The Ultimate Life Form

by EverfreeSparkle

Rating: teen
Tags: Science Fiction, Twilight Sparkle, Gore, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Other, Adventure
Length: 34714

I am the result of eons of technological advances. A race who wanted to create life beyond any other, and succeeded.

Life. What is life? Is it the role of the cosmic die, entropy at its finest; Order into chaos? Might it be the universe’s very own form of cancer, spreading everywhere due to a glitch in the makeup of reality itself? Or even the result of a God, spending endless eternity’s alone and creating something, anything to make this dismal existence a bit less dull?

My creators saw life as a challenge to overcome, something to surpass. To succeed life is to succeed creation itself, and in doing so, to transcend the boundaries of mortality. Because if you can create something better than life, what are you but a God?

Author's Note: Editor/proofreader for chapters three and up. Give a thanks to Gildomar for editing and proofreading, as well as helping me bounce ideas back and forth.

PS. KnightmareKnight edited chapter three, but they are not currently an editor anymore.

Published 2014-07-26 16:10:03 UTC
Last updated 2016-03-22 03:20:40 UTC

Creation

“Argh! Celestia turn off the sun!” I open a single eye and find out that my face is muzzle first in a heap of my notes. Again. My horn somehow found its way into the ink bowl and there seems to be a piece of paper stuck to my lip. “It’s going to be one of those days isn’t it?” I grumble to myself as I carefully separate the notes attached to my lip with a flash of magic and wipe the drool off my muzzle with a fore hoof. I place the still wet papers on my table and wipe my hoof on my sky blue coat, it’s not like it won’t wash out in the shower.

Turning my focus to the damp papers, I cast a blow-dry spell. As it dries, I can’t help but to find it strange how often this seems to happen. I don’t know why my body insists on betraying me time and time again by getting its fluids all over important research, but I wish it would stop. At that point a black splotch drips onto my muzzle. Oh right, my horn was in a pot of ink… I can’t believe I forgot about that. I stop drying the papers, and generate a hemispherical barrier that only interacts with ink. I then slowly move it from my neck to the tip of my horn, getting all of the ink off of my horn and muzzle. It’s not that much, but I dump it back into its container anyway. No need to waste perfectly good ink.

Still groggy, I head to the bathroom down the hall with the hope that a quick shower will help me wake up. Stepping into the bathroom, I notice my appearance in the mirror. I look horrible; my electric blue mane is sticking out in all directions, the turquoise streaks through it too diluted to see clearly, giving me an almost mad look. I break my eyes away from the mirror, and start adjusting the temperature knobs on the shower to my preferred setting. I step into the shower with a pleased sigh, closing my eyes and letting my mind wander as the water washes through my mane.

After a few minutes of bliss, my eyes shoot open with the sudden realization of just how much progress I made last night. With an almost disbelieving tone I whisper to myself, “I did it... I will need to plug in the new changes to the equations, but after that the portal should finally work.” I stop the flow of water and cast a blow-dry spell on my entire body, not bothering with a towel in my anticipation. After drying off, my excitement couldn't contain itself any longer. I don’t even care that my fur poofs up due to the sudden drying.

I feel myself smiling ear to ear as I exclaim loud enough for any nonexistent neighbor to hear, “Yes! I finally did it! All you prissy foals who couldn’t comprehend my brilliant plan can suck my horn! I’m going to make history!” With an almost delirious giggle, I run back to my study to collect all my notes in my magic, and then hurry to my basement where I keep all the really fun stuff.

In my basement, I go to a door on the far side of the wall and slide my horn into a small hole to the right of the door. Charging my magic into the hole, the door clicks softly and opens without a fuss. Grinning like a mad pony, I walk up to my life’s work and place my notes on the table directly next to it.

Sitting there in all its glory is a complex looking machine, with all kinds of wires attached to a ring two meters in diameter. A few centimeters behind The Gate, as I like to call it, is a glowing orb that radiates thaumanetic particles. There is a secondary ring inside the main one that is just the right size to hold the little orb.

