A Shift In Gears

by BlackRoseRaven

The Creature

Chapter One: The Creature

Octavia Melody had been enjoying a shopping trip in Canterlot with her roommate, Vinyl Scratch, when it happened: the first sign wasn't screaming or panic around them, but a moment of absolute silence. Ancient herd instinct took over in that breath, as bodies tensed, heads rose, and ears swiveled in the direction of the threat, the malicious energy that irradiated the air all around them.

And in that moment, eyes widened and shocked gazes turned to one-another, as they realized too late that they weren't safe here: that the herd itself had been infiltrated by the enemy, the predator, who now greedily unveiled itself on helpless prey-pony in that moment of paralysis.

Octavia stared in horror as the whole world erupted into chaos: it seemed like every second pony in the mall transformed in a flash of bizarre green magic into a hideous monster. They were bug-like and ferocious, leaping on ponies and binding them down or blasting them with toxic magic. They had fly-like wings and malformed horns and chitinous bodies; insectile mockeries of ponies full of holes and missing parts where they weren't twisted and corrupt.

Vinyl was standing, gaping stupidly, her sunglasses askew on her face, her red eyes full of fear. Unicorn or not, she had no way to defend herself from these monsters. And Octavia was only an earth pony, but unlike Vinyl, she understood that sometimes you just had to move.

Octavia seized Vinyl, mind working fast even as she yanked the unicorn quickly towards a stall full of t-shirts. Vinyl squawked as she was flung over the counter before Octavia followed, a moment before several of the bug-creatures tore by and knocked the racks of t-shirts over. Vinyl yelled and nearly leapt out from under the counter, but Octavia tackled her, covering her mouth with her hooves and the unicorn's body with her own: at least she had the weight advantage as an earth pony, but that didn't mean Vinyl's bony little body didn't still hurt like hell as she wiggled desperately under her.

“Quiet!” Octavia hissed, and Vinyl flinched under her before her eyes flicked back over her shoulder, wide and wild as they stared up at the mare.

But Octavia looked back, unflinching, hoping that her hard gaze made up for the frightened shaking of her body. An attack this brazen, this ferocious, wasn't something they could just try and run away from: if so many of them had infiltrated the city, that meant the castle had to be under attack, maybe up to the highest levels-

Something slammed into the counter, and both Octavia and Vinyl flinched, but the earth pony only hugged the unicorn under her tightly, not letting her do more than squirm. There were a few more bangs, but then another sound, a crashing, a smashing in the distance, and with a final bang against the counter, whatever had been there departed.

Vinyl waited all of five seconds before starting to wiggle nervously, but Octavia shook her head, holding her down and glaring at her. Vinyl tried to talk, but Octavia shook her head vehemently again: she knew if those monsters were out there, they could be looking for stragglers or survivors. Considering the intelligence, the structure behind their attack in spite of its ferocity, she had no doubt they were more than just dumb monsters that had wandered into Canterlot: if they were adept enough to mock ponies and infiltrate high society, then they were likely highly-coordinated and highly-capable. They couldn't underestimate the enemy's cunning or abilities.

They waited for almost thirty minutes, until most of the mall had settled into silence. It was never entirely quiet, Octavia reflected: there was a faint scratching in the distance, and a sound almost like dripping water.

Carefully, she slipped off Vinyl and wiggled through the mess of shirts and spilled racks to poke her head up: a moment later, Vinyl surfaced as well in the sea of shirts, looking wildly back and forth, and Octavia winced and grabbed her, pulling the unicorn down as she muttered: “I think it's safe, but keep your head – and your voice! – down, got it?”

“I'm not an idiot.” Vinyl snapped, a little louder than Octavia would have liked, but she immediately winced and covered her own mouth before reiterating in a hushed whisper: “I'm not an idiot.”

“I can see that.” Octavia replied, as her eyes nervously traced back and forth. There was a lot of surface damage, she saw: a lot of overturned displays, damaged walls, smashed windows, and here and there, scorch marks from defensive magic as well as strange green goo. She could see a few ponies had been glued down by that same substance: these ponies were either unconscious or clearly in some sort of daze...

Think. Octavia ordered herself, as she climbed out of the mess of the stall with Vinyl nervously following behind her. Where do we go?

“We need to get somewhere safe. We should head to-”

“The castle! I bet everyone's going there!” Vinyl exclaimed, and Octavia gave her a dry look.

“That's the worst place we could go right now. If this is an invasion-”

“Who says it's an invasion?” Vinyl snapped back. “What if it's not? What if it's just happening in the city? What if-”

“You can't just say 'what if' for everything, you need to look at this-” Octavia started, before she was cut off as a tremendous boom tore through the air, and even the earth pony felt the pulse of magic before she winced as it was followed by what felt almost like a wave of... warmth?

Canterlot shook with the force of the magic, whatever it was, but it was only a few moments before it was over, and silence fell. Octavia and Vinyl Scratch looked at each other, and then the unicorn turned and ran towards the nearest window, Octavia wincing as she stumbled into a gallop after the mare, resisting the urge to shout: who knew what that magic had done?

