Chapter 1: Flesh and Metal
The throbbing headache was the first thing she felt. A headache that could rival most blunt force hits to the head, and that could possibly make a hardened veteran of the Royal Guard shed a single tear. Thankfully, the young Alicorn was stronger than that. Just as soon as it came, it went. Twilight couldn’t remember what happened prior to feeling herself wake up, on a cold, hard surface. Her eye tried to blink open. Well, the right one. It was the one she could feel after all.
Her other eye however, for some reason refused to open, no matter how hard she tried. Most of her body felt numb, as if it had been disconnected from her, but slowly and surely her senses started to come back to her. But everything felt wrong somehow. Nothing truly felt like it fit, and Twilight’s eye struggled to open, as if she had been in a coma and was just now snapping out of it. With determination, and plenty of stubbornness, she managed to force it open, but not by much. Her vision was blurry, pretty much doubled as it attempted to adjust, to nearly no avail, and she struggled more and more to keep her eye at least a little, a slight bit open so she could see where she was. The colors were faded, yellowish and brown.
The rest of her senses were finally returning. The smell of copper filled her nostrils, so strong it prompted her to gag a little at the horrible scent of rusted steel, as if she had been left inside of an old rusty silo, throat feeling dry as if she hadn't drank for days.
Her ears, finally perking from her head, could only hear a low ringing, but soon rhythmic drums of metal started to invade them. Wherever she was, she could tell one thing: This was not normal. Surely it wasn't music. Though rhythmic and methodical, the loop was too short to be anything she had ever heard.
Twilight’s eye closed again and she attempted to flap her wings, but… she felt nothing. She couldn’t feel her wings at all. Instead, she felt as if some sort of mechanism was sliding into slots of her body she didn’t even know she had. It didn’t hurt, but it made her feel a slight, confused discomfort. She groaned as she kept trying to build up more and more of her strength, and soon, managed to lift herself a little from her resting spot, only to realize her back legs were completely numb. She couldn’t feel them at all.
At last, her eye opened completely, finally, and her vision adjusted enough for her to realize she was not anywhere she had seen before. The room was almost covered completely by rusted metal. The walls were lined up with wires, pipes, steel panels and plates, and the few parts of the place that weren’t metal, was the grey concrete floor, just below the rusted iron table she lay on.
Twilight, unnerved and confused, looked around, before realizing something… in her vision, she could see… something starting to flicker. She closed one eye, since it was the only one she could feel. Upon doing so, the horror settled in. Her vision was now completely black. Say for the few strange cryptic messages and numbers appearing within the darkness.
[VITAL STATUS: OPTIMAL.]
[PROTOCOL NOT YET DEFINED.]
[ERROR COMMUNICATING WITH SYSTEM NETWORK.]
Her eye quickly opened and she started to pant as if she had ran a marathon. Panic was settling in, a feeling not too unfamiliar to Twilight, but this time, it was more intense than ever before. The last time she had felt anything close to this sort of dread, was the day the Storm King attacked. Sweat started to form and slide down her brow, traveling down to the side of her head, before dropping from the chin. Her ears then perked and twitched a little, for she had heard something. It sounded like something being… welded in place. Twilight had frozen completely, considering where the sparks of a welder were coming from. She couldn't imagine anypony would just work on putting something together right next to an unconscious mare. It just sounded illogical. Thoughts started to flow, her body tensed up fearing that Upon looking back, at her still numb back legs… Twilight could not help but to let out a horrified screech.
It must have been hours of screaming. Hours of begging for somepony, anypony to respond. But Twilight had heard no response back. She was alone. At least while her legs were disabled, she was alone.
It took too long for the strange mechanical arms above her to finish their handiwork. Twilight was still in denial, even after they were done. But at least now, she could feel her legs. The Alicorn waited, as if anticipating somepony to walk in and explain to her just what in Equestria was happening. But nopony came.
