• Published 12th Mar 2017
  • 12,355 Views, 683 Comments

A Matter of Genetics - Guardsman_Sparky



In which I find an old costume and immediately regret it.

  • ...
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The Calm Before

The air was thick with the scent of pine and fresh snow. I breathed in deep through my nostrils, savoring the cold sting of the winter air. Exhaling through my mouth, I opened my eyes to take in my home for the past few months.

It was...strange, being at another being's complete and utter mercy after being my own master for so long (okay, granted, it was only a few months, but honestly it somehow felt much longer). If it was any other pony, I probably would have chaffed at best. But with Fluttershy, well...

Becoming Mewtwo amplified things, I believe. My emotions, my experiences, everything was...it was as if I'd been deaf, blind, and dumb my entire life, what I remembered of it. Unfortunately, this included how I felt pain. I've never handled pain well, I remember that much, but now, it was infuriating. Every ache, every throb as my body healed drove me mad; not in the way of insanity, but in the manner of having an itch, and being unable to scratch at it. It made me angry. So very, very angry.

But for all that, God, Fluttershy was an absolute saint. I was a horrible patient, constantly complaining and moaning, while at the same time inconveniencing her and her animal friends with inane demands and requests. And yet, each time, she would just give me that soft smile and gently acquiesce to my ... request.

I still feel a right sod about it. And the damn rabbit keeps giving me the eye. Still, Angel Bunny ain't got nothing on Fluttershy: I tried once to get up against Fluttershy's orders and ... I have never been so afraid in all my life. Those eyes still haunt me.

Anyways, it took a very, very long three weeks for my concussion to clear up. I'm pretty sure concussions don't usually take that long to heal, but then again, I don't think that's taking non-human brains or psychic powers into account. Of course, by the time Fluttershy deemed me healthy enough to leave her care, it was already deep Autumn, and Winter was just around the bend. Not enough time to prepare Castle Cerulean for the cold.

So, I remained Fluttershy's guest for the Winter.

A big, furry mass moved into the corner of my vision. Turning my head slightly, I gave a nod to Harry the Bear. A big, ol' brown bear, Harry was one of Fluttershy's animal companions (not a pet, no, he was far too intelligent for that). He was nominally Fluttershy's unofficial assistant, taking care of the other animals whenever Fluttershy went into town or left for extended periods. He was also the one to pick me up and bring me into the house when Spike-zilla clobbered me.

Grunting my thanks, I accepted the steaming mug of tea held between Harry's forepaws. As the gentle giant turned to go back into the house, I contemplated my stay at Casa del Fluttershy.

Winter had been...interesting, so far. One day, it had been crisp Fall air (no leaves on the trees though, the ponies had already brought those down during the Running of the Leaves, weird tradition), and then the next, fwoompth, snow everywhere. I'm not even joking: literally overnight, a foot of snow fell on Ponyville. Thank Arceus I had collected my cloak from Rarity the week before (worked like a charm, though I may need to invest in boots and gloves sometime in the future).

However interesting Winter was, though, it was ironically rather boring. Oh, sure, there was Hearth's Warming Eve, a quaint little equivalent to the family-centricity and gift-exchanges of Christmas, but beyond that, absolutely nothing of note happened.

Perhaps I'm being disingenuous by leaving out the town-wide snowball fight, but when you can't participate because the cold makes your joints feel rust-locked and cuts to the bone, it doesn't really count, now does it?

My cloak curled around my leg, snapping in the bitter Winter wind. I took a sip of my tea, savoring the heat that spread through my body: using my psychic powers, I had devised a method to trap warm air against my skin. Unfortunately, I had yet to figure out the mechanics behind heating the air myself, so I had to "recharge" the pocket of warm air every so often.

As I sipped from my tea, I took note of the frantic fluttering coming towards me. I flexed a mental muscle.

Good morning, Derpy. Still sipping from my tea, I looked up at the pony suspended in a blue aura just a foot in front of me.