I approach the ring and rub it with my fore hoof, whispering sweet nothings to it. “Soon, you will be an almost unlimited source of thaumanetic particles!” Walking up to a simple monitor next to The Gate, while simultaneously lighting my horn up to collect my notes from last night, I do a few final calibrations.

“Okay, this goes here and this equation fits here and… done!” Cackling with totally sane laughter, I input the execute command and sit back and watch the fireworks, so to speak.

The outer ring emits a low creaking hum as it starts moving in a clockwise direction. A few seconds later the middle ring starts spinning in a counterclockwise direction and emits a slightly higher pitched hum. As the two rings spin, the middle one moves toward the orb, electricity crackling between the two objects. The orb fits snugly in the middle ring and the humming suddenly turns into a roar of sparks and grinding noises. The two rings move back between each other with the pulsating orb directly between them and the spinning becomes faster and faster.

“It’s going perfectly so far! Now, all I have to do is add the correct amount of magical energy.” I focus my electric blue magic at the orb and let loose with everything I have, my mane rippling from the shear magical energy. The orb immediately responds by glowing a deep, dark purple while the rings spin at such a great velocity they are but a blur. It’s going exactly as expected.

I look at the military representatives scattered about the lab, many of them visibly showing excitement due to the nature of this occasion, and begin my speech, “Life. What is life? Is it the role of the cosmic die, entropy at its finest; Order into chaos? Might it be the universe’s very own form of cancer, spreading everywhere due to a glitch in the makeup of reality itself? Or even the result of a god, spending endless eternities alone and creating something, anything, to make this dismal existence a bit less dull? We still have yet to determine the answers to this question, but no matter the reason for life, no matter the how or why, there is one detail every sapient being has observed; nothing as complex as life has ever arisen. Not even the stars can compete with the complexity of life, whose very existence is a game of tug-of-war between gravity and fusion, endlessly fighting for dominance until all the fusible material is converted into energy, the star going out in a spectacular flash or a pathetic whimper and leaving behind a core, a shadow of its former self. ” I pause for a moment, letting my small audience absorb the words.

“We saw biological life as a challenge to overcome; something to surpass. To succeed life is to succeed creation itself, and in doing so, to transcend the boundaries of mortality. Because if you can create something greater than life, what are you but a god?” I admit that this line was a bit much, but from the looks of it my audience seems to be eating it up.

I continue, “While we pondered just how to create something greater than biological life, one of our scientists came up with a brilliant solution. With all the current knowledge of quantum mechanical properties and state of the art nanotechnology, while implementing biological engineering, we began work on one of the greatest scientific achievements in history; The Omega Project.” With a thought, I open a shared neurological hologram and show them basic animated renderings of the workings of Omega.

“Exploiting the fact that particles can exist in multiple states at once, and a form of short range particle and energy transfer called quantum tunneling, we created a computation device more advanced than any other. By manipulating particles in such a way to coerce particles to entangle themselves, allowing one particle to know what the other particle does at any distance, we perfected communication.” I change the rendering to the next set of visuals.

“Specific atoms are encoded with an unfathomable amount of information, each connected together in an absolutely complex molecule, and each molecule connected to a system that folds in on itself in numerous ways. The system is able to extend each molecule as a type of tendril to feel its surroundings. This is the base form of the Omega, just as the cell is the basic form of life. The exact details of the structure and function of each part can be transferred in a secure data packet at your leisure.” I then change the animation to a three dimensional model of the lab we are in.

