Retcon

by Beige

Chapter Twenty-Six - Jubilee

dl fe gd bg gc b◿ gd gb gi b◿ gd fh fi gc b◿ fa fg fa fi fn ck b◿ gg fh fe gb fe b◿ fi gc b◿ gd fh fe b◿ gb fe fa fl b◿ e◿ fl ge fm gc fh fi fn fe co

She could hear the voices down the hallway long before she could see anyone. As the countless identical doors that flanked her rolled past her peripheral vision while she walked, she did her best to keep her nerves in check.

When Lemony had left for home, Gurney had invited Retcon to a ‘social’ thing, where there would be many people at the same place doing things like talking to one another. She couldn’t envision the purported enjoyment that there was to be had, but had eventually agreed. Apparently “pizza dinner” was a common event amongst the employees of the Institute.

The voices died down rather abruptly as she turned the corner into the large open room. Several ponies (and one griffon) were all seated around the big table, which was piled with ‘Jubilee Pizza’ boxes. Thankfully she couldn’t see anyone she hadn’t met before, but she still almost tripped as all eyes turned on her.

Shower raised a glass of fruit juice. “Heyyy, Retcon’s back!” she cheered boisterously.

Retcon ducked her head, her furred ears flat against her forest-green mane, as a chorus of greetings went up from around the table. Sampling the air, she was almost overwhelmed by the positive emotions that were directed at her, though there was some small degree of trepidation mixed in from the three ponies she had met that morning. Most of it appeared to be coming from the cream-coated one, Bon Bon, who despite glancing at her co-workers seemed to be putting on a cordial face.

Retcon accepted a nearby cushion with Shower on her left, and Sparkler a few seats over to her right. Seated at uneven intervals around the huge table were Roseluck, Bon Bon, Gurney, Noteworthy and Misty Fly. “Uhh, hi, everyone,” she piped up, feeling she should speak. It was good to have her old voice back.

A wave of responses met her, with Misty Fly raising a wing in greeting.

“Glad to see you got your magic back,” said Sparkler, smiling.

Retcon glanced down at herself; the form of an olive-coated pegasus. It had taken a few tries to get the golden eyes right, and her mane and tail were slightly too neat the first few times. She had settled on making them slightly longer and spikier than before, and she was once more wearing her own face again; she couldn’t be happier. “Thanks,” she replied, grinning.

“This is the one I was telling you about,” Sparkler announced to the three earth ponies excitedly. “If it wasn’t for her, we’d still in Canterlot scratching our heads about how to move a lavastone!”

Retcon blushed as the spotlight returned to her.

“You said you’d been to Canterlot but you kinda downplayed that part,” said Noteworthy, amused.

“What do you mean, she got her magic back?” Roseluck asked though a slice of pizza, looking confused.

“Retcon here didn’t know how to transform,” Sparkler explained. “She’s been stuck here without a disguise since then.”

“Woah,” said Roseluck, wide-eyed.

“Okay, can we talk about something else?” Retcon interrupted, ears burning.

“Aww, what, you shy?” said Misty Fly in a teasing tone.

“Noo!” Well… yeah. A bit. “I can taste your feelings, remember, and there’s a lot of it right now,” she muttered.

The lull wasn’t anywhere near as bad as Retcon had feared, as Roseluck gasped almost immediately. “Oh my gosh! Are you getting food from us?”

Retcon shrunk. “Um, sometimes?”

“Ooh, what about now? Try me!”

“Uhh…” Not much. “I don’t really wanna say…” she said, avoiding eye contact.

“Why not?” Gurney asked, surfacing from a box of pizza.

Retcon shrugged. “…I dunno, it’s… kinda hard to explain. I just don’t like talking about it I guess.”

“What does it feel like?” Bon Bon asked carefully. “For the pony, I mean.” Her expression showed a degree of interest, but her emotions were more tumultuous.

“Well, you shouldn’t feel anything. You just kinda feel tired after a while.” Shower was reaching for a box on the table, so she shot a glance to Misty Fly instead. “That about right?”

“Huh?” Misty Fly blinked owlishly.

“Oh.” Retcon winced. “Uhh… never mind…”

Shower burst out laughing. “Welcome to the club!” she shot at the other pegasus.

Roseluck snickered. “Hey, remember how hard it was to get energy in her back when we first got her?”

Amongst the amused agreement around the table, Bon Bon silently returned to her food.

“Did anypony else manage it or was it just Lemony?” asked Noteworthy.

“Just Lemony,” Gurney affirmed.

Shower nudged Retcon. “Hey, you don’t want pineapple or anything do you?” she asked quietly.

“…No?”

“Good.” The pegasus pushed a box in front of her. “Try that, it’s good.”

Retcon smiled and nodded in thanks. Opening the box revealed a whole pizza of her own, though this one had none of the burnt-looking mushrooms.

“Where is Lemony?” Sparkler asked. “I thought she was here earlier?”

“Gone home,” said Gurney. “You know she’s not one for socialising.”

Retcon nodded absently. Probably tired. She was really happy earlier. That was probably me. I need to be more careful.

