"Twilight, can't you just calm down for a moment? You've been pacing like this since yesterday!"
"I can't calm down, Spike! Someone broke in the throne room, which we still have no leads; we didn't get the chance to warn the last two versions of ourselves about my crazy counterpart roaming in the multiverse; and said last one wasn't even an alicorn yet we were given their address by the Archivist to go there; and to top it all off, they attacked us without hearing us out!"
Day court was over and the two were going back and forth within Twilight's chambers. The events from yesterday clearly vexed the alicorn as she was no step closer into knowing what her potentially evil counterpart might be doing, let alone have a means to travel without a third party help.
A knock on the door interrupted the ranting, "Um, Twilight... may I come in? Unless you don't want to be disturbed."
Twilight's expression shifted immediately sheepish, "Oh Fluttershy, please don't mind that earlier. Come in."
The yellow mare slowly entered looking somewhat nervous, "Sorry to disturb you Twilight, but I heard from Rainbow Dash that you were troubled from yesterday. So I thought maybe I'd come and see you."
Twilight gave her friend a smile, "Thank you Fluttershy.. I really appreciate it. I'm feeling better now, if not a little frustrated." Then an idea came to the alicorn, "Fluttershy, how would you like to join us for today's excursion?"
"Are sure you don't want to join us Spike?"
"Yes Twilight, I'll be fine. Besides, I have plans with Rarity later today anyway. You two just take care, okay?"
"We will Spike," the Princess of Friendship assured her faithful assistant before turning to the pegasus, "Are you ready, Fluttershy?"
"Oh yeah, sure. I'm ready," Fluttershy wiped all uncertainty from her face and gave Twilight a reassuring smile.
Twilight set the dials on the seal. Let's see, next on the list is World Equis 183. She input the numbers and activated the seal. The familiar flash of light enveloped the two as they vanished from the room they once were in. As their eyes adjusted from the sudden flash they began to notice the environment around them. It looked as though it were some sort of workshop or laboratory. Medical instruments were scattered across the tables in the room, diagrams of pony anatomy were pinned on charts to the walls. What was most ominous however was a single bed stretcher on a lift leading up to the roof with a figure underneath the sheets.
"Twilight, where are we?" Fluttershy's eyes dilated as her voice quivered with fear, "I thought there would be meadows and a tree. Why are we in a room that looks like a horror house for Nightmare Night?"
"Fluttershy, calm down," Twilight tried to assure her whilst also telling herself that, "I think it has to do with the new settings that was mentioned in my letter form my mysterious benefactor. Maybe our guest is..."
"IMBACILES! All of them! They just don't see..."
A loud slam as the doors flung open reveal a purple unicorn stallion entering the room. He was clothed with a black tailcoat over a puffed shirt and white tie. His indignation was diffused at the sight of the two mares before him. As he observed them, his expression went from furious, to suspicious, to wide eyed surprise.
"An Alicorn? No, not just an alicorn. An alicorn that resemble one such as I, and another I've seen before. And you," he turned to Fluttershy, almost like that of a predator causing her to squeal softly in fright, "you resemble that nursemaid that tends to my little brother. Fascinating."
"Could you please back off for a minute? You're scaring her," Twilight held out a forehoof, gesturing him to keep his distance, "and to some extent, me as well."
Snapping out of his curiosity, he composed himself and readied his introduction, "Oh, of course. Where are my manners? I am Victor Starstein. I would say, "Welcome to my lab," but we both know it isn't truly so, is it?"
"Quite right, actually," Twilight replied with her encyclopedic explanation, "This room is actually a pocket universe provided to me for my means of seeing other versions of myself across alternate realities."
"And let me guess, you are me from another reality?" he continued where Twilight left off, "I would have been more surprised, if you were the first I've met."
"You've met another Twilight before?" Fluttershy meekly asked.
"Is that your name?" Victor asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Why yes, I am Princess Twilight Sparkle; Princess of Friendship, Celestia and Luna's Successor as ruler of Equestria," Twilight gave her usual greetings.
There was a brief pause before Victor let out a maniacal laugh, "So, the powers that be saw fit to send forth a Goddess to bear witness to my achievement? I feel honoured."
Twilight shuddered at the implication, "I am no Goddess, Mr Starstein. And what exactly are you hoping to achieve?"
Starstein approached the stretcher by the lift with a grin, "Why m'lady, a leap to Ponykind's evolution, of course."
Without another word, he lifted the sheet exposing the figure within: A lifeless corpse of a pony, sown and stitched together with different parts of other creatures.
The mares gasped at the sight of the cadaver; Fluttershy especially was weeping at the sight of a familiar face, "D-D-Discord?"
Twilight was furious as she flared out her wings and ignited her horn, "What is the meaning of this? Explain yourself, Starstein!"
A rumble of thunder was heard from the distance.