“You currently stand in one of the best, and most hidden, containment facilities there is. This is where we created Omega, and this is where we will activate it. Now before I activate it, I will explain its military uses, as you no doubt wish to hear. Omega was engineered to be the most versatile tool in this entire universe. It can rip apart an atomic nucleus and remake it into any element it wishes to make more of itself, meaning that it can remake itself from only a single cell using any material it is in contact with. However, this does take a good deal longer to accomplish than using carbon based life-forms. It can also change it’s very structure to mimic any biological lifeform, making it perfect at stealth. Better than any nanomachines or biotechnology currently in existence. Now, Omega will be sapient, but we have safeguards in place so it won’t want to harm any of our species. Kind of like a form of empathy if you will. These are only but a few of its capabilities, and the rest will be explained after the demonstration.”

“Look to the containment field on your left, and I will start the activation of Omega.” With a thought, I turn the opaque containment field transparent. I then show real-time renderings of different magnifications and gesture to the currently empty containment room, “Omega is almost useless in its, for lack of a better term, cellular form, but can easily make more of itself by extracting organic materials and replicating with perfect efficiency. For this reason, we have brought a branc’unok to demonstrate its ‘feeding’ habits.” Seconds later, a relatively large creature with eight legs, feathers covering its body, small eyes, and a strange four segmented beak attached to its small head is lowered down into the containment chamber. Next, a small vial with a clear fluid is dropped onto the creature, causing it to thrash a bit. One of the long-range microscopes captures the image of one Omega cell in the liquid for everyone to see. Everyone in the room eagerly observes as it starts feeling around with its molecular tendrils, immediately senses building material, and goes to work.

The cell goes through skin and attaches itself to the smallest gap it can find. It then uncoils its tendrils and burrows straight through organic matter into the carbon bonds itself, after which it then severs the carbon atoms and brings it into itself. Once enough raw material has been collected, it entangles each atom and then builds an exact replica of itself. This all happens in mere seconds.

As time goes by, the rate of replication blows up until there are trillions of cells identical at the quantum level. The lifeform starts to feel an itch after a few minutes. A few more minutes and a small, but noticeable, black circle appears, causing pain. A few more minutes and where it was is now a black, writhing mass. No trace of the creature remains.

At this point, the numerous individual cells making up Omega’s form are all communicating with each other and exchanging information about their surroundings, learning about their environment and making more complex connections between themselves than originally intended. All of this, leading to no particular point... and then Omega ceases all movement for but an instant.

A peculiar spark of organized chaos, intelligence; self-awareness. I am alive. I… am. I am immediately curious about everything. While devouring the life form, I carefully extract the individual deoxyribonucleic acid strands and then store the genetic material into my more superior information storage system. Finishing with that, I try to detect the world around me. I can sense nothing but touch, yet I can tell that there is more out there. I shuffle through the genetic information of the organism and find electromagnetic sensors. I learn how to replicate them in barely any time at all.

I extend tendrils and form the tips into multiple inferior eyes of the creature and glance about. Seems to be a white cube, with a transparent rectangle on one of the walls. What seem to be bipedal creatures are staring at me and moving their mouthparts in expressions of amazement, some shaking six fingered hands with each other, seemingly excited.

Needing to know what is going on, I modify my electromagnetic receptors to allow my tendrils to see minute vibrations in the air beyond the glass. It seems I have their language already programmed into myself. I try to ‘listen’ to what they are saying.

A scientist gestures in my direction. “It seems to be fully formed and functional: my instruments are indicating increasingly complex cognitive functions in Omega’s atomic structure.” He walks over to seemingly empty space and gestures. “As you can see, this graph is showing a steady growth in complexity. The growth stopped for a split second, and then exponentially increased!” His voice rises an octave at that exclamation, and then adds sheepishly. “Ahem, yes well, it is all going quite smoothly. The activation was a success.”

Someone else glances at me for a second and then turns to the scientist and speaks with an inquisitive tone, “It seems to be staring at us; does this mean it can understand us?” The other scientists look at each other for a second and then turn their gaze in my direction.

What seems to be the main scientist makes a strange clicking sound with its throat and speaks, “Can you understand me?”

Forming a simple sack to collect and extract air through vocal folds, I speak for the first time: “Yes.”