But as she joined Vinyl at the window, it became apparent that whatever had happened, it had driven off the invaders: there wasn't a single bug-creature in the city streets, and confused ponies were picking themselves up off the ground, whatever malign magic had paralyzed or snared them dissipated from that massive blast of magic that had torn through Canterlot.

Octavia frowned as Vinyl laughed in relief, shaking her head before she blurted out: “And you thought the Castle wasn't safe! I bet that was Celestia! I bet she just, like, whoosh, vamoo, blasted them all with the power of the sun and-”

“You're a unicorn, you should know better than me that was no simple spell.” Octavia said almost crossly, before she shook her head quickly, reminding herself that there was no point in arguing with Vinyl right now. “We should go down and see what happened. Even with as powerful as that magic is, I doubt that it-”

“I doubt your doubts. But yeah, let's get out of here.” Vinyl said, and then she looked quickly back and forth before carelessly jumping out the window onto a ramping stone wall, Octavia wincing as the unicorn half-skidded, half-cantered down it to hop off into the square, immediately shouting at the nearest ponies and running recklessly towards them.

Octavia scowled, then shook her head before she turned with a sigh to make her way down a level to the exit. But she found a hastily-made blockade in front of the main entrance, the mare grimacing a bit and hating that now she couldn't even complain about Vinyl's foolhardiness.

It made her a little nervous to be separated from her friend, however: even at the best of times, she didn't like being alone. And it bothered her that while it seemed like all the ponies outside had recovered, the ones she came across inside were still dazed, and the ones who had been snapped awake seemed confused, lethargic. The gooey binds the monsters had left behind also hadn't dissipated: she wondered if perhaps that wave of power wasn't capable of penetrating walls, and if that was the case, then maybe-

No, no. No thinking about that. She had to keep her head on her shoulders and concentrate on one thing at a time. If she came across enemy emplacements, she would deal with it then.

Octavia smiled faintly, looking back and forth as she headed towards the rear of the mall. It was funny, the way training stuck with you, the things that you remembered, did on instinct. She hit a corner, and she leaned against it before checking around it, quickly noting every point of entry before her eyes shifted to the broken doors leading out.

She stepped out into the hall, making her way towards the exit: she couldn't hear anything out of the ordinary, but she noted there were quite a few unconscious ponies here. The enemy likely set up a trap here for them: she only hoped that magic had either scattered them or driven them to ground. She had never been a fighter, even with all her training: she had always been part of the rear echelon.

The earth pony strode out into the lot in the mall's rear, frowning a bit as her eyes searched the area: she could see overturned carriages, damaged freight, and at the far side of the back lot, much more prominent wreckage: it looked like the scaffolding supporting a tower under construction had collapsed.

There was a small crowd gathered around the bottom of the tower: they sounded angry and afraid, Octavia thought. She frowned, approaching slowly and hesitantly, before her eyes widened slightly as she saw through the tattered ranks of ponies and her eyes locked on one of the bug-beasts that had invaded Canterlot. But in spite of how afraid the ponies circling the wreckage were, the creature was clearly harmless... no, helpless, Octavia thought, as she drew closer.

The creature was unconscious: more than that, it was trapped. The scaffolding and much of the brickwork it had been supporting had collapsed on top of the creature... and from the other limbs and green blood on the bricks, she was likely the luckiest of the beasts that had been caught in the rubble. A quick look at the wreckage, then at the open lot, and Octavia deduced what must have happened: that wave of magic hadn't affected the ponies, but it had ejected the monsters. Unfortunately for the creatures, not all of them had been out in the open, and that wave of magic had likely flung them into solid objects instead of simply flinging them out of Canterlot.

Octavia grimaced as she shouldered her way carefully through the crowd: the survivor's legs were clearly broken. Three of them were trapped under fallen brick; the last was just a mess, like it had been grabbed and pulled out into a long ribbon by some angry giant. She frowned deeper as she noted that what she had thought at first were gouges or holes seemed to be natural shapes in the creature's limbs... surely that didn't make their legs very stable. Was that why they had infiltrated?

A pony suddenly leapt forwards, shouting angrily: “I say we kill it!”

This was met by a rumble of agreement, and Octavia scowled, but hesitated to act: it wasn't like that pony could be serious, after all, and these monsters had attacked Canterlot: they were just monsters, right? They were bug-like, disgusting mockeries of ponies...

Octavia's eyes lingered on the fallen creature for a moment. A mockery of a pony, that was all it was. A bug-like body, but the same rough shape as her own kind, a twisted horn that was still a horn, closed eyes that twitched and clenched in clear pain as its lips curled back in little, unconscious whimpers-

The stallion who had spoken grabbed a rock and lifted it in his hooves, and before Octavia even realized she was moving, she leapt in front of the monster and snapped: “Stop!”

The pony stared at her incredulously, and then he snarled as he hefted the rock higher: “Why are you standing up for that thing? Are you one of them? Are you-”

The crowd shouted and roared, both with and against the pony, but Octavia didn't so much as glance at them, instead answering: “We don't know what these creatures are, or where they came from, or more importantly, if they'll come back! This is a live, crippled, harmless... whatever it is-”

“And there were a hundred others like it! But I'm gonna kill this one!” the pony argued angrily: but he wasn't angry, he was afraid, Octavia thought. Afraid of the monster, afraid of what had happened, afraid of what could happen.