Ditzy Doo, a grey, blonde haired pegasus mare with a bubbly personality to match her bubbles Cutie Mark, one of Ponyville's mailmares (who also had the nickname of Derpy Hooves for some reason, never did learn why), giggled at me, her golden, walleyed peepers gazing at me in amusement. "Mornin' Mewtwo. How ya doin'?"

Good, I replied absently. I lowered her to the ground. The eye bothering you today?

"Yeah," the mailmare replied wistfully, rubbing the side of her head with a hoof. "Some days the darn thing just won't stay still," she said, her lazy eye drifting to one side to punctuate the statement. "Anywho." She reached back with a hoof, rummaging around through the saddlebags she was wearing. "Here's the morning paper. Gotta go!"

Taking the proffered bundle of papers in a psychic grip, I wished the mare luck. Take care Ditzy.

As Ditzy fluttered off, I opened up the paper and browsed the headlines. In particular, the main headline caught my attention for some reason.

Artifacts Stolen From the Manehattan Museum of Natural History

Intrigued, I read through the article. Apparently, a set of three black crystals found at what was thought to be the former location of the vanished Crystal Empire had been stolen from the Manehattan Museum of Natural History the night before. No clues were reported, though of course, that could just be the Royal Guard (or whoever it is that does CSI around here) holding their cards close to the breast.

Interestingly, the article said that the Crystals had been found and donated to the museum some time ago by one Daring Do, an archaeologist and adventurer of some repute. Funny, I'd thought she was just the titular character from a book series.

Shrugging that fact off (it wasn't the weirdest thing I'd come across, though I was unfortunately drawing a blank on those particulars at the moment), I checked the forecast for the next day (Sunny, with highs in the mid-twenties, in case you were wondering). Finishing the last of my tea, I folded the paper back up and took it inside. Placing it on the kitchen table, I looked around the room. I turned to Harry, the only other being present at the moment. Fluttershy still asleep?

Harry nodded, pointing at the calendar on the wall by the refrigerator. Ah yes, it was Sunday wasn't it? Fluttershy slept in on Sundays, as did most of the other animals by mutual consent; that is to say, the animals all slept in so that Fluttershy wouldn't be compelled to get up. On the one occasion I'd seen Fluttershy try to get up early on a Sunday, she'd been promptly carried under one arm back to her bedroom by Harry and put back to bed. Sometimes I wonder who's taking care of whom around here.

Spontaneously, I came to a decision. Let Fluttershy know I've gone to check on my castle when she wakes up, will you? Getting an affirmative grunt from Harry, I went out once more into the snow.


Breath fogged before me as I floated into my frozen throne room. Honestly, it looked kind of like an ice palace from an RPG: the water features were frozen over, snow was piled here and there and in the corners, and everything else was covered in a crystalline layer of glittering frost. It was really quite tranquil.

Alighting upon a bare portion of the frozen pond, I knelt down to look through the ice. There, I saw Mr. Fish and Sprinkles, just sort of floating there beneath the surface, completely catatonic. They'd been like that all Winter. It was a bit of a shock at first, because the two fish had kept on going, business as usual throughout Fall, then the snows came, and they just sort of ... stopped. They were still alive, I can tell you that much, but...well, suffice it to say, the phrase 'the lights are on, but nobody's home' is quite apt in this instance.

Satisfied that Mr. Fish and Sprinkles were still alive and healthy, I stood up and made my way to my rock. Settling down, I began to meditate. It was time to try something...new.

Taking a deep breath, I reached out with my mind. I wanted to see if I could project my consciousness outwards, manifest it away from my body.

...I have just remembered that particular skill is called 'astral projection'... *Sigh.* What even is my life?

Reaching out with my mind, I first tried to shift my point of view elsewhere, specifically the frost-covered rock about 15 degrees to my left. When that didn't work, I instead tried to will myself elsewhere as if I was teleporting, but without actually moving my body. It didn't work, and I'm pretty sure I passed out, because the next thing I know, I'm buried face first in the snow next to my rock with my ass sticking out and up in the air.

The flailing and screaming from the cold snow on my short fur aside, I think I might be on the right track. Why else would I have passed out?