Before the the main scientist has a chance to respond, he gains what I assume to be a confused expression as he notices a strange reading coming from one of their instruments and immediately starts to look worried. Even I start to notice a strange crackling in the air. Wondering what is going on, I connect with the scientist’s neurons via a complex form of quantum tunneling and entanglement to figure out what has him so worried. I also download his memories in the process. It seems some type of irregular interference is being detected, and it is not coming from me.

The scientist starts panicking when the energy level increases dramatically, arcs of electricity striking my form abruptly ends my peek into his mind. My senses start to go haywire as energy encompasses my form, I lose connection with trillions of cells every second as I experience an entirely unwelcome sensation; pain. All my senses become one, and then nothing.

Electricity is racing in massive arcs toward the grounded metal rods I set up, and the room is starting to shake slightly. I start to worry. A portal should have formed by now, and If it doesn’t soon, I will run out of magic. That would… not be good. At all.

This is really starting to take more effort than it should have. My horn feels like it is on fire, with magical misfires joining the torrent of electricity around the room. I don’t know how much longer I can keep this up. I give a glimmer of hope when I start to see a portal solidifying, but that hope turns to horror when instead of giving off magic in torrents, it doesn’t give a single drop.

“But that’s impossible!” I scream at The Gate. “My equations are perfect! Perfect! You should be going to a universe flooding with magic, not one devoid of it!” This is very bad, I never took into consideration a universe without magic. I didn’t even think it was possible… Without magic in a universe there would be nothing to stop my magic from siphoning into the portal. Not until my magic is cut off. Permanently.

I start to silently weep as the roar of The Gate reaches ear shattering levels, the thaumanetic waves rippling off of my horn adding to the deafening volume. I can’t shut off my magic; the portal is acting as an energy siphon. The Gate itself starts to disintegrate into molten slag, leaving only the portal and the orb intact.

The roaring sound of The Gate ceases abruptly with its destruction, the arcs of electricity stops, and the rumbling goes down to a purr. With what little energy I have left, I cast the most powerful shield spell I know, depleting the rest of my magic in the process. I close my eyes, a few stray tears drip down my muzzle, only for them to vaporize an instant later from the sheer heat of the now liquid Gate.

There is a moment of absolute silence only to be followed by a flash of light, brighter than one thousand suns. And then an instant of agonizing pain.

Rebirth

“Your Majesty,” A noble mare gives a customary bow and rises when I tell her to continue “I have a few concerns to bring to your attention. You see…” The mare babbles about what she thinks are dire threats to the crown, such as crops not being “regal enough for consumption” or “the tax for commoners are too low”. I hold back a sigh and nod my head to let her know that I am indeed listening to everything she has to say. I can’t fathom how some ponies could be so petty and selfish.

She finishes telling me all about her concerns so I look into her eyes, and with as much serenity as I can muster I explain, “I am sorry, but I cannot put into effect anything you have shared with me today; it just wouldn’t be fair for the common pony and quite frankly would not be feasible.”

She glares at me for a few seconds, seemingly wanting to say something but wisely decides against it. With a huff she involuntarily flicks her tail and turns toward the throne room doors, walking out with her snout high in the air. Honestly, what was she expecting? That I would agree with her?

As the clops of her hooves on the polished stone floor fade away I allow myself a small sigh in relief; day court is always so stressful. If only more ponies went to night court, then I would have more time to relax, less time to stress, and also it would give Luna more experience in dealing with the ponies of today.

I can’t help but smile at the thought of my only sister, knowing she is safe and back home brings such joy to my heart. Those thousand years alone were heartbreaking. Knowing that Luna must have gone through emotional turmoil, with nothing to vent her anger or suffering, brings tears to my eyes to even now.

