Please could you attend this time? I know it seems like a waste of time, but implant rejection can strike without warning, and...”
“Fine!” she snapped. “Anything else? Or are you done organising my life for today?”
“No, that will be all. Twilight shall explain the rest later. Goodbye.” The white unicorn vanished from the scroll. Superficially, she’d brushed off that comment, but Bon Bon knew that was another black mark against her. Nothing mattered as much as image to a pony like Rarity, damn her. Twilight’s right-hoof mare manipulated all and sundry, even without using the fearsome amount of social augs she had installed, and she revelled in it.
She glared at the magical device, imagining Rarity’s face to still be portrayed on there. Always watching, always observing her subject, her experiment, but never caring about the pony behind it.
She felt a familiar red flash of fury, giving a frustrated scream. When she dared to look down, the holoscroll had been torn in two, each half held in her paws, sparking as the enchantments leaked out of the metallic sheet. Not again. The scroll had been relatively cheap, but that wasn’t the problem. The problem was that yet another object had fallen afoul of her wrath. This had never happened before the incident. How long until she lashed out at another pony?
The augmented unicorn sank to her haunches, the broken holoscroll fluttering to the ground. She stared at her unfolded hooves in horror. What have I become?
-------
MANE: Magical Augmentations for a New Era. The monolithic sign blazed its brazen welcome to all those passing on the street, a monument to the organisation’s own philanthropic ideals. Augmentation for all ponies who needed it. And could afford it. Bon Bon looked up at the vast marble facade of the building, stretching a full six stories, almost to the top of the structure, large tinted windows set into the stonework at every floor.
It tried to blend in with the more traditional architecture around it, and would almost have succeeded, had it not been for the sheer number of augmented ponies passing through the doors. Most ponies who were physically upgraded worked as manual labourers, away from the affluent Upper Canterlot district the clinic was located in. The vast majority of residents in this area had neural and internal enhancements, if any. The very richest echelons of society tended to look down on those they saw as ‘polluting their bodies’. Aristocrats.
Ignoring the pointed looks and whispered, poisonous comments from a pair of passing socialites, Bon Bon made her way through the ornate wooden doors of the clinic. As she stepped inside, she was greeted with a modern interior quite at odds with the old-fashioned exterior, all clean whites and sombre greys. Directly ahead of her was the main reception, where several young mares were seated, all unicorns, each fending off the enquiries of their customers. A couple of them looked particularly tired and haggard, a result of having been unlucky enough to work the graveyard shift. MANE kept its clinics open 24 hours a day, much to the chagrin of its employees. She waited patiently in line until she was flagged over.
“Welcome to the Canterlot MANE clinic! How can I help?” the young mare asked brightly. Bon Bon stared at her for a second; that peach coat, that wonderful, helpful aura...
“Of course it’ll be alright!” Dawn Chorus exclaimed. “Why would the investors back out now? We’ve been working on this for over six months now, and we’re way ahead of schedule!”
“I’ve got ponies nipping at me from every corner of these labs, Dawn, telling me why this won’t work. Look, let’s face it, this is never going to go into production. Just another wasted idea,” Bon Bon said.
“No it isn’t.” The little peach mare glared at her. “I believe in you. We all believe in you. These aug harnesses are better than any bid from T & S, and they are going to work!”
“...Is something the matter?”
“What? No. Sorry. Lost in my thoughts,” she said. “Ah, um, I had a routine appointment. Under the name Bon Bon,” she quickly blurted out, before her voice cracked. Even the way the peach pony chewed her lip while consulting the screen was the same... She tried not to think back to that night, her friend trapped in one of those infernal exoskeletons...
“...so it’ll be about quarter of an hour. Um, Miss?” The receptionist looked up at her, concern lining her face. “Are you OK? I said it’ll be about fifteen minutes ‘til we call you over. Is that alright?”
Bon Bon nodded, then scurried off to the waiting area. She had to stop zoning out like that. Maybe Rarity was right. Perhaps she was getting too caught up in the past. Her soul-searching was cut off by a plaintive gurgle from her stomach. After the destruction of her holoscroll, she’d been too upset with herself to contemplate breakfast, and had fled the apartment soon after. Now, though, the cafe built into the waiting area was giving off heady aromas that she couldn’t help but follow. Bon Bon had been sticking to a diet recently, but surely a poppy seed and lemon muffin or three didn’t hurt. With a large cinnamon latte on the side, maybe?
Before she knew it, she was sitting with her overzealous order at a small table. The only evidence of the muffin’s existence was crumbs; the memory of them passing her lips simply didn’t exist. She really had been that hungry, then. Before she could eat another, she noticed a little plum purple earth pony filly sitting on her haunches nearby, looking up at her, green eyes wide open and sparkling with awe.
“Uh, are you lost, little one?” the augmented pony asked hesitantly. She’d never been good around kids. The filly shook her head, messing up her brushed lime-green mane.
“No, I was looking at you,” she replied. “Why do you have sunglasses on? It’s still morning.”
Bon Bon smiled slightly, and willed the lenses to retract. They did so with a barely audible snick, revealing her golden eyes. “Better?”
Somehow, the filly’s eyes opened even wider. “Oooh. That’s so cool! And wow—these are amazing!” She gestured towards Bon Bon’s unfolded hoof, still slightly sticky from the muffin it had recently handled. “These augs are incredible! Where did you get them?”
The older pony was astonished by the filly’s enthusiasm. Most ponies treated Augs with indifference or outright contempt; admiration was rare indeed. “Sparkle Industries. I work for them,” she said.
“You do?! Woah... I always thought your implants were better than T & S, anyway,” the filly replied in a conspiratorial tone.
“...Right. And how do you know so much about augs? It’s not really a healthy thing to obsess over, is it?” Bon Bon said flatly.
