The Bogey Pony

by Nightshade shadow kitty

Chapter I

Chapter 1

The three foals shivered in the cold cell. They all huddled in the corner to try and escape the cold. The iron door swung open and Kerrice tossed some hay down for them to eat. They sniffed it cautiously but instead lay on it for warmth. One of them yawned and Kerrice noticed they had rather sharp teeth.

His eyes went wide for a moment, then he sighed. "I see… carnivores then… I’ve strayed farther from my target than I thought… I didn’t create ponies… I created demons… no matter, they might make good watch dogs…"

He closed the door and returned moments later with some fresh and bloody meat. He had kept his former assistants body on ice in case he needed it for something. Might as well use her body as food. He threw the meat in and they dove on it hungrily, tearing it apart and swallowing. When they finished they returned to huddling together for warmth.

Kerrice tapped his chin. "Perhaps a heating system of some sort… Can’t have them dying before I get a chance to research them further…"

He leaves again and brings in more blankets as a temporary measure. They wrapped themselves in the blankets and snuggled together. Their shivering slowly ceased and they all fell asleep soundly.

"Seems they are still warm blooded at least…" He then closed the door and scribbled down more notes and made a side note to set up a heating system of some kind.

The next day he returned with more meat and placed it in the walk in refrigeration unit he used to preserve his specimens. He threw some into the cell and the three foals tore it apart hungrily.

Kerrice thought for a moment. "Hmm… Demons may be a fitting description but not a suitable classification. I think “Shadow Pony” will be fitting for my research documents…"

He watched them from the other side of the glass window and scribbled more notes as he observed their routine. They were still learning to walk and the oldest was the first to shakily get to… his… hooves?

Kerrice watched them closely. "I don’t see any reproductive organs of any kind… I may need to dissect one of them… Perhaps they are genderless? If so, then that simply increases the scope of my failure… The only three in existence and their species will die out before it even begins…"

Their first day was spent learning to walk and napping. The second day they began examining each other curiously. The third they explored their cell. It seemed small to a normal pony but to these foals it might as well have been a cave. The fourth day they began to notice Kerrice on the other side of the window. He looked up from his notes to see all three of them staring at him. It made him uneasy and he simply left.

Their behavior remained the same for the next several days. He then decided to enter the cell and see how they would react. The moment he stepped in they rushed up to him and snuggled up to his hoof.

"Seems they’ve imprinted on me… how curious…" He felt like talking to himself was becoming a habit, but it didn't really bother him.

The next day he performed another test. He left the cell door open.

They were hesitant at first. The oldest one sniffed the doorway before cautiously stepping out into the lab. Seeing that there was no immediate threat the other two followed. They began exploring the lab. Kerrice had been sure to put away anything that they could damage. Not for their safety, but for the safety of the equipment. It was expensive after all.

After about a week of letting them familiarize themselves with the lab, he decided that it would be in the best interest of his research to dissect one of them. The oldest seemed the least likely to survive so he coaxed it onto a table and then strapped it down. It struggled to break free but lacked the strength to do so.

Kerrice levitated a scalpel and it gleamed in the fluorescent light. He made the first incision and the foal shrieked in pain.

It would be annoying with that irritating sound. Kerrice decided to sew its mouth shut. It tried to squirm but he eventually succeeded in keeping its mouth shut.

He made another incision and it tried to cry out but could not. After the incision was wide enough, he split its chest open. It was odd, there were very few organs.

There was very little in the way of a digestive system and the lungs didn’t seem like they were necessary. And then there was the heart… it was not made of organic tissue, it was in fact, crystal.

He removed the organs and placed them in various containers for further study. The heart was more difficult to remove. Black, ink like tendrils held it in place and whenever he cut one of them, more would grow in its place.

After a while he decided to tear it out with his magic. He succeeded and placed the heart in a separate container. He was stunned… it was still beating and the foal was still moving.

Kerrice was awestruck "Remarkable…"

He sew the foals chest shut and returned it to its cell where it shivered and vomited up blood in the corner of the cell, the other foals keeping their distance out of fear and confusion.

He didn’t expect it to survive. But to his surprise it appeared to have made a full recovery. He knew it likely wouldn’t fall for the same trick twice so he instead decided to drug it. After it had ingested the drugged meat however, nothing happened… at all…

"Their immune system and recovery rate is astonishing…" He made note of this, he was becoming fascinated with their abilities.

He then decided to simply force the foal onto the operating table. It tried to struggle but did not attempt to harm him. Eventually he got it strapped down again and sews its mouth shut again.

He opened up its chest again and all its organs had grown back, including its heart. He checked and noticed that the one he had removed earlier had vanished. He decided to remove the organs again and to see if it would recover a second time. It did… He then decided to dissect it a third time, this time returning the organs into its body but in the wrong places.

It took about three months for it to stop vomiting blood and fainting. But it once again made a full recovery. He was utterly stunned.

They would most certainly keep him occupied with new discoveries. Perhaps they were the key, not to the perfect race, but to immortality…