Octavia didn't move, holding his gaze with her own: the stallion glared back at her challengingly, the rock lifted high over his head, reared back and balancing unsteadily on his hind hooves as he looked back at her, not quite daring to break eye contact.

But the rest of the crowd was growing agitated, some shouting, egging him on, others backing off or pleading to go home. Octavia knew that she couldn't keep him from doing something stupid for very long, but she had to do her best to at least try and stop him from killing this creature in cold blood. She understood the urge, more than he might imagine, but...

“It's not right.” Octavia said in a low voice, forcing him to focus on her, to work to listen, and hopefully, also encouraging him to calm down a little just so he could understand her. “That isn't justice. That is revenge. And these creatures weren't meant to be killed or perhaps even injured by that blast: do you really want to go against the will of the princesses?”

“Oh, what do you know?” growled the stallion, but he looked less sure now as his eyes shifted back and forth, squeezing the rock between his hooves before he gritted his teeth, turning in he direction of the pinned beast as he rose the chunk of concrete higher-

“Hey! What's going on here?” shouted a voice, and the stallion fumbled the rock and dropped it before falling on his side with a grunt, and Octavia looked up in relief as she saw a trio of Royal Guard approaching. The crowd naturally drew back from the soldiers, a few ponies stumbling hurriedly away, and the officer in charge wasted no time in ordering: “If you have no business here, then head home or to a shelter immediately! The city is in a state of emergency until further notice!”

The officer's eyes shifted to the rubble, and he tensed slightly as he locked on to the sight of the crushed creature, but before anypony could speak he added sharply: “Step back immediately. This creature will be taken into custody, we don't need any more violence.”

The stallion looked like he wanted to argue, but when the officer leaned towards him, he only grumbled and backed quickly off, shifting away with a last scowl at Octavia. Octavia sighed, then looked up as the officer stated shortly: “That includes you too, Miss. You-”

“I want to make a request to have this creature transferred to my care for research purposes.” Octavia said bluntly: she almost blurted it out, really, which was unlike her, but there was a chance here, she thought, that would never present itself again.

The officer scowled at her, but then Octavia slipped in closer and said in a lower voice: “I am a member of the Luciferin and I will place a formal request in later, but I need this matter expedited. The creature is going to die without urgent care and...”

Octavia thought quickly: the officer didn't look like he believed her and she didn't really have any plan. But this creature, whatever it was, was new and exciting and reminded her of why she had gotten into science in the first place...

Although as always, that stirred thoughts of why she had left that all behind to become a musician instead, as well.

Octavia bit her lip, then said suddenly: “Square Hammer. Square Hammer has a laboratory near here and I know him quite well. We can take the creature there to be examined and for emergency treatment. His lab is quite safe: he'll have all the precautions necessary to keep something of this nature... secure.”

The officer didn't look convinced, scowling a little before his eyes shifted to the monster: he clearly didn't care that much if it lived or died, either. Octavia could understand that: she barely understood her own desire to keep this creature alive.

So instead, she decided to try a different tactic, saying quietly: “The creature will be much more valuable alive than dead. It would be an excellent time to display quick thinking and leadership skills, to show that you can move quickly under pressure... to display grace. And what impresses the princesses more than grace under fire?”

The officer hesitated, then he nodded after a moment, looking quickly back and forth before he said shortly: “Get that wagon there. Soldiers, start digging that beast out. But don't hesitate to drop a rock on it if it does anything stupid, understood?” He turned his eyes back to Octavia, meeting her gaze evenly. “My soldiers come first.”

“I would expect nothing less.” Octavia answered politely, bowing her head to him before she turned quickly towards the wagon that the officer had indicated. She emptied the cargo out of the back, then pushed it over to where the Royal Guard were carefully extracting the creature from the rubble.

Octavia grimaced as she drew in close to examine the fallen monster: yes, she thought that her earlier estimation was correct. Its limbs were all but useless, and its wings were badly injured. The creature wasn't going to be able to go anywhere like this.

Her eyes roved up to its features, watching the way the creature's face worked. Its eyes half-opened every now and then, but it only took a few moments of observation for Octavia to reassure the nervous soldiers, as they removed the last of the fallen debris: “This thing isn't conscious. Lucky for all of us, really. I would hate to think of the pain it would be in otherwise.”

The officer grunted before he said shortly: “Then let's hope it doesn't wake up for all our sake. Percival, I want you pulling the cart. And you stay here,Worth. Keep the civvies away from here until the area can be quarantined.”

The soldiers saluted and quickly went about their duties as the officer rounded on Octavia, looking at her evenly before he said finally: “Lead the way. I expect if you really do know Square Hammer, you'll have no problem with the authorizations necessary.”

“None at all.” Octavia said unflinchingly, even if part of her was nervous that Square Hammer wasn't going to remember her... or maybe he wasn't even going to be in his labs at all. He was genius, but eccentric and unpredictable... she was just going to hope that his intellect and curiosity would outweigh his less-appealing traits.