“Oh, all of my school friends sneak me magazines about them,” the little pony said with a wave of her hoof, sounding old beyond her years. “They’re so interesting! Who wants to play with a stupid doll when you can look at robot legs instead? And when I grow up, I’m gonna be just like my momma and poppa!” At that, another, older pony rushed over, her eyes bulging in embarrassment. She was the opposite colouring of the filly: she had a pale lilac coat and deep green mane. Presumably mother and child. Her forelegs were artificial, gleaming chrome encasing both leg and shoulder, and there were signs of implants along her jawline.
“Goodness, I’m so sorry!” the mother exclaimed, pulling the filly towards her. “Plum Tree, I told you not to go wandering off! I’ve been looking for you everywhere!”
“Sorry, Mom,” Plum Tree muttered. Her gaze never left Bon Bon’s artificial limbs as she was bundled into her mother’s metallic embrace.
“Ah, she wasn’t... oh dear.” The mare blushed as she took in the scale of the lone pony’s augmentations. “I’m so sorry! My little Plummy will go and badger anypony she sees with implants. I knew it was a mistake to bring her to a MANE clinic, but what with it being the weekend...”
The cream pony shook her head. “No, she wasn’t being a bother. It’s nice to get some positive attention for once,” she said.
“Oh, I know what you mean,” she replied, stretching out a silvery limb. Plum Tree was growing restless, shifting and muttering. Her mother sighed, reached around into a saddlebag and pulled out a small magazine. “Plum Tree. Here. Please could you not run off this time?” There was no answer, the filly having already snatched the publication away to read it. She looked back up, and held out her leg to shake Bon Bon’s. “Plum Pudding, by the way.”
“Bon Bon,” the unicorn replied. She shifted over, allowing the earth pony to pull up a chair. The purple mare sat, tapping her hooves together anxiously and biting her lip. “First time here?”
“How did you...” Plum Pudding began.
“Everypony’s nervous the first time they’re checked up on. I know. They really try their best to scare you. Implant rejection, neuromantic enchantments going wrong, all kinds of stuff. How long’s it been?” she replied in a sympathetic tone.
“Just under a month. I’ve only just got the hang of using them. I hope they don’t have to take them off again!” the purple pony said with a nervous laugh.
“Don’t worry. Really. No matter what the Apple Corps say, augments are perfectly safe for almost everypony. You’d know by now if something was wrong.”
“Yes... of course. Nothing wrong...” Plum Pudding’s voice trailed off, her gaze slipping away to her filly, who’d buried her nose in the magazine.
“Nothing?” Bon Bon said. As soon as the word left her mouth, she cursed herself for being so forward. Plum Pudding blanched, looking guilty.
“It’s just, well, I... I...” She sniffed, tears collecting under her eyes. “I worry about Plum Tree. Ever since her daddy...” She gulped, and collected herself. “Her daddy’s gone to Everfree for work, building Mare Cognitum. He won’t be coming home until the summer, at the earliest.”
Bon Bon nodded in empathy. “She misses him?”
“We both do. But it’s not that. He... well, you have to understand, this was before the aug harnesses were announced...” Oh no. “He had to be augmented permanently. Completely subsidised by MANE, of course.” Please, no. “But when he came home... when she saw him
“What happened?” Bon Bon asked quietly.
“I work down in the Skyport district, in a warehouse. Celestia knows, it’s been hard enough to find a job recently. I’m lucky to have even this. And then, a couple of months ago, the foremare gave me an ultimatum. There were augmented workers coming in soon, able to handle far larger loads than any natural pony. They were letting all the Naturals go. But she liked me, so she let me have a choice.”
Her eyes bored into Bon Bon’s, a resentful spark burning within. “Get augmented, or lose my job. I can barely afford to keep us above the breadline as it is. I couldn’t find work elsewhere, and the implants at least had some payment plans. So there you go. I had my legs replaced, and now I get to come back here on a regular basis, for the rest of my life, just so I could keep my job,” she said, her voice becoming quieter and quieter. “I just hope—for her sake—it’s worth it.” She slumped back in her chair, before returning her gaze to the other augmented pony. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t pile my woes onto a complete stranger.”
“Don’t be,” Bon Bon cut in. “Sounds like you needed to get it off your chest, at least.”
Plum Pudding nodded, and opened her mouth to say something. She was interrupted by the peach receptionist from earlier, who was hovering expectantly nearby. “Ah, Miss Bon Bon? We’re ready for you now,” she informed them.
“Thank you. I’ll just be a minute.” Bon Bon stood up, and retrieved a small card from the inside of her coat. “Here. If you need any help—or anything—you’ll know where to find me.”
The purple mare’s eyes widened. “No! I couldn’t possibly...”
She waved a hoof to stop her. “From one Aug to another. I know what it’s like. That feeling that you’re not... you any more. The first time I saw myself in a mirror after the operation, well, let’s just say everypony needs some support in times like those.”
Plum Pudding hesitantly took the card, storing it in her saddlebags and bobbing her head gratefully. “Well, thank you. That means a lot to me.”
“Don’t mention it.” She turned, and looked down at Plum Tree. “And Plum Tree?” The little filly gazed up at her. “Take care of your momma and poppa, OK? They’re good ponies.”
“I know!” she exclaimed, beaming up at the augmented unicorn. “They’re the best ponies in the whole wide world!”
Bon Bon nodded, looking up to see Plum Pudding flashing a grateful smile at her. She nodded in acknowledgement, and followed the peach unicorn to the surgery. For once, she’d done something right.
-------
The room was small, yet spacious. Light streamed through windows set high up in the sterile white walls. The floorspace was mostly unoccupied, with only a bed, set against the wall for visiting patients, and a plush chair for the clinic’s most valuable asset: their neuromancer.