Misty Fly snorted. “Yeah, she’s always been a bit of a shy one.”

“Heh, maybe that’s why she got along with Retcon,” suggested Gurney. “They’re like kindred spirits.”

In response to the laughter around the table, Retcon crossed her forelegs on the table and lowered her chin on top, though she couldn’t help but smiling lightly.

“Hey, so you can transform now, right?” Misty Fly was leaning forward with interest. “Could you show us? Well, I mean, if you’d like?”

“Yeah,” she replied cautiously. It took me so long to- …Eh, whatever. I figured it out, I can do it again, now I know what I’m doing. It’s practise. She lifted her head up. “I could give it a go?”

Roseluck waved. “Ooh! Ooh!”

Retcon paused to focus, taking in the earth pony’s colours and shape. Pale coat, eyes green, mane and tail raspberry and pink… but shape is a little bit like mine. As with Lemony, it appeared that copying a form she could see was a lot easier to achieve, as after only a few seconds she yanked her magic through herself, and a familiar flash of vivid green flame washed over her, shifting her form. It wasn’t as drastic as between changeling and pegasus, but immediately her back felt significantly lighter.

The emotions in the room became somewhat more vibrant. Roseluck stared at her, her mouth agape. Bon Bon was looking as well. Gurney appeared to be stifling a laugh.

Noteworthy broke the silence. “Gotta say, that’s impressive.”

Roseluck nodded mutely, then, frowning, moved her hoof up to her mane. “That’s really weird, seeing my mane backwards.” Retcon glanced up at her bangs and brushed them to one side as well, causing Roseluck to laugh. “Don’t do that! It’s like looking at a mirror!”

Retcon lowered her hoof. “Oh, sorry,” she said in Roseluck’s voice.

Shower started laughing loudly, causing most of the table to join in. Roseluck’s face had turned a shade redder even as she giggled. Retcon couldn’t help but chuckle along as Shower gave her a light shove with a wing.

Their mirth gradually petered out as the sound of hoofsteps drew closer. Turning, she saw Sky approaching down the other hallway. Her resting scowl was in place seemingly as usual, though her emotions were still relatively muted. Her eyes passed over Retcon briefly, but didn’t linger. Stepping up to the table, a pizza box near the centre of the pile began to glow in her meadow-green aura, and levitated over to her. Without a word, she turned to leave again.

“Hey! Where do you think you’re going?” demanded Shower, stifling a grin.

Sky stopped, and faced the pegasus. “My office.”

“No you’re not, you’re eating with us.” She gestured to the empty seats around the table.

“Yeah, sit with us for once!” said Misty Fly enthusiastically. “We’ve got Retcon here. Come on, just for today.”

Sky’s scowl deepened slightly as more beckons came from the table. With a stifled huff, she set her box back down and took a cushion between Sparkler and Misty Fly. A wave of cheers rose up as she sat. Sparkler thumped her on the withers in welcome. Sky held the sides of her pizza box between her forelimbs, staring down at the lid with a bewildered look.

The others had resumed talking, but Retcon tuned them out. Concentrating, she formed the mental image of her pegasus form, and in a flash of green shifted once more. She suppressed a self-satisfied grin as the very familiar weight settled once more against her back. There was a brief pause as she attracted a few glances, but she was otherwise ignored.

Turning to one side, she poked Shower to get her attention, the other pegasus leaning in closer. “Do I look okay?” she asked in a whisper.

Shower looked confused for a moment, before giving her a once-over. “Yeah, you’re good,” she responded in an undertone.

“Alright, thanks.”

“Wait… I think you’ve still got Rose’s eyes.”

The eyes again. “Thanks. I’ll fix them later.”

Shower inclined her head, smiling faintly.

Retcon returned her attention to the table. Beside her, Sparkler was talking animatedly, telling some story or other with excited gusto. Roseluck would jump in with additional comments, helping build to the punchline. Noteworthy and Misty Fly listened rapt, laughing at every development in the tale. Gurney propped his chin up on a claw, watching the listeners’ reactions with content patience. The ghost of a smile graced Bon Bon’s face at the loud display. And even though her shoulders were hunched as she focused on her food, Sky’s ears were upright and alert.

Retcon shifted her wings, feeling like a warm blanket against her back. This is what it feels to belong.

Comments

[Balloon Adrift]

EXTREMELY heartwarming and cute.

Who would've thought this body-horror mystery would turn out so wholesome

[Beige]

10728040
This might be my favourite chapter

[Generico]

dl fe gd bg gc b◿ gd gb gi b◿ gd fh fi gc b◿ fa fg fa fi fn ck b◿ gg fh fe gb fe b◿ fi gc b◿ gd fh fe b◿ gb fe fa fl b◿ e◿ fl ge fm gc fh fi fn fe co

The letters translate into numbers, (a = 1, b = 2, o = 15) and those numbers translate into hexadecimal, (◿ = 0) and the hexdecimal translates into Unicode.

Let's try this again; where is the real Plumshine?

[Beige]

10725890
Not quite there yet