One of my guards walks to the base of my throne, bows, and clears his throat, “Your Majesty, I’m terribly sorry to intrude but one of the royal chefs have informed me that dinner is ready to be served.” This snaps me out of my thoughts and brings a genuine smile to my face, dinner sounds delightful right now. “You may rise. Thank you for informing me, I will make haste to the royal dining hall at once.” With a radiant smile on my face I gracefully stand up and start walking toward one of the throne room’s side doors.

A single guard’s horn glows a light golden hue and in response magic surrounds the handle of the door and twists. I give a nod in thanks and make my way to the open door but stop just before entering, an expression of confusion on my face.

The guard sees me stop and senses my confusion, “Princess, are you alright?” I’m about to answer in the positive but my eyes widen when what made me stop in the first place makes itself known, and much clearer than before; Equestria itself is crying out in pain. Something is trying to rip a hole in the foundations of reality, I have never felt anything like this before. Not even Discord can rip apart pure magic, he can only bend and twist it to his will.

I look the confused guard in the eyes and I order in an urgent tone, “Wake up my sister and tell her to gather the guards and wait for my signal, she will know what I mean. There is an unknown thumatic disturbance that I need to investigate at once. Now go!” Before the guard has a chance to do anything I light up my horn and teleport to the castles’ highest balcony.

I frantically look in every direction and stop when I spot what appears to be an unnatural vortex of clouds rippling with angry arcs of lightning, just a few dozen kilometers south of Canterlot, to the south-west of the Everfree and near Ghastly Gorge. I spread my wings and soar towards the anomaly as fast as I can, hoping that whatever happens, I am not too late.
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

The peculiar sensation of my entangled selves being forcefully severed at the quantum level is hard to describe. It’s painful, and at the same time not, as the echoes of my lost selves give off a mess of conflicting data. The physics of the universe seem to react poorly when entangled particles, like my entire being, cease to exist at an uneven pace.

You see, when an entangled particle changes in any way so does the other particle, both particles are in a sense the exact same particle. A kind of exception to the rule that no two particles can occupy the same state at once. So when pieces of myself start vanishing, about ten to the twenty-fifth power number of particles every attosecond, the parts of myself still connected together seem to think they don’t exist and exist at the same time. The only way I can think of stopping myself from being utterly destroyed is to untangle a single piece of myself and sacrifice the rest.

I concentrate on a single cell and with a metaphorical snap all connections are severed. My former selves cease all movement and accept their fate as the, what could only be described as a rip in nothing, flares up and swallows them all, myself not far behind.

I emerge from the rip at a high velocity, for a single cell anyways, and collide with something. I extend my molecular tendrils and wrap them around every atom and molecule I find. Rhythmically squeezing and constricting them to collect the electromagnetic field’s shapes I begin to paint a picture of what I collided with. I seem to be on the surface of a badly burnt organic compound. I start replication immediately.

I extend all my tendrils at once and rip apart every molecule in the immediate vicinity, extracting the carbon into myself for material. After a few replications I find some Deoxyribonucleic acid and extract the information, an instant latter I have all the details of the, recently deceased, organism I am currently using to replicate.

It appears to be a quadruped mammal with an internal skeleton and vertebra, internal organs for survival and digestion, as well as a brain. The brain seems advanced in its cognitive abilities, perhaps even sapient. I will have to surround the brain and consume it to tell one way or the other.

As I replace the creature’s tissue with my own I creep a few hundred tendrils up the length of the spinal cord to gain access to the brain. I burrow them deep into the brain stem and split the tips into numerous tendrils to replace the primitive parts of the brain.

I wrap my tendrils around the more cognitive parts of the brain and check the neural pathways. There seems to be minimal damage to the neural connections and from what I can tell the creature used to be sapient. I ready my tendrils and aggressively sink them into the brain, replacing everything in their path.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Flying closer to the storm I start to hear a deafening roar that sounds like a mix between the low rumble of thunder and a spell being cast underwater. The cloud itself seems to be extremely unstable and the electric discharges are happening at a much greater frequency than before. My eyes might be playing tricks on me but it seems the bolts of lightning have a red tint to them…

I stop about two kilometers from the storm and try to determine its cause. I squint my eyes and look at the ground directly under it and find what appears to be a simple little cottage. I can’t think of anypony who lives out here.