The unicorn buck was smaller than most, wearing a doctor’s coat, swept back to reveal a most bizarre cutie mark: a network of pale blue lines, roughly resembling the shape of a pony. Sparkling azure eyes hid behind a pair of horn-rimmed glasses, worry lines and crow’s feet forming about them as their owner focused upon the document held in his dark grey hooves. A glass of iced tea hovered beside him, cradled in the same turquoise glow that surrounded his horn. He gave a start as Bon Bon entered the room, shaking his head slightly to displace the lilac mane obscuring his vision.
“Ah! Bon Bon! A pleasure to see you again!” he exclaimed. “It’s... been a while, hasn’t it?” She couldn’t help but notice the reproachful edge creeping into his words.
“It has indeed. Although I notice my legs haven’t fallen off, so I think we can rule my missed appointments out as unnecessary,” she replied curtly.
“I see how it is. You give a pony a job in augmentation design and suddenly they know so much more than their local, friendly neuromancer!” he said, gesturing to the bed. With a small huff, she walked over and set herself down. As she set her back against the wall, Bon Bon noticed the neuromancer had closed his eyes, and was resting his head upon his steepled forehooves.
“Now, then. Shall we begin?” he asked.
“If you insist...” He set the tea down, and his horn’s glow turned to an azure blaze. Bon Bon shuddered and grit her teeth, feeling the neuromancer’s arcane touch gradually working through her body. Tingles spread through her as he examined her limbs, vivid colours and otherworldly noises rising and fading in her perception as her augmentations reacted in sympathy to the enchanter’s prodding. She felt her heart skip a beat as the alien feeling worked through her chest, a not completely unpleasant sensation, although certainly uncomfortable. A single gasp worked its way out of her mouth as her horn was examined, a final flourish to the magical probing.
“My apologies. I’m afraid that horn plays havoc with my normal procedure.”
“You don’t say?” Bon Bon replied weakly. “I take it there were no anomalies?”
He shook his head slightly, still in the same meditative position as before. Suddenly, his eyelids flicked open, pinning her to the wall with his intense gaze. “Do you know how long I’ve spent trying to contact you?” Memories of torn up letters and dismissed holoscroll calls flashed through Bon Bon, igniting an inferno of guilt within her. “Do you even have any idea why I spent that long?”
His sudden change in demeanour frightened the augmented pony. “Well, I...” Whatever excuses she had in her mind evaporated like puddles under the midday sun as his eyes continued to bore into her. “Can I make a guess?” She tapped the artificial horn fused to her forehead, eliciting the smallest of nods from the stallion.
“It’s non-functional. The enchantments for it were destroyed in the attack. Useless,” she spat. “My only experience of using it was in a magical simulation they hacked together for me, which anypony can use. I’m nothing special.”
“Au contraire. I would argue you are one of the most important ponies in Canterlot, if not the whole of Equestria,” he countered. She waited for an expansion on the statement, but the neuromancer remained infuriatingly silent.
“Any reason why?”
“You seem to hold yourself in high regard with your knowledge of augmentation technology. You tell me.”
The cream pony slumped back against the wall and shut her eyes. She already knew why he was so interested in her. “My implants are quadruple complete leg replacements, along with essential internal organ and chest cavity repairs, and numerous cranial augmentations. Category Five operation: you don’t get more extensive than that,” she began. “For such an intrusive procedure, neural enchantment degradation would be expected to manifest itself between fifteen to twenty-five days after initial installation for earth ponies and pegasi, with unicorns lasting between three to five weeks. It’s been twenty-six weeks since I was... operated on, and since then my aug enchantments have experienced no detectable degradation, nor have they been re-applied,” she continued, rattling off points as if reading from an internal checklist.
She tapped her horn with a hoof again. “Now, even with the assumption that this makes me a unicorn, this places me more than ten standard deviations above the mean value for the general population, an unprecedented length of time for enchantments to exist. My limbs should have stopped working four months ago. I shouldn’t even be alive by now.” Her golden eyes flicked open again. “Am I close?”
The grey unicorn clapped politely. “I see you have a far more profound knowledge of your implants than I give you credit for. Your outstanding compatibility with your augmentations is a cause for observation, indeed. You are a remarkable pony, Miss Bon Bon.”
“A freak, more like.”
“I wouldn’t go so far as to call you that.”
“No?” She snorted. “What else could I possibly be? Nopony should react to augs in this way.”
“I would say more like a miracle, actually. You have apparently transcended the limitations our physiology places on us. Quite amazing, really,” he said.
“Do you think I should be celebrating this?” she snapped. “Do you even know what it’s like? Being stared at day after day, being accused of violating the... the natural order? I lost everything that night, and everypony since acts like I should be thankful for these augs or ashamed of them!” Her voice rose to a furious crescendo. “And now what? You want to ‘observe’ me as well? Why not join the queue!”
She ceased her rant, chest heaving slightly. The entire clinic had probably heard that.
“I had hoped you would look past your own woes for a moment,” he said icily, after an eternity passed. “I realise your upgrades carry unfortunate emotional connotations, but they also represent something more positive. The fact that it is somehow possible for you to take on augmentations with no ill effects whatsoever is unheard of. Imagine if we found a way to apply that to everypony! No more would we tie them to the MANE clinic. No more ponies struggling to pay for their next enchantments. Don’t you understand?”
Bon Bon tried not to let his words overwhelm her. Of course she was a freak, an outcast from society. She didn’t even fit in with her own sub-species anymore! As if she could help anypony... But then, the face of Plum Pudding emerged from her memory, fretting over the future of her child, willing to augment herself for the sake of her daughter. If she could be emancipated from the tyranny of her enchantments... “I see,” she said.
“I don’t wish to tie you down, Bon Bon. Celestia knows, my life is miserable enough in this gilded cage...” He looked down at his cutie mark and sighed. “My blessing and my curse. I can help thousands of augmented ponies, at the cost of my entire freedom. There are many out there who would ponynap me, or even kill me, for what I am. So I get to spend the rest of my life in these secure confines for my own safety, treating those forced to return to this clinic for the rest of their lives. Augmentation enchantments hurt everypony, even those who apply them. Imagine a future free of them.”