"It's simple, your majesty; this creature is a product of my hoofwork," the stallion ignored Twilight's intimidation as he continued, "Taken and stitched together from the finest limbs and organs of the deceased. To be reanimated by the spark of life from the sky."
The mares couldn't believe their ears. "Necromancy!" Twilight shrieked, "You would dare to cast Necromancy?"
"Nay, your majesty," Starstein rebutted in protest as he pulled the sheets back over his subject, "Necromancy is a fool's practice to use magic to bring life to the dead. I am a Physician, I plan to cure the disease called Death by the powers of nature itself! With what I will achieve, no longer shall Ponykind fear death! The alicorn assured me so by providing me the means to ignite the spark of life."
"This is wrong!" Fluttershy cried out in tears, "This is a wrong to everything natural! Life and Death must not be tampered with! THIS IS MADNESS!!"
"Madness?" Fluttershy stood behind Starstein and saw his ears twitched, "Madness?" Her ears fell flat when she heard the venom from his voice as he whispered that word.
Without another word, he flipped over a tray of medical instruments behind him as he turned to glare at the yellow pegasus with fury in his eyes.
🎶"Madness! Folly! INSANITY!"
He approached closer to her, as he jabbed a hoof to her forehead.
"Little minds have belittle my dream!"
He turned away from her and stared at Twilight only to return to his subject.
"But I- Could I- Might it be?
THE GREATEST TRIUMPH PONIES' EVER SEEN!!"
He opened a wardrobe and donned a lab coat and tinted goggles as he continued his song.
"Within the flesh of a force resides.
If it could only be controlled!
If sleeping sparks could somehow be revived?
Think of the awe-inspiring power we would hold!
I want the world to see,
where brave research and experiments have led.
Electricity's the Key!"
He approached a desk and lifted a picture of a mare with his magic. The two mares noticed the image resembled Twilight Velvet, Twilight's mother. Sympathy tugged their hearts as he continued his lamentation.
"To reanimate the dead
I could spare the world, the anguish
of love ones taken in their prime."
He placed the the frame down as he smiled manically at the mares as they winced from his change of tone.
"The Glory of a brave new world
WILL SOMEDAY SOON BE MINE!!
Immortal soul
Our inner being
Does it endure or does it perish with the flesh?
In my hooves, I'll hold the answer!!
And the power OF LIFE AND DEATH!!"
A bolt of lightning struck as it thunders close by, startling Twilight and Fluttershy.
"Mecca of Science, Give me the means!!
To walk where none have trod!!
I'll discover the secret between,
The Alchemists and God!!"
Twilight grabbed Starstein by the shoulders and looked at him in the eye pleadingly, "Please, you must not go through with this! What you seek to create, the consequences! You will unleash an unnatural horror that even you will not be able to stop! Please, I beg of you, stop while you still can! If you go through with this, you will live with a regret you cannot escape from with the rest of your life!"
"There is no stopping this, your majesty!" he shrugged himself off from her grip, "Once I succeed in breathing life into this new creation, I shall one day be able to restore life to those claimed by Death!" He looks into a clock on the wall, "12:40 AM. The storm is nearing its zenith. THE MOMENT HAS COME!"
Starstein ignited his horn and as activated the electrical coils and devices within the lab.
"Celestia dared to steal the sun from the gods
to lift all kind from sorrow!
And just as that myth, my mission is this:
To write a new tomorrow!
My endless days of study and toil are finally near fruition!
The world will be forever changed by history's physician!"
With a flash from his horn, he elevated the lift to the roof as he swung at one of the chains with his declaration. Twilight and Fluttershy flew up to follow him to onto the roof.
"Life Everlasting Reanimation!
A flawless new design!
The finest Creature in all creation!"
As he reached the roof, he grabbed cables connected to the lightning conductors and plugged them to his subject.
"BODY, BONE AND MIND!!"
A crack of lightning stretched across the sky to be followed by a roaring thunder, causing the two mares to wince and fold their ears. All the while, Starstein stood there; almost triumphant in his work.
"The storm will peak and the heavens part
To fire my preparation.
The needed shock...!"
A bolt of lightning struck a coil, causing the subject's body to twitch for a moment.
"...To start his heart!
Giving birth to my creation!"
Just then, a blast of lightning engulfed the roof, blinding everyone and throwing them off the roof. Fluttershy screamed as she fell whilst Twilight grabbed her and teleported back inside the lab. Starstein somehow did the same except he fell on to the floor slightly shaken from the blast. His eyes widen after a moment of composing himself and ignited his horn to bring his creation down from the roof. When the stretcher reached the floor, he took his stethoscope to listen for a heartbeat. And then he heard it; a faint beat, and then he saw a paw slowly rise from a side from the stretcher. Seeing this, Starstein's expression went from maniacal to euphoric.
"Darkness is done!
A new day has come!
The dawn of a new revelation!
Here in this place! Here in this time!
The birth of pony's salvaaaaaation!!!!"