Twilight, disoriented and terrified, with tears flowing through her one eye open slowly crawled off of the metal table. However, much to her shock and dismay her back legs gave in and she found herself falling to her side on the floor. Attempting to stand only resulted in the same result. it was as if she was a newborn foal again. She couldn't bring herself to stay calm as she tried and tried to stand, only to fall over and over again, soon screaming in anguish and frustration at her disturbing situation, eye closed shut and jaw gaping as her voice escaped in another cry, one followed by desperate and loud sobs. Upon finally daring to open her eye again, which was blurry with tears, she found herself face-to-face with her reflection on one of the few clean metal plates she could spot in that prison of rust.
Twilight’s body had been modified, modified with rusty metal and aged steel.
Her horn had been completely replaced by a strange, mechanical apparatus, something that she’d read about in a Science Fiction book. The structure was like a folded up mechanical arm, with three segments, all folded, almost concealing its form, the end of the bizarre mechanism, almost looking like a metallic box of sorts, with a strange disc just above it, with two small retracted mechanical arms ending in sharp tips, with wires connected to it, both arms at the box’s side. At the end of the box however, a peculiar device, which could easily be confused for some sort of telescope or flashlight, or even some sort of cannon just sticking out of it like a mole peeking from its hiding spot, with three pointed blade ends, two at the sides, and one at the top of the machinery, also stuck to odd folded up three segmented arms.
Replacing her wings, were metal panels, looking as if they had sunk a little into her flesh, as if part of her backs were scooped off to give them space, and each with three long cylinders. Those were clearly canisters, filled with some sort of magical energy, electrifying an unknown purple liquid which completely contained within. The panels connected to a metal piece on her backs. One that seemed almost like half a small barrel stuck to them. It was metallic in nature, and it had four tubes, two of them going into one panel each. The flesh and skin in the middle of her backs seemed to have been opened up, and separated, now giving space for various mechanical segments emulating a spine, which soon disappeared just behind her mane. She shuddered as she slightly turned her head, and how at the end of the barrel-like structure on her backs, a large tube was directly connected to the backs of her skull, barely covered by her mane.
Twilight’s back legs, just below the flank, were a sick mockery of what a pony’s leg is supposed to look like. They were almost skeletal, a structure composed of three segments roughly in the shape of a pony's leg, with pistons holding it together as if she was some sort of twisted construction equipment, lacking any panels or such to hide the many wires and cables connecting from joint to joint, and soon into her flank.
At last, her eye. A grim, bizarre structure, completely covering it. But twilight could tell it wasn’t just a covering. That structure, which had only three purple lights on it in a triangular formation, completely replaced it. It was embedded into her skull, and connected with the strange gadget replacing her horn.
Somehow, somepony had turned Twilight into a disturbing mix of flesh and machine. She shook her head as she took the sight in, dragging herself across the floor with her front legs, backing away from her reflection as if she was facing a monster from the deepest depths of Tartarus, before the back of her head came in contact with the cold surface of the opposite wall, causing her to throw herself forwards onto her stomach and look back only to be confronted with her mutilated reflection once again.
She couldn’t escape it. She couldn’t deny it. Tears were staining the floor and her coat, her head shaking left to right more and more, before her eye suddenly shut again. She didn't want to see the figure in the metal surface. She didn't want to see herself. The sight was too disturbing for her. Too unreal. Too wrong. That did not make sense. it could not be real.
“Somepony help me!” Twilight suddenly shouted, and she shouted as loud as she could, tears falling freely from her one remaining eye, which now refused to open once again, but this time under her control.
She tried to reason with herself that the situation was impossible. Maybe it was just a prank, a very, very complex prank by Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash, or even just a horrible nightmare and Luna would soon show up to help her, or even Spike would shake her awake! Whatever reasoning she came up with, none could explain the harsh reality that what was happening to her at that moment, which was as real as the magic in her heart. No matter how much she denied. No matter how much she begged to Celestia that what was happening was just a bad dream. This was real.
“Please, is anypony there?!” Twilight yelled out once again, in the vain hopes that somepony would hear her pleas.