“Wouldn’t that be nice?” she said flatly.
“Yes, I know it sounds completely idealistic. Many of my colleagues would oppose this, as they would be put out of a job, but... if you ever need convincing, just head down to the Under Warrens and see what happens to those who can’t afford neuromantic treatments. We’ve practically enslaved them!”
Another spout of guilt burst through her. “I was a detective for CPD on black market augs for four years. You’re preaching to the choir,” she said, trying to ignore the feeling. “Don’t try to guilt trip me into believing I can help them.”
“Fine. So you know what it’s like down there. All I’m saying is, if any path of research could lead to a breakthrough...” He left the sentence hanging.
“If I can help, then I will. But this is a pipe dream. One outlier is no evidence for a universal solution. Now, unless you have anything else to discuss, I’ll stop wasting both your and my time.”
The unicorn flapped a hoof towards the door. “No. That will be all. A full check-up will hardly be necessary.” As she stepped out of the room, he raised his voice. “Oh, and Bon Bon?” She turned her head to face him. “You should be aware that someday you may find yourself able change the world, whether you want to or not. And if you reject that opportunity, don’t be surprised if the world leaves you behind.” He smiled wolfishly. “Just my advice.”
-------
As Celestia’s sun rose above the mountains and shone across the ivory spires of Canterlot, the citizens of the capital city of Equestria aroused themselves from slumber, setting out into the cold morning air. Despite it being the weekend, many ponies were still involved in work, rushing to and fro and weaving in and out of the more leisurely crowds, much to the chagrin of Bon Bon.
She pushed her way through another knot of ponies watching a unicorn street performer, who held the crowd in rapt silence whilst she conjured a bouquet of flowers from thin air. The cream pony stopped for a moment to watch her. The performer remained silent, instead expressing herself through her magic. It was impressive, if superficial.
As the crowd applauded politely, the unicorn bowed and turned to leave. Bon Bon froze as she noticed the purple wizard’s hat fly atop the performer’s head in a luminescent burst, accompanying a similarly-coloured cloak that was tied about the mare’s shoulders. It couldn’t possibly be... no. Her coat was the wrong shade of blue, and the mane was a pale yellow, not silver. She breathed a sigh of relief; Twilight would probably blow a blood vessel if that particular loudmouth came within a mile of her ever again. Some unicorns apparently had no idea when to drop a grudge.
Shaking herself from her stupor, she continued through the boulevards of Upper Canterlot. Her augmented limbs were hidden beneath her longcoat, and she was far from being the only pony wearing sunglasses. Even in the middle of winter, dawn’s light could be painfully bright for the dwellers of the alabaster city. In that preciously rare moment, she felt normal again.
However, as the noise and presence of other pedestrians filtered away, she found herself alone once more, on the road to the last place in Equestria she wished to be at that point in time: the star-shaped tower of Sparkle Industries. The monolithic structure dwarfed the other buildings around it, dominating the skyline of the Canterlot plateau.
The main tower was set back from the rest of the city, shielded by the smaller buildings that made up the rest of the cutie mark, with an ornate staircase leading to the main entrance. The closer Bon Bon came to the building, the harder it became for her to take another step, as if some malevolent force pushed her back. The augmented pony’s breaths came in ragged gasps as the raw pain of her memories threatened to overwhelm her. Steeling herself, she took a deep breath and walked to the main doors, set at the apex between two points of the star.
The lobby was a truly phenomenal piece of architecture: light, airy, and seemingly endless. The floors above had been cut away, allowing a dizzying view of the transparent ceiling countless stories above. Light filtered through the vast panels of glass that formed the external walls, bathing the area in early morning sunshine.
Ponies walked to and fro amongst the balconies and connecting bridges that populated the sides of the cavernous room, with banners hung down from the structures. Each colourful piece of fabric extolled the virtues of the company and their products to all who passed through. Bon Bon found herself wandering slowly along the floor, gazing up at the spectacular view. She’d... forgotten this. The last time she’d passed through here was as another pony, one free of augmentations; returning now felt otherworldly.
Her thoughts were brought back to earth with a bump; literally, as it turned out. In her state of awe, she’d managed to walk into the main reception desk, much to the bemusement of the pegasus mare sitting behind it. She chuckled slightly as the candy maned pony got back up off the floor, nursing her bruised ego. And her bruised rump.
“Well, I can see somepony’s awfully impressed with the view!” she laughed. “It’s good to have you back, Miss Bon Bon.”
She nodded in appreciation. “Thank you. It’s been a while... too long.”
With a sigh, the lemon yellow pegasus bowed her head sympathetically and spoke up. “I know. For what it’s worth, I’m sorry for what happened.”
“It’s not as if it were your fault,” Bon Bon said quietly. “How have things been since? I’ve been kept in the dark somewhat.”
The receptionist swallowed, as if gauging how best to react to the augmented pony’s question. “We took a big hit in the incident. Over a hundred employees wiped out, an entire lab section gone, everything’s been in turmoil since then.” She scrubbed a hoof through her electric blue mane nervously. “I think we’ll all be glad to see you’re back. Just to prove that we didn’t lose everything.”
The unicorn could tell her presence intimidated the pegasus, although whether that was due to her implants, or the fact she was so closely tied to the attack on the laboratories, she couldn’t say. “I see. That’s kind of you to say, but I’d imagine everypony would rather move on than keep being reminded of the attack.” Hypocrite. “Surviving it didn’t make me anything special.”
“Perhaps. I don’t know. It’s just... ever since, everypony’s been on edge. Twilight’s more paranoid by the day, more and more ponies talking about leaving the company, even Miss Colgate’s lost some of her sense of humour...” OK, that last one was worrying. “But—oh!—I shouldn’t be talking like that!” she exclaimed, tapping her forehooves nevously together.