Octavia opened her mouth, then winced when she heard the all-too-familiar voice of her roommate calling: “Hey, there you are! I was looking all over for you!”

Octavia looked awkwardly up as Vinyl trotted towards them, before she stopped and skidded to a halt with a wince as she saw the rubble, the green blood, the few bits and pieces of creature sticking out of the debris- “Oh that's gross. What the hell are you doing here? We need to like, get going, this is totally-”

“Excuse me for a moment.” Octavia said quickly to the officer, who looked less-than-thrilled with the mare. But the earth pony pulled Vinyl aside before he could say anything, the gray mare leaning in and muttering: “Please trust me on this. I have a bit of business to attend to here, and I'd appreciate it if-”

“Whoa, hey, no. Time out, what are you...” Vinyl slowly leaned to the side, staring at the wagon, before she watched as the unicorn officer slowly levitated the wounded monster into the air and floated it towards the transport, and the white mare reared back slightly as she blurted out: “Are you stealing a dead body?”

“I am not stealing a dead body!” Octavia snapped, in a slightly-louder voice than she meant to, but she quickly swallowed her frustrations before she took a slow breath, repeating patiently: “I am not stealing a dead body. We are taking one of these creatures for medical treatment to an old friend's. Someone from my... previous life.”

Vinyl's face scrunched up in that way it always did when she wanted to argue, but Octavia glared at her resolutely until the unicorn finally groaned and mumbled: “This is a horrible idea.”

“Just trust me on this. I'll meet you back at home. I shouldn't be more than a night.” Octavia said briskly as she turned and gestured quickly to the officer, and he nodded once before falling in line, leading the soldier pulling the cart as Octavia took the lead down the street.

But Vinyl shook her head vehemently, rushing up beside Octavia and saying flatly: “There's no way I'm just letting you leave. Besides, I ain't walking all the way back to Ponyville by myself. Your friend can just put us both up for the night.”

Octavia ground her teeth together, but she couldn't think of any possible way to force Vinyl to go home while completing all the other tasks she had given herself. She swore under her breath, but then only nodded shortly even as she said warningly: “But you must be on your best behavior, Vinyl. I don't want any fooling around.”

“Since when have I ever fooled around?” Vinyl complained with a huff, flicking her head down so she could glare over the top of her sunglasses at Octavia. Octavia only looked moodily back at the unicorn, and after a moment Vinyl awkwardly glanced away, mumbling: “You really never forget things, do you?”

“It's hard to forget things that happen every other week.” Octavia answered dryly, before she sighed as she turned her eyes back ahead, but she decided it was better not to say anything further. She had some idea what this was really about, after all: not just Vinyl being stubborn, but Vinyl's endless, incessant desire to learn about her 'past life...' Well, if she really wants to know, then fine. She can see for herself why I don't talk about it.

They didn't share much in the way of conversation, but thankfully, Square Hammer's laboratory was only a few blocks away: it was a squat, ugly-looking building with heavy security doors, but otherwise unremarkable. The Luciferin had always preferred to blend in as much as possible, however, to avoid drawing too much unwanted attention to their experiments...

Octavia Melody sighed as she motioned at the guard to wait at the sidewalk, then she started towards the door, before stopping and scowling pointedly when Vinyl tried to follow her. Vinyl stared at her blankly, then winced and scrambled backwards when Octavia pointed firmly back at the wagon.

The earth pony sighed, then turned and headed up to the door, hesitating for a moment before she collected herself, then pressed the button for the buzzer beside it. She winced as a panel snapped back almost immediately above the door, revealing a crystalline eye that glared at her, a voice snapping out: “What do you want?”

A pause, and then the voice sounded utterly delighted as it asked: “Ah, Melody! Is that really you out there? Oh, could it be, are you here on business from the Princess?”

“In a manner of speaking.” Octavia evaded, before she said: “Canterlot was just attacked by-”

“Oh? Was it?” interrupted Square Hammer. He sounded casually surprised at most, but then again, it wasn't like Octavia had really expected him to know or care about an attack on the city, so long as it didn't interrupt his precious experiments. A lot of the Lucferin were like that, really... “Griffins? Dragons? Demons would have been detected on my elliptical sensors so-”

“I don't know. I've never seen these creatures before. I brought one here for examination.” Octavia said, and the doors immediately banged open as Square Hammer crowed in delight.

“Oh, why didn't you say so in the first place! Come in, come in! You remember the way down to the lab, I'm sure!” Square Hammer said cheerfully, and before Octavia could argue, the panel snapped shut over the eye.

Octavia sighed, then she gestured at the officer as she explained: “Square Hammer has invited us down to his lab. I-”

“You're going to take this thing wherever it needs to go, and I'm going to report back to duty. If it dies, it's on you. If you're successful in figuring out what it is and extracting information from it... I trust you'll keep your end of the deal.” the officer steamrollered, gazing coldly down at her.

Octavia met his eyes fearlessly: she understood what he was saying, and more importantly, what he wasn't saying. “Very well.”