As expected… nopony came. Nopony answered. Twilight was alone. Her only company were the now inactive mechanical arms on the ceiling, and the metal clanking and banging outside, drums of machines at work as Twilight just sat there. Trying her hardest to remember how she even got into that situation. And when she couldn't, she just resumed weeping. Weeping as if all of her hopes had been crushed by the clutches of a monstrous, wicked reality she couldn't bear. Burying, her face into her crossed front legs as she lay on that cold concrete floor, which surely has never been bathed in sunlight.
“I need to calm down...” Twilight whispered to herself, trying to regain her composure, but to nearly no avail. "I need to calm down!"
She essentially smacked herself on the head, one eye closed shut, before it suddenly opened as a loud “CLANK” was heard and her ears rang for a second once her right front hoof made impact with the metal half of her skull.
A bit of a harsh way to treat herself, but in the end, she was right. Sitting on her flank and crying her eyes… eye… out wasn’t going to help her situation. She was better than that. The Princess of Friendship’s sorrowful look, started to slowly gain a bit of determination. But the horror still remained. Regardless, she knew she couldn't let that stop her.
“I just need to find a way out of here, and find the others!” Twilight said in a shaky voice as she once again stood, stomping her front right hoof onto the concrete floor to try and look brave for herself, however her ears were still drooped and pupil was still tiny in fear and horror. “Surely the Princesses will know what to do!”
But as she tried taking a first step, suddenly her back right leg lost it's footing and she found herself pummeting face-first into the floor again. The metallic construct embeded into her cranium made her ears ring once again with the loud clanking sound echoing inside of her head.
She looked back them, even though she really did not want to. The sight was too disturbing. Too confusing. She could feel like she had back hooves. But at the same time, it was if she had a phantom limb. Yes, she felt those touching the concrete floor. Yes, she felt like she could move them. But they did not feel like they belonged to her at all. It was as if her hooves were somewhere else, just happened to feel almost the same thing as her new ones. Carefully, she tried moving the right one. To her surprise, what would be simply tilting her leg backwards for her former limb, was instead considered kicking back at full speed for this metal replacement.
That is when she started to understand. She had to get used to them. She wouldn't go any further if she kept denying they were there. She had to adapt to her new body. As horrible as that sounded, she did not have a choice if she wanted to leave and search for help. And so... she began. Swinging her back hooves at different speeds to find just the right amount of force she had to apply for them to move normally. She had to essentially teach herself how to walk again. Many times she stood, many times she fell. With each attempt, she managed to walk a little further, until finally she could walk again. After a bit of troting around the room for practice, it almost felt like her limbs weren't replaced at all.
And so, the young Former Alicorn began her search for an exit. Weirdly enough, the room seemed to be pretty much just a box of metal. But of course, Twilight knew better. She knew that the door that led out of this accursed room had to be one of those many panels. But whichever one it is… it blended well with the others. Too well if anything. Though rusty, each was perfectly lined up, and to put simply, there were no indications of which panel was a door. No doorknob, no lever, not even a button. Absolutely no clues.
“Ugh!” Twilight stomped in frustration. “Just where is this Equestria-forsaken exit?!”
Just as she said that, her vision suddenly… seemed to shift. She could hear a whirl coming from the metal apparatus connected to her cranium as it did. Everything now had this blue hue to it. It was like everything was colored black, yet outlined blue. Her eye widened as she realized, how the insides of anything mechanical in the room were just… revealed to her.
Twilight took her focus to the mass of mechanical arms on the ceiling. She could see everything. The Pistons, joints, screws, motors, absolutely, circuits, everything. Many small text boxes would appear next to components, giving her information on them. The Princess of Friendship soon took her focus away from it… and to the wall. Her eye followed the tubes and wires hidden within, only to finally find it. A mechanism, gears and cogs lined up evenly, almost surrounding one particular panel.
She could also see the wires connected to the machinery, they all led to a button… a button that was outside.