“It’s fine, it’s fine,” Bon Bon reassured the pegasus. “I take it my office hasn’t been moved? There were some... things in there I wanted to retrieve.”
The yellow mare shook her head. “No, Twilight made sure it was left untouched until you returned. Although she gave strict instructions for you to see her directly.”
The unicorn’s brow furrowed. “That sounds suspicious.”
“I wasn’t told anything else. She just wants you to go straight to her,” said the receptionist with a shrug.
Fighting her rising unease, Bon Bon thanked the pegasus and made her way through the lobby to the elevators. On her way, she passed a stone memorial, about the height and width of two ponies, set discreetly near the wall. Her stride stopped as she looked up at it. The stone was inscribed with a list of names and cutie marks, a small horn or set of wings marking out unicorns or pegasi respectively. Paralysed, she found her gaze involuntarily wandering up the monument, searching out lost friends. A small stab of sorrow passed through her as she saw a songbird atop a rising sun, and the name next to it: Dawn Chorus. Memories of that night began to flow through her. As she looked down the alphabetically arranged list, her stomach twisted itself into tighter and tighter knots. I... J... K... L. No. No... not yet. I can’t. She pulled herself away from the obelisk with a small, strangled cry. She couldn’t bear to see her lover’s name inscribed amongst the list of lost souls. Not yet.
A shudder ran down her spine as she turned her back on the memorial. She’d had enough pain generated by her own memories. Why did Twilight force her to return now? In a daze, she walked to one of the elevators in the centre of the tower, tapping the button for the very top floor. She hoped she could keep her composure when she met her boss.
Bon Bon’s mind was still aflutter as she reached the top of the tower, barely registering the personal assistant sitting outside waving her through. She came to as she walked through the ornate wooden double doors, each carved with one of the occupant’s triumphs. Nightmare Moon glowered at her from her left and Discord mocked her from her right as she entered into the vast office. The penthouse had been positioned to give a glorious view of Canterlot Castle and the rolling hills of Equestria beyond; in the distance, rainbows cascaded down the sides of Cloudsdale, flocks of birds wheeled above the foreboding green mass of the Everfree Forest and, barely visible, the trails of smoke from hearth fires rose over Ponyville. The past, the present, and the future, all through a single window.
She found her view obscured by a huge carved ebony desk directly in front of her, positioned between the entrance and whoever was occupying it. It would have added a great deal of gravitas to the pony seated behind it, had it not been for the adolescent purple dragon curled up atop it, his wing nubs twitching slightly in response to whatever dream he was having. Next to him, a particular white unicorn sat surveying the world outside, her back turned to the cream pony and her head inclined slightly toward the dragon. She was dressed in a graceful design, all sweeping curves of deep magenta fabric, with a small, frilly ruff as a nod to current Canterlot fashion. Best not to disturb her, she thought. She was in no mood to confront Rarity. Although, that left the question: where was the pony she was here to meet?
“Bon Bon!” came an exclamation to her left. She turned to see a far more modest desk set away from the door. Behind it sat a lilac unicorn, waving to her shyly. She raised herself from her seat to walk around the desk and greet the augmented pony. Everything was the same about her as the day Bon Bon had first set eyes on her all those years ago in Ponyville, from her straight-cut blue mane and tail, two thin stripes of pink and purple chasing through it, to her sparkling purple eyes and her starburst cutie mark. Her coat gleamed with the lustre of a recent spa date.
The one exception to this was her right foreleg, which switched abruptly from purple coat to polished ebony halfway between elbow and shoulder. The artificial limb was a piece of art, beautifully carved from the dark wood, and inlaid with a golden thread that wound its way along the leg’s length, an homage to the prosthetics of yesteryear. “It’s good to see you again,” said Twilight Sparkle.
“Likewise.” The word felt as hollow as her soul.
“How was your appointment at MANE?”
“It went well. Too well.” A puzzled look crossed Twilight’s face. “The neuromancer’s cottoned on to my enchantments not fading. I think he’s suspected the horn aug of having more capabilities for a while now.”
“Ah. Oh dear. I imagine you’ve kept it a secret as best you can, though?”
“Anypony who asks, it’s purely a cosmetic thing. But he’s not just anypony, is he? In fact, while I was there, he was harassing me about how this could be a breakthrough in augmentation technology. As if this company wasn’t doing its utmost to study the horn itself.”
Twilight’s brow furrowed. “Well, at least he won’t have much reason to spread rumours. I’ll ask the director of the clinic to keep an eye on him, though. We don’t want another security leak.”
“Why did you bring me here, Twilight?” she interjected.
“There... were a couple of things. Things that I didn’t want you to hear from a holoscroll call, or a letter. I wanted to tell them to you personally.” Bon Bon motioned for her to continue. “I’m sure you’re aware of the inconclusive investigation of the incident. That it was nothing more than a tragic attack by a group of anti-augmentation terrorists, aided by a sympathiser in the Deep Labs. It’s a lie.”
The cream pony took a moment to reply, stunned by the sudden accusation, and the conviction in her superior’s voice. “A lie? I know the Canterlot Police Department isn’t the most efficient organisation out there, but they wouldn’t falsify an entire investigation, especially one as high profile as this,” she scoffed.
Twilight shook her head vigorously. “You don’t understand! I went down there a day after the attack, while the detectives were at work. You remember the fires, how they behaved? Didn’t they seem too hot, too bright, too aggressive to you?”
Bon Bon swallowed, trying not to smell the smoke or hear the terrible crackling and screaming once more. “I was running for my life. I didn’t really have time to stop and investigate a fire,” she said quietly.