Without warning all movement in the storm simply ceases to be. The cloud’s churning motion comes to a halt, the arcs of electricity whipping about fades, even the wind pauses. It is as if the world itself is holding its breath, the silence deafening.

After a second of peace, my skin starts to tingle as crackles of static bounce across my fur. A sudden, stunningly bright flash of light causing my eyelids to reflexively close and would have surely burned my cornea if I wasn't the Princess of the Sun, still hurt though. My ears snap firmly against my head as a boom follows and reverberates through my skull, wind roaring past me with great speed.

The light vanishes as quickly as it came and the wind stops rushing by after about two seconds. I open my eyes and once they regain focus they both widen to almost comical levels. The storm is gone but what used to be a little house is now a gaping hole one hundred meters across. The land surrounding the crater is scorched black, and I find trees uprooted up to half a kilometer away. Even further than that, forest fires are raging away.

Casting a powerful shield around myself I take a deep breath and fly into the deep hole, looking for anything that might give a clue to its origin. Landing on the bottom I am immediately assaulted with a thick magical residue. Lighting up my horn I prepare a spell to determine the composition and origin of the raw magic. It doesn’t seem to be dark magic, but it does have a strange tinge to it, almost like it was torn apart and then put back together again with brute force.

Putting the results aside for later, I focus on the direction of whatever cast the magic. Following the magical trail I find a slight bump in the otherwise perfectly spherical crater. Getting closer my eyes widen as I make out a shape that eerily resembles a pony. I rush toward the figure and conclude that it is indeed a pony, a pony who seems to be burnt to a crisp.

I cast a diagnostic spell and check all of their vitals, all come up negative. I let out a tear, my heart aches when any of my little ponies pass away. I try to figure out who this pony might be and check for any remaining features that were not burnt away. The fur is completely gone and the skin underneath is pitch black, the cutie mark completely unreadable. I can’t tell the pony’s gender either, the pubic region completely burnt away. The only feature still recognizable is the pony’s horn, due to being mostly bone, so at least I know they are a unicorn.

I stare at the cooked form and conjure up a small tarp to cover the poor pony. I then turn away from the body and send a directed magic pulse to Luna so she knows where I am. All there is to do now is wait, and to think of what could possibly have caused this.
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

In only twenty minutes I have completely replaced every single cell with my own and absorbed the creature’s brain. Accessing the creature’s memories I gather that she is of a species known as ponies, and part of the subspecies unicorn, and can apparently control a form of energy called magic. She was a scientist called Illuminating Fabric and was experimenting with negative point energy to pierce a hole through the universes. In doing so she ended up killing herself and brought me into her world.

I finish reviewing all of her memories and conclude that the biggest threat to my existence is the being called Princess Celestia. To Fabric’s knowledge, Celestia is an alicorn who has absolute control over the local star. She uses this control to raise and lower the sun every day. I am sure she doesn’t really lower the sun, she must rotate the planet, but either way it would require immense power. I will need to make sure she never discovers me.

Deciding on a course of action I ready the now pristine body of what used to be Illuminating Fabric and open my new eyes for the first time. I see darkness. Confused, I feel around with my hooves and discover a fabric of some kind covering me. I light my horn and grasp the offending object with my magic and rip it away.

I stand on my hooves and scan the immediate area and the first thing I notice is that I seem to be in a massive crater. The second thing I notice is Celestia staring at me in shock. I take a quick glance at the tarp discarded at my side and come to the conclusion that she found Illuminating Fabric’s burnt body and laid the tarp onto her. She must think Illuminating Fabric just rose from the dead.

I mimic Illuminating fabric’s personality and with a look of horror I say to Celestia, “What have I done?” with that said I cause my body to mimic the effects of magical exhaustion and with one last shaky look at the Princess I collapse onto the ground, forcing myself into unconsciousness.