Of course, there was the uncomfortable possibility that I might have been something very wrong. Perhaps this is an experiment best performed under supervision. Which brings up the question of whose supervision I can trust. I sighed, taking a sitting position in midair and slowly floating back to my rock. Decisions, decisions...Bah! I'll figure it out later.

Right now... I looked around at the snow and ice surrounding me contemplatively. Perhaps it was time to try and learn a new Pokémon move or two. Icebeam and Blizzard were not outside my potential skill set, and it would be prudent to have a technique that could incapacitate without use of brute force. With Icebeam or Blizzard, I could freeze any opponent or target in their tracks, so to speak.

I nodded to myself. It was as good a plan as any, and I didn't have anything else better to do. Taking a deep breath, I drew my cloak in tight to retain as much warmth as I could before I stopped maintaining my heat-retaining aura. I must have looked like some sort of weird, lumpy Cascoon. Dropping the aura, I couldn't help but shiver despite the warmth of my cloak. I didn't dwell on the cold long, however. Putting such thoughts of discomfort aside, I focused on the task at hand.

Now, how to go about this? Perhaps I should begin by transforming a portion of my psychic energy into ice-type energy. Well, it's certainly worth a try. Reluctantly poking a paw out from my warm cloak, I held it before me palm up, manifesting a ball of psychic energy.

Taking a deep breath, I focused everything I had on turning the sphere of mental energy into a ball of ice.

Think cold thoughts...


Icy rain poured down on the docks as several ponies loaded cargo from a large ship. Above them, a griffon with white fur and crimson plumage watched, his bowler hat barely able to keep the driving rain out of his eyes. The meticulously sharpened talons of a zygodactyl claw clutched the curve of a white cane as the other claw kneaded at the cobblestone underfoot.

Remus Firelight sighed in irritation. He hated Manehattan, it was always raining: thanks to the wild storms that blew in from the ocean the weather ponies only had control over the weather about half the time, if one was being generous.

Right now, Remus was feeling far from generous. He was cold, wet, and those blasted underlings unloading the ship were taking their own sweet time!

Tossing his cane up into the air and catching it on the haft, Remus waved the head of the cane at the ponies on the docks below. "Get a move on, you louts! We don't have all night!"

Of course, it was at that very moment that two ponies dropped the wooden crate they were carrying. Striking the cobblestones of the docks, the crate shattered, releasing the straw packaging and scattering three black crystals across the ground.

Cursing, Remus spread his wings and took to the air, gliding down to the ponies gathering around the dropped box. Landing, the griffon took in the shattered crate before promptly boxing the nearest pony about the ears. "Now look what you idiots have done! What are we even paying you for?"

One of the ponies, a unicorn with a green coat and brown hair, snarled at the griffon. "Hey! Where'd you get off actin' like yer the boss? My boys are havin' a hard enough time in this squall without yeh yellin' at them to hurry up!"

Remus scoffed at the unicorn. "Well, maybe I wouldn't have to yell at them if they'd just do their job properly, you useless idiot!"

The unicorn was livid, his face growing red. "Call me that again, I dare you!"

The griffon leaned in close. "Useless. Idiot."

Snarling, the unicorn lit up his horn, pulling out a nasty-looking hooked fishing knife. Remus, for his part, simply twisted the head of his cane and pulled, unsheathing a gleaming sword.

Just as Remus and the unicorn were about to come to blows, a blood-curdling scream brought it all to a screeching halt. Woodenly, Remus and the unicorn turned to see one of the earth ponies had picked up one of the black crystals. To their horror, thick, blue ice was racing up his leg. All present could only watch helplessly as the ice spread like a wildfire, and the screams cut off abruptly as the ice engulfed the pony's head.

For a brief moment, the docks were deathly silent in the pouring rain, and then the frozen pony shattered, pieces falling in a heap like a broken ice sculpture. The black crystal hung in the air roughly where the unfortunate pony's hoof had been, and as all watched, it began to slowly spin with a crystalline ringing.

Staring at the floating crystal, Remus could only voice a single thought. "Well...that's not good."


Outside of Ponyville, a single snowflake fell to earth...