“Oh... I’m sorry. I forgot...” She dug a hoof at the ground awkwardly, and cleared her throat. “It didn’t seem to behave right for fire, magical or mundane. I went down to the labs a couple of days after the attack. It was very weak, but the residue from the magic used that night was still there. For the most part, it was spells I recognised, but around the burned areas it felt... wrong; like nothing I’d ever felt before. I’ve been delving through books on ancient and obsolete magic for months, and I’ve finally found what looks to match the fire spell used.” Horn blazing, she levitated out a formidable tome from her desk and showed it to Bon Bon on the relevant page.
It was like no book she had ever seen. The font was a heavy, hoofwritten script, all barely legible loops and curves. In the centre of the page, a large illustration was present: a draconequus revelled amongst blazing orange flames, and other creatures seemingly composed of the inferno cavorted beside him. Atop the page was a heavily stylised title. “Infernalis Discordiarum,” she murmured. “Commonly known as Chaosfire, this baleful spell will create a ferocious blaze that spreads seemingly at random, and destroys all it comes... into... contact... with...” Her voice trailed off as she remembered the way the fires had burst out of walls and annihilated the research banks.
“It matches the residues perfectly,” Twilight said grimly as she put the book away again.
“And? So the attackers used an obscure casting rather than a common fire spell. I don’t see what that has got to do with the whole investigation being falsified.”
“The last recorded instance of Chaosfire was by a unicorn mage in the service of a wealthy landowner, who used it to flush a dragon out of a nearby cave over two hundred and fifty years ago. Soon after, the mage vanished, and was never seen again, presumably languishing in some dungeon or banished from Equestria. Either way, this type of magic is forbidden by Royal Command, and archaic to boot. It is certainly not a run-of-the-mill spell a terrorist organisation would—or could—use. They had outside help, and that help had an astonishing knowledge of magic. But the police didn’t find the mystery residues suspicious; in fact, when I enquired, they said they were of no relevance! Somepony is hiding the truth, and they don’t want us to know.”
Bon Bon sighed. This is what she’d been brought here for? To have conspiracy theories thrown at her? “Twilight, how in any way do I tie into this? I’ve relived it enough times already. I don’t want to keep being dragged back to that night,” she said.
“I know. That’s why I wanted to offer you closure. A chance to know what happened, and perhaps bring whoever was responsible to justice. I’d hoped I could trust you to unearth the truth where official channels failed.”
“Me,” Bon Bon said flatly. “Out of all the ponies you know, me.”
“I hired you out of respect for your work in the police force. You chased down black market augs for years! I wanted you in the company because you understood augments like a researcher never could: why ponies wanted them, and how desperate they could become in getting them. And now, I thought you could put those skills to use once again,” Twilight countered.
The cream pony took a step back, feeling the gravity of what was being asked of her. Go chasing after criminals again, criminals with access to a fearsome array of resources? Perhaps finally find out what happened to Lyra and those ponies wearing the harnesses? But then, she remembered the white unicorn dispassionately doling out her appointments for the day to her, and the doctor who saw her as nothing more than a test subject. “No.”
Twilight’s head jerked back slightly. “No? Bon Bon, you don’t understand... your augmentations, I... I...”
“So that’s how I pay you back?” she said in a dangerously quiet voice. “These aren’t any normal augs, these are military grade! All the combat training, all the augs I neither wanted nor needed, they’re all to make me your personal attack hound, aren’t they?”
“Well, m-maybe...” Twilight stammered.
“So now what? I’m not stupid! Your rehabilitation scheme trained me to survive in the most hostile environments; that’s hardly a typical physiotherapy regime! I may even end up having to kill somepony if I do this. You know that, and you’re willing to throw me into that situation anyway! You don’t want justice, you want revenge,” she snapped, pointing an accusing talon at the unicorn.
“Bon Bon, I’d don’t want you to kill anypony, it’s just if—”
“Then how do you explain this?” With that, she raised her foreleg and shot the blade out of it, the lethal metal extension sliding out over her hoof almost silently. Twilight yelped and leaped back, and the dragon stirred, swinging his head round at an unnatural speed with a snarl, glaring at her with baleful green eyes. Even Rarity shifted her head slightly to regard the situation.
“Please, just put it away, and I’ll explain everything,” she said anxiously. Bon Bon complied, never taking her eyes off of Twilight’s number one assistant. “Spike, she didn’t mean any harm.”
The dragon settled down slightly, but kept his gaze fixed upon Bon Bon. “Alright,” he said in a curiously high-pitched tone. Evidently his voice hadn’t matured with his body in the years since coming to Ponyville. “But if she tries anything else...” An ominous puff of smoke emerged from his nostrils.
“I’m sorry. Still a bit nervous around swords after that... attempt on me.” Twilight waggled her artificial leg by way of explanation. “And you’re right: you do deserve an explanation of what’s going on.”
“Why the top-tier augs?” she asked.
“Because we owe it to you.” They both turned to see Rarity, who had since made her way across the room. “At the end of the day, you were caught in that ghastly incident by a failure on our part. We both felt that you deserved better than market-grade implants, whether or not you would use them to their full potential later. Consider them a gift, or an investment. Whatever makes you comfortable, my dear.”
“Nothing’s going to make me comfortable. Look at me. There’s barely a piece of me left that hasn’t been altered or replaced,” Bon Bon said. Rarity bobbed her head sympathetically. “But... you did what you had to do. I suppose I wasn’t a pretty sight after the attack,” she admitted.
“No. My dear, I can reassure you, you do not want to know what your condition was after that night,” Rarity said, meeting Bon Bon’s gaze with her own sapphire eyes.
“And as for going on this wild goose chase?” Bon Bon continued.
“Every other lead’s gone cold. It’s been six months; this spell residue is practically the only thing we have left. But it isn’t a wild goose chase, Bon Bon,” Twilight said, a hurt tone entering her voice.
“Really?” she said flatly.