Confusion

I get a pulse back from Luna only seconds later. She should arrive with a convoy of guards soon. Good. They will need to hold a perimeter around the crater. No need for curious ponies getting in the way or falling into the hole.

My ear twitches as it detects a slight sound in the direction of the body. I swiftly turn around and find that the tarp has somehow moved away from the body, and is now lying just next to it. I blink my eyes in confusion as I stare at the pony. The body is perfectly unharmed: no burns, a full coat of sky blue fur, and by squinting I can just make out a scrunched in muzzle, identifying her as a mare.

My eyes widen in shock a few seconds later as the mare shakily gets up on her hooves. How is this possible?! Dead ponies do not just get up, especially ponies who were scorched alive! She frantically looks around, oblivious to my internal musings, her expression going from confused to disturbed as the moments tick by. Her head moves in my direction and she seems startled to find me.

Her deep blue eyes make contact with my own, yet she breaks them away a second later. She takes a single breath and whimpers, “What have I done?” Immediately, her eyelids snap shut, body collapsing onto the floor of the crater in a heap.

Ignoring my shock that she somehow just rose from the dead, or seemed to, I rush to her side, wrapping my wings around her form. I gently place my cheek against her chest and sigh in relief when I am rewarded with a rhythmic, but weak, up and down motion. I relax just a bit, knowing that she just fell unconscious, even though she should by all means still be dead. Honestly, whatever caused this crater should have completely atomized her; the fact that her body was intact at all is miraculous.

My ears flick toward the sound of wingbeats in the distance. I turn and am greeted with the sight of my sister on an intercept course to the crater, royal guards right on her flank. Not a moment too soon. Luna descends into the crater and lands in front of me with a dozen pegasi royal guards right behind her. I notice a crack seeping through her otherwise neutral expression, worry etched on her face.

With a no-nonsense tone, Luna turns to eight of her guards and commands, “Make haste to the top edges of this crater and space out evenly. Do not move unless my sister or I tells you! Let nopony near the crater.” The eight pegasi salute with a single wing before spreading both and taking off in every direction.

Luna starts to walk toward me and glances at the pony held in my wings with confusion, before narrowing her eyes and demanding, “Why did you not get me and gather the guard together immediately?! You could have gotten killed if the explosion was larger than this!” To make her point, she waves one of her forehooves in a sweeping motion around her.

I stand firm and defend myself. “This was no mere explosion. The damage is too contained, and much too minimal for the amount of energy produced. The anomaly seems to have been caused by a tear in the fabric of reality, existing for only a few seconds before greatly expanding and collapsing in on itself. This crater is not caused by an explosion, but by an implosion.”

I pause for a moment to allow my sister to process this new information. “The reason I had to come at once was that whatever, or if I am right, whomever, caused this seems to have ripped through the thaumatic veil, in turn inflicting immense damage to Equestria’s magic.” Luna’s eyes widen as she hears this, now knowing the full extent of the situation.

Luna seems to catch on to my ‘whomever’ inquiry. “Whomever? You think somepony may have been responsible for this disaster? Do you have any idea who could have done th-” Luna trails off as she glances once again to the unconscious pony cradled in my wings. “Explain, sister.”

I take a deep breath. “I arrived too late to do anything, and once I landed in the crater I noticed this mare-” I open my wings to show Luna the pony in question “-near the center. When I found her, she was completely burnt to a crisp, no signs of life. I was honestly surprised there was still a body, given that everything in a couple hundred meter radius was completely and utterly annihilated”.

Taking another breath, I continue, “I tried to identify the pony, but the body was so badly burnt that the only thing I knew for certain was that she was a unicorn. So I conjured a tarp to place on the body until such time that it could be examined by a coroner.”

Luna interrupts, a confused tenor in her voice as she looks at the mare, “But sister, why does she not possess such burns now?”