That was it. She found her exit. And she has also finally realized that whoever put her in that steel box, never intended her to leave at her own accord. With a blink, her vision was normal once again. As strange and confusing as it was… it had revealed her the exit. Her eye squinted and she took a deep breath…
She then tried using her absent horn. The apparatus’ tip had started to glow, before it’s tiny arms suddenly sprung out, swaying like the tentacles of a sea creature as they all focused on the door. She was trying to levitate it open. So she was surprised upon watching purple streams of energy just shoot out of them and connect to the door. It didn’t feel too different from a levitation spell… so with another, deep, calm and collected breath, Twilight started to lift the door.
She groaned a little as she attempted to. The door was strong, clearly not meant to be opened from the inside, but that wasn’t going to stop her. The door was starting to be lifted, but every once in a while it would attempt to shut itself downwards again, gears and cogs letting out sparks and the horrible screech of metal scratching against metal in protest of the mare attempting to force it open.
Twilight grunted more and more, her strength starting to wither. She suddenly stamped her hooves forward again to further focus her magic, or whatever the equivalent of what she was doing was. Twilight then felt a suddenly jolt. Normally, when she was making that much effort, her wings would flare up. But without her wings, what happened instead was that the cylindrical tanks on her backs suddenly and without a warning, sunk into their spots.
The three dots on her steel head implant suddenly glowed brighter as the streams of energy became more intense and wild, almost throwing her backwards, but thankfully she managed to get her footing back fast. The sudden violence of her new magic apparatus still surprised the young Princess though.
The door was finally, forced upwards all the way and some, breaking the mechanisms that allowed it to open and close, and forcing it way more into the wall on top of it than it should ever go.
Twilight blinked once. Standing there in shock as if she didn’t believe what she just did. The cylinders soon returned to the surface, off of her backs, a bit of their mysterious liquid now drained. The mechanical arms at the tip of her “horn” folded up once again as their sharp tips smoked red. The pony was frozen. Never before she had seen a simple levitation spell be so brutal.
She didn’t have time to think about it. Twilight quickly shook her head to snap back to reality and started to run, but upon leaving her cell, she came to a quick stop so she wouldn’t run face-first into another cell door. Twilight Sparkle looked to her right to realize she now stood in a hallway. A long hallway, lined up with many doors. She was indeed in some kind of Prison… One that went on for Celestia knows how long.
If there were ponies in those cells, she did not know. She hoped not, but even if there were, she couldn’t just go around pressing every button she found to free everypony she came across. Whoever her captors were, they surely would take notice to her absence, and would chase her down. Not to mention how freeing so many ponies at once would cause a ruckus, and put more lives in danger than actually saving anypony. She reasoned after she escaped, she could tell Princess Celestia of her findings, and the Guards would know what to do.
The Purple Mare made her way down the Hallway, her only company being the sounds of machinery working nonstop. The rhythm was always the same. Everything sounded almost like clockwork. Whoever built this place sure had a vision. One that Twilight was afraid of learning if she could be honest with herself.
Where were the others? Where was she? Just where would she even be going? Just making her way down that rusted Hallway, the metal of her back hooves clanking against the hard concrete floor, and the clopping of her front hooves softly following suite, meat and machine creating a song just as rhythmic as the machinery she was yet to see.
Her ears were drooped, and her worries were becoming louder and louder. Her worries had been validated by the loud whirling sounds coming from down the Hallway. There was an “Intersection” of hallways in front of her, and she could her that whatever was approaching, it was coming from the right.
Regardless, in those Hallways, she was a sitting duck. There would only be one direction to run regardless of which Hallway she chose, and if she was caught, whatever was patrolling would probably alert its friends that one of their captives had escaped.
Twilight Sparkle’s front hooves started to instinctively stomp on the floor, one after the other as she frantically looked around for somewhere to hide. If she were to get into a cell, she’d just be back to square one. And even if she did break that door as well, what is the guarantee she’d be as lucky as before and not find herself surrounded by… whatever was out there? The sounds were becoming louder. The thing was coming closer. She had to make a decision.
She didn’t know what made her look upwards, but her ears perked and eye lit up hopeful as she did. Just above her head, on the ceiling of the thin Hallway, a vent stared back at her. Twilight Sparkle wasted no time. Her new horn mini arms unfolded and used small streams of purple energy to remove the lid. The sounds were closer and closer, so Twilight didn’t have time to think anymore. She looked at her back legs, before looking back up at the vent. She figured it was time to test those out.