There wasn't really any need to say anything more than that: the officer eyed her for a moment longer, then grunted and turned, leaving with the soldier who had already unstrapped himself from the wagon. Vinyl stuck out her tongue childishly at their backs, but Octavia only rolled her eyes as she approached the wagon, saying: “Attach those straps to me, if you would. We need to get inside before Square Hammer locks us out.”

“Who is this Square Hammer guy, anyway?” Vinyl asked, even as her horn glowed and shoddily attached the straps to Octavia's body. Well, the knots would hold long enough for them to get inside, she figured, and that was all that really mattered.

“Square Hammer is a scientist. He's a little...” Octavia did her best to think up a good euphemism as she pulled the wagon forwards, Vinyl ambling along beside her. “Onerous, but-”

“Onerous. What does that even mean?” Vinyl asked as they crossed the threshold, before the unicorn squawked as the doors slammed shut behind them.

“You are one hundred and twenty-two seconds behind schedule, Melody!” barked Square Hammer from the speakers. “Hurry hurry hurry, in forty-eight seconds I'll have a table prepared for that creature, I have work to do!”

“Onerous.” Octavia said, rolling her eyes as she led the way across the sterile entrance hall to a set of elevator doors. They dinged open as she approached, and Octavia grimaced: it was going to be a tight squeeze.

Still, she, the wagon, and Vinyl all managed to fit inside, and the elevator promptly descended once they were on board, Vinyl wincing at the sudden drop but Octavia only scowling until they reached the bottom, where the doors slid open and they were greeted by: “Fourteen seconds, Melody!”

Octavia rolled her eyes, carefully backing up and pushing the cart behind her with a bit of help from Vinyl. “Enough, Square Hammer. This will be well worth your time.”

“I do hope so.” Square Hammer said grouchily as Octavia wheeled herself carefully around so she could face Square Hammer, as Vinyl stared dumbly around at the enormous open room the elevator had descended into.

Square Hammer huffed at her: the scruffy, small unicorn had a set of half-moon spectacles over his salt and pepper muzzle and a heavy silk robe: the richness of his clothing and the fact he was a unicorn made it look like mage wear, but Octavia knew it was just a bathrobe because Square Hammer was too absentminded and lazy to change into actual protective gear.

“Well, this way!” Square Hammer complained, as if it should have been self-evident. He turned and hurried down an aisle between shelves full of equipment, and Octavia scowled as she dragged the wagon after him: not at how narrow the path was, but rather at how annoying Square Hammer was already being. “You're running late! Time is an irreplaceable resource!”

“And haste makes more waste of it. We have the time to take, so let's spend it wisely.” Octavia retorted as she followed after the stallion, Vinyl scrambling along behind the wagon and still staring around at everything open-mouthed.

Square Hammer huffed as he gestured rudely at a metal examining table, replete with restraints they likely weren't going to need. Octavia drew the wagon up as close to the table as she could before carefully turning it around, and Square Hammer clucked his tongue as he leaned forwards eagerly, examining the body sprawled in the cart. “Oh my! Well, maybe this is worth waiting for after all. It looks like an evolved species of Hymenoptera Equus, probably part of the Formicidae family... and they attacked Canterlot, you say?”

“Yes, they were capable of mimicking ponies in both behavior and image. I don't know whether by transmogrification or illusion, however: I leave that to you to deduce.” Octavia answered, and Square Hammer brightened as he started forwards, but then scowled when Octavia stepped in front of him and added pointedly: “After we attend to the creature's wounds. A live subject is more valuable than a dead one.”

Square Hammer grumbled about it, but then he nodded grudgingly, sniffing disdainfully as he muttered: “I suppose, I suppose... only until we know more about its nature, of course. I would like to take a closer look at its insides once we've learned enough from it.”

“Gross.” Vinyl Scratch blurted, and both Octavia and Square Hammer looked up at her with irritation, the unicorn staring over her sunglasses at them before she quickly pushed them up, then pointed at the creature in the cart. “The thing is like, dying. Look, like... I don't know if it's crueler to keep it alive or put it out of its misery, just look at it.”

“Yes, true.” Square Hammer said meditatively as he pushed past Octavia, trotting over to the cart. He examined the creature quickly, then sniffed disdainfully as he picked up the creature's limp body in his magic, and Octavia grimaced and Vinyl squawked in horror when the stallion almost flung the creature onto the metal table.

The creature shifted with a moan of pain, eyes fluttering, opening to stare for a moment at nothing, before it slumped and twitched weakly. Square Hammer looked almost disappointed at this, then shrugged as he stepped forwards, and Octavia joined him on the other side of the table even as she chastised: “There's no need to cause any additional trauma. We want to maintain functionality.”

“Ha, as if the subject's functionality isn't already compromised. Look at these limbs, mangled utterly. Useless for examination.” Square Hammer paused, frowning in a thoughtful way that made Octavia nervous before he declared: “I think the best course of action is to remove the remaining limb.”

Octavia blinked as Vinyl gaped in horror before she snapped: “Tavi, this dude is crazy!”

“While I would prefer to couch my sentiments in more intelligent phrases, give me one good reason to believe Vinyl isn't right.” Octavia snapped, but what made her nervous was the fact that Square Hammer had that godawful look on his face that said he'd just had some genius idea and knew precisely how to convince her.