Twilight stomped the floor with her artificial hoof. “Yes, really, Bon Bon. I was given this company by the Princess in order to help ponies. To improve them. I’ve worked for over ten years on that goal, and when I’m attacked, I’m supposed to just roll over and accept it? Those attackers hurt my friends, hurt my family, and I will ensure that they pay for that, even if I have to hunt them to the ends of Equestria. And if they think they’re safe just because the official channels have dried up, then they’re sorely mistaken. Because I will never abandon my friends, no matter how hopeless the situation. I wish I could say the same of all ponies.” A defiant spark burned in her eyes. Bon Bon found herself subtly impressed with the normally quiet unicorn’s determination.
“What exactly can we do with the information we have, though?” she asked.
“I... I don’t know,” Twilight admitted. “This may be nothing. But, the timing of the attack, the sheer magnitude of the damage they did, not to mention their mastery over our aug harnesses, and the targeting of the horn aug? No. There must be something—anything—that leads to us shedding some light on the attack. Don’t you want to know who perpetrated this? Who took Ly—”
“Don’t use her as a bargaining chip. Don’t you dare.”
“Alright. I’m sorry. But please, Bon Bon. Please consider this. You’ll be bringing closure to a lot of ponies—myself included—and perhaps we can stop this happening to another aug company, and another group of ponies. You’re... you’re all I have left to investigate with. Even Princess Celestia refuses to look any further into this. Please.”
Bon Bon took a step back. She closed her eyes, bowing her head. She’d vowed not to let this take over her life. She’d told herself she could let go of the past. And yet... and yet, six months on, the memories of that night still haunted her every waking moment, and the nightmares that plagued her in her sleep. Was she really going to spend the rest of her life flashing back at every little reminder of her old life? Closure... it was nothing but a glimmer of hope, but it was something to cling to. Something.
“Follow the sweetie trail, huh?” she said quietly, casting a glance back at her cutie mark. “Just like old times.” She looked up, her tinted lens retracting to reveal her golden gaze. The cream pony looked into Twilight’s eyes. “I don’t have any choice, do I?” She opened her mouth to say something, but Bon Bon carried on regardless. “I’ll never forgive myself if I turn this opportunity down. I might not find out who did this, and I know it won’t bring her back, but this is the only hope I have left. I’ll do it. Luna pity me for it, but I’ll do it.”
Bon Bon felt her shoulders sag. “You have more to ask of me?” she asked in a disbelieving tone.
“Only a formality. As you know, we salvaged as much of the research as we could from the Deep Labs, and continued work with it. We’ve had a certain breakthrough that may be of interest to you.” Twilight barely seemed able to contain her excitement. “With your permission Bon Bon, we can finally apply the enchantments required to activate your horn aug. We can make you a true unicorn.”
Bon Bon took a step back. “Oh... that would be...” Wonderful? Great? About damn time? “...nice.” She inwardly cringed at her choice of words. Twilight, however, smiled warmly.
“Excellent! Then we shouldn’t waste any more time. You have a lot of very interested ponies waiting for you,” she said, as her horn ignited in a white glow.
-------
Many thanks to RavensDagger and Burraku_Pansa from SALT for pre-reading, and to KibugamiKenzo for the incredible cover art.
Questions, comments, critiques? Get in touch at melonhunter42@gmail.com
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I was thinking about a story where Adam Jensen is sent to Equestria due to the collapse of the station in the artic.
But nobody's made a story where he goes into equestria :C
Ah, I have been waiting for this to get on here! Good show mate!
To all those wondering whether they should read this or not. Don't worry about the size, just read it.
I like it! Just the intro is heavy with conspiracy. Very close ties to the Deus Ex lore, great so far. I can't wait till more is written.
i really want to play human revolution right now.
I'm trying to imagine Bon Bon with a female voice equivalent to Elias Toufexis,
but I'm drawing a blank.
RavensDagger speaks the truth; this story was more fun to edit than most stories even are to read! I'll be surprised if it doesn't get featured at some point.
Can't wait for more...
The setup on this puts the story at quite the estimated length. I'll be following it in the hopes that you see it through to completion. So many adventure stories just peter off midway through--it'd be a shame to see this one go down that path, given the high quality of the writing involved.
Although... semi-colons. Dear god, the semi-colons.
461495 Yes, the pre-readers had the same opinion. I apologise for my crimes against punctuation.
As for the length, I have a good idea of where I'm going, so I shouldn't run out of steam any time soon. Thanks for the comment and favourite!
464537
Haha, well... we all have things that stand out to us.
Now, the major concern I have is one that has no substance just yet: how closely you decide to adhere to the source material. Obviously, I don't expect you to lay out any spoilers here, nor would I want you to, but I do hope that you don't simply replace the major and semi-major events with ponies. The first few chapters were the major bottleneck in getting the story and game worlds mated smoothly, and now that we're stepping outside of that... well, I'm very interested in seeing where it goes : )
This is fantastic. Pulled up the game's soundtrack from YouTube and had it playing while I read - you've gotten the tone of the universe down perfectly, to the point where I was seeing Canterlot in a black-and-yellow color scheme.
I do hope that the prologue will eventually be explained to some degree. With HR proper, it's fairly obvious who's speaking with prior knowledge of the Dues Ex series. This, however, can very much be considered a brand-new universe. You dropped some...interesting hints/red herrings with names and the way the anonymous gathered spoke and reacted, I hope you'll reveal some of them eventually.
I most certainly asked for this, and so far you have yet to disappoint. So good. SO GOOD. You're melding both Pony and Deus together in such a way that it is an entirely new universe. There hasn't been a crossover like this since... Fallout: Equestria. Well, ok, there's also the Bioshock crossover that recently cropped up. But, yeah.
I'm holding you to that standard, which should speak enough of how highly I think of this fic thus far. Eagerly awaiting the next chapter, this is just fucking amazing.