With a little wiggle of her rear, she had performed a mighty leap into the vent, even hitting her head on its metal top. She quickly used her front hooves to stop herself from falling back into the Hallway, before scurrying her swinging back legs into the small crawlspace along with the rest of her body. Now she had time to rub her head after that rather unfortunate head bump. Either way, probably fine to have a little hit on the head than whatever this place’s wardens had in store for her.
Figuring the Hallways were no longer a safe option, Twilight decided it wasn’t worth using them for exploration for now. Perhaps the vents were a way safer bet. So once she heard the whirling sounds of… whatever that is, passing by, she carefully started making her way down the vent.
It was more cramped than the already claustrophobic Hallways out there, but at the same time, the vents were almost welcoming. Strangely, their darkness was more warm and comfortable than having to see rows upon rows of cell doors, probably filled with poor ponies which Twilight just could not risk rescuing right now. She just hoped they weren’t already being transformed like she was.
She couldn’t help but shudder at the thought of what had to be done to give her that new body. The removal of her wings, the fusing of her flesh with metal, and the theft of her eye…
And for what? To turn her into some abomination. Some sickening mix of flesh and metal. It bothered her to think of who would even do that to a pony.
But what bothered her most: was the “why”.
The “why”.
That was indeed the most disturbing of the questions. You can always reason the “How”. The “What”. The “When”. But when it comes to the “Why”, that is the answer only the pony… if her Captor even is a pony, could answer.
But it is one which Twilight couldn’t help but ponder on. No matter how much she wanted to take her mind off of it.
Each clang of her back hooves as she crawled in those vents, each new information her ocular apparatus just decided was oh so important to announce through small text boxes, and each time she had to stop crawling as not to alert whatever this accursed whirling sound patrolling the hallways belongs to whenever she hears it forced her mind back to it.
That is when she stopped. She realized something. The gadget replacing her eye… it was giving her information. She wondered if she could… talk to it. It sounded silly at first, granted, but with all the bizarreness she has experienced, maybe talking to a part of her body wasn’t too farfetched. But considering that it is part of her now, she wondered if it was as simple as just thinking and receiving her answer. After all, it did to answer her prayers when she asked where the exit for that cell was. She took a deep breath… and mentally asked for guidance. For a way to better navigate this maze of mini tunnels.
[MAPPING AREA, PLEASE STAND BY.]
[10%]
[43%]
[75%]
[97%]
[MAPPING COMPLETE.]
Much to Twilight’s surprise, something new appeared on her vision. Indeed, it was a map, small and round, at the upper left corner. She wished she could take a closer look, and just like that, the map expanded to her entire vision.
She could tell what the purple arrow between the dark blue lines was. That was her. Right… that was working out so far. Now, to find her friends… Just the very thought of finding them, caused the device to begin working once again.
[SCANNING.]
[ERROR COMMUNICATING WITH SYSTEM NETWORK.]
Curses! Just what did that even mean? Twilight was becoming frustrated, banging on hoof against the cold metal surface of the vent. Ah well… at least she managed to get herself a map. However it might take a bit more to be able to find her dear friends than just the map. At least, following it would lead her to the outside. Hopefully. In the end, it did. But not the outside the Alicorn had grown so accustomed to…
Kicking the grate of the vent with her two back hooves, she carefully climbed off of the hole on the wall, landing on another concrete surface, before looking behind her and gasping in shock.
She was outside. On the rooftops of some colossal mega structure, watching in horror as there were miles and miles of concrete and metal, with large buildings, large as mountains with chimneys that reached up to the skies and cut through the clouds, basically no green left as far as she could tell. The Sun, coated red by the black smoke clouds in the horizon, flying machines transporting cages and containers, gigantic construction devices, like a twisted mix of a bulldozer, a crane and a building continued to build and expand the stone and steel hellscape.
And Twilight couldn’t help but shed a single tear, and ask: “What happened?”