“Simple! The creature will never have proper mobility or functionality in this condition. To better observe the natural habits of the monster, I propose we outfit the creature with approximate synthetic limbs; prosthetic legs we design to be ratioed as close as possible to the actual organic limbs of the creature. Minus the damage, of course.”

Octavia scowled at this, then hesitated as she returned her eyes to the creature before she made a face when Square Hammer cajoled: “It's much easier to create when you have a sample model, now isn't it?”

Octavia gave the stallion a sour look, then grimaced as Vinyl asked disbelievingly: “Are you really thinking about whatever this lunatic's saying? Tavi, you don't even know-”

“Melody, I find it hard to believe that you've left all your genius behind to fritter away your time with... music sticks.” Square Hammer sniffed disdainfully as he shot Vinyl a scowl. “Look at this plebeian. Does she even know how a Fibonacci spiral works?”

“Hey!” Vinyl snapped, glowering back at the unicorn. “Do you even know how the art of-”

“Nothing you do is art.” sneered Square Hammer. “Banging noisemakers together is nothing compared to the majesty of-”

“Square Hammer, that's enough. Vinyl, please just... bear with me.” Octavia slowly rubbed at her temples, before she grimaced and looked up, saying curtly: “The creature's wounds need to be tended to first. If the creature is strong enough to survive the amputation and your facilities are adequate-”

“Are you seriously... what the hell are you talking about?” Vinyl burst out, but Square Hammer only smiled in that loathsome, frustrating way he had that told her he knew precisely that she had been going to agree.

“Vinyl, please just stay out of the way for now. I appreciate your input but our course is set.”

Octavia could feel Vinyl's shock, but she ignored it for now: she knew the best thing she could do was focus on what was right in front of her and hope that her actions spoke for themselves as she looked at Square Hammer, saying curtly: “Stabilize the creature. I want analysis running at all times. Your equipment, my rules.”

“Very well, Melody.” Square Hammer sniffed disdainfully and shook himself out, but then he became professional: it made him an entirely different stallion as his horn glowed, drawing several rolling tables of equipment towards them as he informed: “Initial readings are surprisingly stable. Recommending low doses of muscle relaxant to start with.”

“Check the creature's status. If we can't use local anesthetic we'll numb the nerves before we remove the limbs.” Octavia ordered as she moved into place, and it was just like she had never left as she surveyed the creature: she knew pony anatomy backwards and forwards, and in spite of how alien the monster looked overall, much of its structure was similar enough to a pony's that she was able to tell... “Minimal damage to the body. The carapace must have protected it. Shoulder seems intact...”

“Breathing regular, pulse regular, but slow. The creature is in a state similar to forced hibernation. Likely the only reason it survived the shock of the collapse.” Square Hammer paused, then leaned up suddenly, inspecting the face of the creature. Octavia ignored him as she continued to check the monster's body, before looking up in surprise when Square Hammer noted: “Ocular damage. What do you suggest?”

Octavia moved up to inspect the damaged eye as Square Hammer drew away to grab some of the equipment and prepare the tools they'd need: the earth pony scowled at what she found, muttering: “Damage looks like it came from within, not without... feedback, or pressure, perhaps?”

She could see the eyeball was moving freely, and there was more of that green, gooey substance that served as the creature's blood around it and inside the eye itself. She hesitated, then said almost abruptly: “We'll remove it. It won't be difficult to manufacture a new one.”

“Very well.” Square Hammer was already strapping down the creature's limbs and tying tourniquets, even as other instruments floated around the creature in the unicorn's magic grasp: if there was one thing the unicorn could do, it was multitask. “Perhaps it's braindead. There's not much in the way of mental activity.”

“No, the creature isn't showing reflex or responses, it simply isn't awake.” Octavia answered with a short shake of her head. “Let's-”

“What are you doing?” Vinyl probably meant to shout it, but it came out in a reedy half-howl that made Octavia wince and Square Hammer look up in disgust.

“Vinyl, please just be patient for a few minutes. This is... this is my old life. This is what I used to do.” Octavia turned towards the unicorn, half-frustrated and half-pleading. “I tried to warn you that-”

“Focus, Melody.” growled Square Hammer moodily. “Time is precious. Your friend can go wait upstairs if she's unable to comprehend her fortune in being permitted to witness this majesty.”

“You're sick.” Vinyl spat, before she shook her head, then grimaced at Octavia, pushing her sunglasses up and mumbling: “Yeah. I'm gonna wait... somewhere else, Tavi. Just... ugh.”

“Scratch...” Octavia said softly as her friend shivered and walked away, waving a hoof almost angrily. For a moment, the gray mare felt the impulse to chase after her, but she swallowed it down: that was stupid and emotional. There was no place for either of those things right now, as she turned sharply back towards the table instead, taking a quick moment to compose herself before she ordered: “Let's not waste any more time, you're right. We're going to fully remove each leg.”

Square Hammer only smiled before he returned his eyes to the creature in front of him, and the two went to work. And oh, Octavia couldn't deny that it gave her a thrill to be doing this sort of work again. To once more have the responsibility of a life under her hooves, to know that she would be taking this wounded, damaged thing and fixing it...

