Knock knock knock.
Twilight looked up from her reports and eyed the door. "I'm busy; go away," she said sternly, returning back to her reading. Her magical aura constantly shuffled the papers about in the air, placing them in a neat and orderly fashion on her desk. Whenever one report was finished, another soon took its place. A fan standing off in the corner produced cool air throughout the room.
Knock knock.
Twilight frowned, her brow furrowed in concentration. "Lyra, it better be important enough to interrupt my work." Her horn glowed brighter as the door magically swung open. Standing in the doorway was Lyra Heartstrings, dressed in a standard lab coat with a clipboard levitating beside her. A pair of safety goggles were strapped to her head, and a friendly smile was splattered across her face.
"I have some very exciting news for you, Miss Twilight!" Lyra exclaimed, giving Twilight a small page report. Twilight quickly scanned over it, her frown turning into a smile of her own.
"This... after so many years, he's-"
"Yep!" Lyra interrupted, flipping through her clipboard. "We've triple checked the results of all our testing, twice, and Subject 3293 is ready to be released!"
Twilight stepped out from behind her desk, looking up to face Lyra. "This is an extraordinary day for the Lab, Lyra. For ten years we've worked in secrecy, carefully hiding our works to the public eye." She paced back and forth, until finally letting out a deep sigh. "It's time for a new age in Equestria, I believe." Twilight strode past Lyra, heading out of the room. Lyra quickly followed suit.
The air was stenched with the scent of chemicals, with nothing to mask over it. Floors were spotless; the walls were made of smooth stone. The Lab complex was carved entirely underground, so no windows revealed the overworld of day. The two ponies' hoofsteps echoed down the hallway as they passed by small, personal facilities and testing areas. An uncountable number of scientists were comstantly at work, mixing together chemicals and disecting the remains of organisms.
Twilight and Lyra stepped into an elevator lift with the doors made of crystal-clear glass. As the two took their place, a female voice spoke overhead. "Please state the floor number you are traveling to."
"Floor twelve, please!" Lyra replied, still looking through notes of her own.
"Password authorization required," the voice stated, causing Twilight to frown. She had finished going over the report, the information buzzing in her mind.
"Why do we need authorization for floor twelve? It's only the Genetics station," Twilight asked Lyra, her face as puzzled as Twilight's.
"I'm not sure. It doesn't say anything about it on my papers-"
"Allons-y! exclaimed a voice outside the elevator. The two looked up to see a dark amber stallion walking inside to stand next to Twilight and Lyra. Behind him, the glass doors slid shut and the elevator began its descent.
"Ah! Doctor Whooves, the one and only!" Lyra smiled, hoofbumping the Earth pony. "What are you doing here?"
"Well, my assistant has yet to return from her mission. Possibly leisuring about somewhen," the Doctor replied. Shadows fell across the ponies' faces as they passed between floors. "So I've come to check on the subject when he is released from the embryonic chamber! Monitor heart rate and the speed of his breathing, and other timey-wimey stuff!"
"That doesn't explain the password authorization, though," Twilight cut in. The overhead monitor read "Floor 8".
"Oh! The Robotic station had a... slight error. The ADW's started to fire bullets all over the place! Thankfully we got that bulletproof glass installed on time. The stations are locked so the robots can't escape and start a mass holocaust."
Twilight nodded without a word of reply as the speakers chimed: "Arrived at Floor Twelve: Genetics."
-----♦♣♠♣♦-----
The trio stepped out of the elevator, a fresh new wave of chemical stench hitting them abruptly. Other scientists gathered around an assortment of tubes, each holding a different organism within. As the ponies traveled deeper in the station, the creatures were more bizarre and freakish than the last. They stopped as one of the chambers started to drain the embryonic fluid out. The creature inside, a small pegasus child, slowly descended to the floor. A small group of scientists quickly placed her on a stretcher.
"Quite odd, no visible trace of the chicken DNA," one scientist commented, writing notes down as they passed by the trio. "We need to run more tests to make sure it copied properly... Bon-Bon! Grab the eggs and let's move!"
The three ponies continued down the hallway until they reached a locked door. An eye scanner was located next to it. "Retinal scan required," the automated voice chimed.
"Step aside, please," Twilight said, stepping up to the scanner. After a few seconds, a green light flashed on. "Twilight Sparkle- authorization confirmed." The locking mechanisms clicked open and the door slowly slid open. Twilight turned around to face Lyra and the Doctor. "Are you two ready to finally see years of expiriments unfold?" She asked, and they nodded. "It's time to make history for the world." The three stepped inside, the door sliding shut behind them.
The room was filled only with the light of computers standing at the walls. A soft hum could be heard as the machines processed uncountable amounts of information. The trio's hoofsteps echoed off the floor as they walked towards the other end, where a single embryonic chamber stood. Inside was the prize of years of work.
The creature inside appeared, at first, as a normal changeling, a servant of Chrysalis' Hive. But as the ponies watched in awe, the changeling metamorphosed into a jet-black pegasus, the mane fading to a snowy white. The change only lasted for a second before it returned to changeling form. It drifted inside the embryonic fluid like a lava lamp, unaware of anything.
"Incredible!" the Doctor exclaimed, causing Lyra and Twilight to jump up in surprise. "He is changing form without concious thought, all while keeping normal heart and breathing rates! Simply fascinating!" The stallion trotted about, looking over the computer's data. The two mares sighed.
"Typical Doctor," Lyra commented, walking up closer to the chamber. A small electronic screen flashed on the glass as she approached:
Subject 3293
Race: 50% Pegasus, 50% Changeling
Gender: Male
Age: 16 pony years. Changeling age unknown.
Pre-release testing status: 100% complete.
Lyra smiled as she looked up at the sleeping hybrid. "It looks like we're ready for you. Let's hope you change the world." She looked back at Twilight, sharing an unspoken command. The mare nodded- no words were needed. Lyra turned back and pressed a button in the center of the console labeled "Release".
"Warning: embryonic fluid emptying," the voice announced as a drainage hole opened at the bottom of the tube. Slowly the fluid drained out as the creature sank with it. Once emptied, the glass sides slid open, steam pouring out. The hybrid lay still on the floor as tiny test cables popped off his coat. Twilight stepped forward, a big grin splattered across her face.
"Today dawns a new era, friends. For everypony in Equestria."
The subject's eyes flashed open.