And with his declaration he cackled a manic laughter as he scream two words:
"IT'S ALIVE!"
The two could only watch in horror at what they have just witnessed. Tear rolled down Fluttershy's cheeks as Twilight shielded her gaze from the sight with a wing. "I'm sorry, Fluttershy. There is nothing we can do anymore. He will not listen to reason."
Without another word, Twilight took out the seal and clicked to return them home.
Well that was lovely
as for another halloween how about friday the 13th or Michael Myers
as for a alternate twilights how about song of the spheres and a chapter based on my little dashie but with a human with a filly or foal twily
Wonderful job on this chapter. Definitely appreciated the work that went into the exchanges, characterizations and future chapter set-up in all the right places. Yeah, was certainly intrigued by Starstein's comment how he met another alternate Twilight before. And Fluttershy's appropriately unnerved reaction to the corpse Starstein was trying to reanimate being Discord's counterpart. Could also understand why Starstein would try to "correct" them on the "difference" between trying to reanimate the dead through science and necromancy. And, given this is a MLP series, I suppose it makes sense for there to be at least one musical number worked in, even if Twilight and Fluttershy were aware that there was no way they were going to get through to Starstein.
For other possible Halloween inspired stories:
maybe something modelled after a Lighter and Softer alternate Friday the 13th with a genuinely nice and comparatively well-adjusted Jason (i.e. one of those alternate "Camp Counselor Jason" comics).
Or one where Twilight and Spike are in the roles of Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson respectively.
Or a universe where the native counterparts to the Rainbooms are Harry Potter styled witches (those whose main Equestrian counterparts are unicorns [Twilight, Rarity and Sunset] all being purebloods, pegasi [Rainbow and Fluttershy] as half-bloods and earth ponies [Applejack and Pinkie Pie] being muggle born).
For more alternate Twilights in general, perhaps one where the earlier rumors about Generation Five came true (i.e. Twilight is an Earth pony, Applejack is more urban south, Pinkie is a Pegasus along with Rainbow and Fluttershy is a unicorn along with Rarity, but all are capable of learning magic from the other tribes, even though it IS extremely difficult) instead of being debunked.
11022913
Nice to hear!
Wait, did the experiment actually work? I thought that was a recreation of the lab, not the real one.
11028713
It is a recreation of the lab. And yes it still worked. Basically what is happening here, the pocket universe takes a small piece of the world and inserts it as a theme.
That should be:
You misspelled "zenith".
Since this follows the musical, it is okay, but if you wish to follow the novel, Frankenstein, a brilliant medical student wanting to reverse recent death —— ¡not a psychopath! The creation of the creature was an intermediate step in learning how to reanimate. The creature was not created evil, but became so by neglect:
When Frankenstein saw the grotesque creature, he rejected it. The poor creature knew only neglect and hatred. It decided that since it could not have love it would take revenge of Frankenstein by taking away his loved ones.
Frankenstein was a good moral same man, but made the mistake of rejecting his child because it is ugly. The creature turned evil because of neglect.
Interestingly enough, the comedy Young Frankenstein shows what Frankenstein should have done:
A Descendent of Frankenstein, a full Physician and Surgeon, Doctor Frankenstein, also wants to cure death like his ancestor. He determines that he must recreate the work before building on it. He does not reject his creation and his creation turns out fine. His work eventually lead to the reanimation of the recently deceased, increasing average life-expectancy past 100 years.
Young Frankenstein has the same look and feel as the original movie from the 1930s, because, despite being filmed in the 1970s, it was filmed in greyscale and uses the original props from the original movie.
11141842
Oops, thanks for picking that up. Correcting now.
Edit: On another matter, I know what you mean. I read the novel myself but I thought for this context I'd take a slice from the animatic and try to create something grim for Twilight to see (and react to).
11141903
Come to think about it, the name is not from another FiMFic; so now, you might want to call this Twilight "SternStein". That is StarStone in German and is a plausible family-name for a German-Speaking Swiẞ Family.
I was about to write this in the next chapter, but you use periods to form ellipsese. Unicode has a preformed ellipsis "…" which looks better. If you want to muck around with punctuation, ¿would you like to try inverted punctuation? ⸘What is inverted punctuation‽ ¡It is the bestest punctuation evar!
11141915
11141930
You have me now.
The thing to remember is that Frankenstein is a Germanic name and Frankenstein is set in Switzerland (Switzerland is a multilingual state with the 4 official languages being German, Italian, French, and Romansh). if one wants to be wordy, one could use "DämmerungFunkelnStein". That is literally TwilightSparkleStone.
Fluttershy is a stupid hypocritical monster! everything natural is terrible! her friend intervened in life and death, but of course she doesn't care about that!
it's much more terrible to leave friends dead. only real friends are engaged in reviving, unlike this wanted stupid poser.
and twilight is even worse. how I hate these motherfuckers and those who think it's the right thing to do. you're terrible
11308790
jesus Christ....