"I never asked for this... If you want to make enemies, try to change something. The year is 2027. It's a time of great innovation, and technological advancement. It's also a time of chaos, and conspiracy. I don't even know whose side I'm on."
"Breaking news - the riots continue in the streets of Canterlot. Protestors rallying outside of Sparkle Industries, one of the world's leaders in the controversial science of pony augmentation."
"These ponies, Bon bon - they're like ghosts. Always in the shadows, always hiding behind lies, and proxy soldiers. I need you to find them. They cannot stop us. They cannot stop the future."
"I never had a choice in what happened to me."
"How do you feel, Bon-bon? The body may heal... but the mind is not always so resilient."
"Corporations have more power than the government. Everypony's fighting for power, for control."
"I'll take you to HELL!"
"Police have opened fire on the crowd!"
"You'll never find 'em!"
"... I'll never stop looking."
brb reinstalling Deus Ex Human Revolution
That was an awesome take on the Deus Ex universe, good sir! Very nice and original choice in picking Bon bon to be the main protagonist, there's a choice that you don't see very often. You did a very realistic and believable spin on making the intro to the Human Revolution storyline, though I have to admit at the first chapter I was a little misled by the text and had the mistaken belief that Princess Luna was the mare who was conversing with the other members of the Illuminati (I got that misconception cleared up pretty quickly heheh). It's stories like this that I wish I was able to write - I had an idea for a Human Revolution crossover a few months ago, but never got to work on it because I just couldn't get the premise right. Kudos to you for succeeding where I had failed!
Forty Six And 2 - Tool
456807
Is that a request for someone to write it? because i saw your comment, and gears started clicking in my head. writing gears.
477775
Maybe
477775
Okay yes it is
456807 oh my god 0-0
Epic idea!
I have asked for - *looks at above comments* - nevermind...
The story is awesome. Write more pls.
Fantastic story! Please continue to write as I'll be looking forward to each chapter.
Your characters are well designed and easy to understand. Even with auxiliary characters that only have brief speaking parts it comes out that you've put a good deal of thought into them. Looking back, I think the rich context comes from the emotion heavy narrative you use for Bon Bon. She is stressed, excited, angry, depressed and insightful. Because you can articulate these emotions well, it helps paint the immediate hair trigger assessments people have when they size up new people. The approximation of meeting people is close enough that it kindles off the reader's natural habits. I'm beginning to think this habit runs deeper, which is why you are able to write such an engaging story.
A narrative that can grab attention by the throat is one I'll read through to the end. Already I can see that your story is good about not pulling punches and letting the emotional points unapologetically drop like anvils. The most devastating weapon of destruction is poverty. Using augmentations to financially enslave people is a point that hits close to home. Gross abuse of power and coercing people to relinquish control of their bodies...it just makes my skin crawl with seething disgust for the powers that be. I hope Celestia can't sleep at night for knowingly allowing such suffering to not only happen but continue within the confines of her realm. Gross negligence of this scale from a so called goddess disgusts me.
Your story is well written enough to invoke such strong emotions. Well done.
You hit the nail on the head with it comes to feeling inhuman, or inequine in this case. Bon Bon, being a product of her culture, had certain criteria for judging herself as equine. It all boils down to a feeling, a persistent state of being. She had the love of her life taken away, her magnum opus of work subverted murder Dawn Chorus, and the majority of her body augmented. Any one of those would require a person to redefine their very identity and likely take years of intense readjustment for her emotions to fire in any manner that felt healthy. Looking in the mirror....is the hardest part. There is something about having to see this image, what the mind is wired to respond to, and be unable to stop or slow the deluge of self hatred that comes with a conflict of identity.
The pieces of the story are arranged in such a way that the various sets of conflict are arranged organically. In particular, Bon Bon taking the job from Twilight because it gives her a sense of purpose. People need purpose as much as they need air, food and companionship. The combat training, I suspect, is one of the few times Bon Bon's adrenaline is pumping fast enough that she feels alive for a few brief moments. I don't know how much of that training was set up make Bon Bon crave the the seductive lure of combat as a temporary reprieve from her depressive lethargy. If there is person pulling her psychology strings I would suspect it would be Rarity, as her careful phrasing "You don't want to know how bad off you were." seems to purposefully exploit Bon Bon's avoidance of memories of the attack. Maybe this is all a setup to slowly shift Bon Bon's sense of identity to one who is willing to use her combat mods to lethal force. Perhaps not. Only time will tell.
A big thank you goes out to Melon hunter. Please continue to write in the manner you deem fit. Continue to pull no punches and write an outstanding story.
I had tons of comments while reading the fic but then I started reading the comments and forgot about it all
Guess I'll have to read again
Awesome chapter by the way.
This is REALLY interesting! Particularly how Bon Bon has a similar motivation for Jensen, but an entirely different outlook on it. Jensen didn't need much persuading to investigate the attack, he had a natural detective instinct and desire for the truth, whereas Bon Bon wants nothing to do with anything related to the attack and wants to bury that memory.
I can see why ponies would want hands, but you do realize that humans will never have a practical reason to lop off perfectly functional limbs to replace them with prostheses, right?
Even after we develop a stable nerve-machine interface a prosthetic arm won't really give any particular advantage over a natural one, sure it might have a stronger grip or punch harder but there wouldn't be any increase in lifting capability. Someone could hypothetically make an arm with the artificial muscles to lift say, 50 kg, but if someone had that arm attached and tried to lift that much without reinforcing or replacing their shoulder, spine, legs, and probably every other muscle and bone below the neck, the bone at the anchor points would shatter and the limb would pop off in a bloody mess. So to lift more someone would either need to go full-on Ghost in the Shell (that example was actually illustrated in the manga), or wear an exoskeleton.
You know, like the ones the military is currently working on [youtube=0hkCcoenLW4]