Yes, she had loved her work. Maybe that had been part of the problem, part of why she had left: because she had never wanted to turn into someone like Square Hammer, who saw only the experiment and the materials and forgot they were affecting real ponies and real lives.

At least this wasn't a pony. But it was still a living creature... and hostile invader or not, it had clearly suffered enough for its intrusion into Canterlot already. She could put it back together: perhaps it would be grateful to her for the assistance and it would make it easier to interrogate, or perhaps it was just like a wild animal, and giving it mechanical limbs that she could control would help in training it.

There were many possibilities, each more tantalizing than the last, but she also knew she had to be realistic about her expectations. As she calmly began to mark where they should cut on the limbs, tracing the invisible lines she had set in her mind, she couldn't help but smile all the same, though.

It was good to be back doing what she had been trained to do.

Vinyl Scratch was on her fifth cigarette when Octavia finally emerged, and the unicorn looked up, opened her mouth, but then only gaped at the sight of the mare, clad in a green-blood-stained apron, but smiling. The smile somehow made it so much worse.

Vinyl choked a little, then floated her cigarette to the side as she coughed loudly, hammering several times on her chest. Octavia frowned at her, but then only rolled her eyes and sighed, reprimanding: “You were the one who wanted to come. I warned you, Scratch. I warned you several times that it would be in your best interests to-”

“What the hell are you doing down there? Celestia, Octavia, who the hell is that Square Hammer dude, what the hell is going on?” Vinyl snapped back, and Octavia winced a bit before she bit her lip, eyes shifting away in that rare way they did when Octavia realized she was the one in the wrong for a change.

The earth pony shifted almost grudgingly as Vinyl Scratch glared at her over the top of her sunglasses, before Octavia finally sighed and said quietly: “You know I dislike talking about my former life. And it is precisely because of looks like that. I don't think... other ponies quite understand.”

“Dude, you're literally covered in blood and-”

“What I am doing is...” Octavia halted, biting her tongue and swallowing that flare of anger, Vinyl blinking and leaning away from the surprising outburst. The only time Octavia ever snapped at her like that was when they were arguing about music, something she was passionate about... “Scratch, for once, please, just be quiet and listen. Because for once, this is something very difficult for me to explain.”

Octavia looked almost pleadingly at Vinyl Scratch, and the unicorn mare grumbled before she finally dropped on her rump with a sigh, rolling her eyes once before she muttered: “Fine. But... you know, you better make it quick.”

Octavia smiled briefly, and then she licked her lips before she sighed and lowered her head, deciding that pussyfooting around the subject wouldn't help... and would probably go right over Vinyl's head, anyway. “I used to be part of an organization known as the Luciferin. We were on the cutting edge of science and technology in Equestria... our organization developed everything from the powderless firing system to many of the technologies you find present in any modern-day-”

“This isn't really explaining anything to me.” Vinyl interrupted, and Octavia glowered at her.

“Fine. I made golems and robots. Are you happy now?” Octavia asked sourly, and Vinyl gave her a disbelieving scowl, and Octavia sighed before continuing: “But my main field of expertise was developing prostheses. I worked with the military: I went through much of the same training as any field medic, but I never really served on the field or as a soldier. I was a scientist. You've seen some of the artificial limbs I've made, Vinyl, from the civilian models to ones intended for use by ponies reentering athletics or even combat.”

Vinyl stared for a few moments at Octavia, and then she snorted before saying dryly: “You play the cello. What do you know about anything more complicated than a bassline?”

Octavia's lips curled down in visible distaste, but then she closed her eyes before forcing herself to concentrate on the matter at hoof, not on Vinyl's outbursts. She was frustrated, that was all. That was understandable. “Music has always been my special talent. Specifically, rhythm and beat, which led to my interest in applied mathematics. Mathematics opened a doorway to the sciences: engineering, and other...”

She almost said 'puzzles,' because that was what she had been taught to think of all problems as. Puzzles, riddles, things with definitive solutions that could be worked out with enough poking and prodding. Nevermind if those 'puzzles' were also living beings...

It was a cold, logical mindset. And it was terribly hard to get out and terribly easy to fall back into, as she had learned while discussing the creature's status with Square Hammer. Even her compassion for it, the desire to keep it as pain free as possible, had become a 'puzzle,' a mathematical riddle: judging by the chemical resistance and the weight of the creature, precisely how much anesthesia would be required to keep the creature sedated while posing minimal risk to its biology due to it already being in a state resembling hibernation?

A fascinating riddle.

But she didn't expect other ponies to think so generously, or feel the same way about it. And she had to keep that in mind as she did her best to explain both her skills and fascinations to Vinyl, saying tactfully: “I'm... I was very interested in helping ponies by advancing robotics and cybernetics. But these fields also required sacrifices. Sacrifices that, in the end, I have never been comfortable making. So I stepped away from it.”

“Then what the hell are we doing here?” Vinyl asked, before she winced and looked up as she realized she was still holding her cigarette in telekinesis, awkwardly tossing the cylinder of ash off into the empty plant pot beside her. “Tavi, this is crazy. How do you expect me to just believe-”

“You don't have to. And furthermore, I can show you the fruits of our labors.” Octavia answered evenly, and Vinyl looked uneasily at Octavia. “You're welcome to stay up here and wait until we're completely finished as well, certainly, but since you seem so eager to intrude on this part of my life...”

“Intrude? Ouch, Tavi. That's harsh, even for you. Can you just cut the stiff upper lip crap for once and just like, talk to me?” Vinyl asked flatly, gesturing irritably at Octavia, and Octavia shifted a bit before she grumbled in agreement. Perhaps she was being a little unduly harsh, but...

The gray mare's eyes shifted a little to the side before she said softly: “It's hard, Scratch. I didn't want anyone to know about this. I never thought I would give in to the urge to return to this life. I don't even know why I'm doing this, but I also know an opportunity like this may never come again and this is what my skills were meant for. I... just come and see what we've done so far. I assure you, the worst of it is over.”

Vinyl Scratch looked uneasily for a few moments at the stained apron Octavia was wearing, and then she sighed before standing up, looking over the top of her sunglasses and saying bluntly: “We're gonna have a long talk after this.”

Octavia only smiled wryly, then she shrugged a bit before she turned and headed back into the elevator. Vinyl Scratch followed her after a moment, biting her lip, but just as she opened her mouth to speak, the doors shut and the elevator plunged downward, and the unicorn only wheezed and flinched. That was fine, though: Octavia would prefer to save the heartwarming friendship moments for later.

The doors opened, and Octavia led the way out, Vinyl following nervously into Square Hammer's laboratory. They made their way across the expansive workroom to a door that led into a makeshift operating room: it was only an isolated workroom, but Square Hammer had quickly sterilized it and the instruments they had required, and it had served well enough for their intentions.

They entered, and Octavia quietly closed the door as Vinyl nervously approached the makeshift operating table. Square Hammer ignored her, and Vinyl's attention was too taken up by the creature on the table to stare at him for long, as she whispered: “Holy hell, Tavi.”

The creature was sleeping peacefully, electrodes across its body monitoring its life signs, a small machine beeping quietly away. It was missing all four limbs, but in their place were polished metal... sockets? “What the hell have you done to it?”

“We removed the creature's limbs. Three were damaged beyond repair, and the last leg would not have functioned well enough on its own to merit remaining. Those connectors are the first step to giving the creature new, mechanical limbs... making it better than it was before.” Octavia strode over to where Square Hammer was working at another small table, gesturing at the simple device he was assembling, and Vinyl frowned before her eyes widened as she realized what it was: a thin, prosthetic limb. “First we will give the creature these simple limbs. But if it merits it, in time, we will progress to more advanced prostheses. The designs are already clear in my mind and I am...”

Octavia halted, then she shook her head before smiling at Vinyl, and she looked both excited and haunted in that moment. “Don't you understand? It's like finding a new beat, discovering a new medley that can be made, how different songs can be fused into one. If I can give this creature the ability to walk again, perhaps in time these methods can be applied to any pony: and from this creature, who knows what we might learn?”

“Oh, yes. That reminds me.” Square Hammer said abruptly, glancing up, and Octavia scowled over her shoulder as Vinyl grimaced and looked away for a moment, then sharply turned towards the unicorn when he said casually: “Celestia wishes to remain informed. There are a few of these... Changelings, they call them, under Luciferin watch. But I believe we are the furthest along in our project so far. It's good to be ahead, Melody! It's a shame you left the Luciferin for your silly music.”

“I wanted to avoid being consumed by it. And I will not... be consumed by this.” Octavia muttered, shaking her head briefly before she nodded once. “I will eagerly await what the other Luciferin have to say, then. I hope they show mercy to these... Changelings.”

Octavia turned a meditative look back at the creature on the table as Square Hammer snorted, and Vinyl Scratch grimaced as she shifted uneasily, biting her lip. But no one said anything: Vinyl struggled to process all these new, strange things she was learning about her roommate, and Square Hammer was focused solely on his work.

And Octavia Melody stared at the Changeling she had adopted, murmuring that word again as she studied the strange, pony-like creature, how similar it was, and yet how different; how beautifully the metal already meshed with its chitinous body, and how much promise these experiments already had.

And yet part of her hesitated, as she remembered the old adage: that those who played with the devil's toys would be brought by degrees to wield his sword.

Comments

[Mira Starlight]

oh snap
new BRR story
this will be fun

[BlackRoseRaven]

8192464

I hope you enjoy it. It was a really interesting theme to write with, especially since it's more of a character development story than it is my usual punching-things kind of story.

[Mira Starlight]

8193437
Will this be a daily update thing? It's not, like, 300,000 words or something, right?

[BlackRoseRaven]

8193476

That would have gone a tad overbudget, I think. No worries, it's only six chapters, and I'll be posting a chapter a day.

[Ankaru]

Yeah I think 300000 words would have been a little bit expensive.

[Strange quark 42]

Poor changeling... Couldnt they have just used some healing spell or something Instead of cutting its legs off?