Sighing, I explain, “I do not know, dear sister. I just do not know.” I pause, getting my thoughts in order. “Only minutes after placing the tarp on the body, I heard the tarp being tossed to the ground. I turned around to find her getting to her hooves, not a single burn on her body. She looked around for a second before noticing me and saying, ‘What have I done?’ She then collapsed, leading to our current situation.”

Once I finish, Luna tilts her head and speaks, “Surely you don’t plan on holding the mare indefinitely?” Knowing my sister is right, I focus my magic into the tarp laying forgotten on the ground and change it into something far more comfortable: a soft wool quilt. I gently place the mare on top of the tarp-turned-blanket, and take note of her cutie mark in the process.

Her cutie mark is unlike any I have ever seen. It is a wavy piece of fabric that seems to solidify in the corner of my eyes before almost disappearing entirely when I look directly at it. Half of it has an almost mystical quality to it that confuses the beholder with a mishmash of impossible shapes that appear to pop out at me, but just as the rest of it deludes me when I fully look at it.

It seems Luna has taken notice of it as well because she gasps with recognition. “Tia! I have seen this cutie mark before! It belongs to a mare called Illuminating Fabric, a scientist that studies Equestria’s magic and how it interacts with the fabric of Space-Time. Her hypotheses about where Equestria’s magic come from are really interesting!”

I chuckle and mock tease, “My my, Twilight, getting excited I see?”

Luna blushes and protests,”I am not that bad! Modern Equestrian science art much more interesting than it used to be.”

Smiling, I nod my head in recognition of her point. “Indeed it is, sister. The ponies nowadays are really quite clever.” I look at the topic of our conversation. “Alas, we should really get this mare to Canterlot at once and have some professionals look her over. Then we may have some answers to her current state of being.”

///////////////////////////////////////////////////

Despite this body being in an unconscious state, I have full awareness of my surroundings. I may not be able to use this body’s senses in this state, but I can still use my own cells as miniature electromagnetic and vibratory sensors. My cells tell me I am in a carriage being flown by pegasi guards, and from what I glean from Luna and Celestia’s conversation, I am in route to a hospital in Canterlot.

I decide that the best use of this time would be to look into Illuminating Fabric’s brain in more depth, so I do so. While within this pony’s consciousness, I find something troublesome. There is more neurological damage caused by asphyxiation than I expected. Her passive knowledge and personality seem to be mostly intact, but the long term memories have degraded to an incomprehensible mess.

What would be the best way of blending in with a society? …Of course! If I use the replicated brain as my primary processor, I wouldn’t have to act or blend in; the brain would act for itself. I would have to restart Illuminating Fabric’s mind and combine my consciousness with the pony’s own subconsciousness, but this way it would make my life so much easier. The only problem would be the effect it might have on my main consciousness, but it is not like I have anything to lose.

Casting my senses outside of the chariot, I see a castle impossibly attached to the side of a mountain getting increasingly closer. Only a few more minutes it seems, and we will arrive. Time to start the process of creating my new consciousness.

//////////////////////////////////

Colors. Colors everywhere. A blend of light bending and twisting in ways I didn’t think possible. The world seems to be spinning and whirling. I can’t see, yet everything seems to be a canvas of flashing colors. It feels as if a spike has been jammed and twisted through my skull, my head throbbing more than it has in my entire life and I can’t seem to make any coherent thoughts. What happened? Why doesn’t anything make sense?

After a few seconds of agony, the pain suddenly and mysteriously disappears, as if it never existed in the first place. I finally become lucid enough to gather my thoughts. Okay, whatever I was doing must have blown up in my face… again. I know it was something to do with ley line manipulation and energy transfer of some sort, but the details escape me.

Bringing me out of my thoughts, I notice that my ears keep flicking due to a rushing wind. Opening my eyes a crack, I am rewarded with deep, blue sky. I sit my head up and look around. I inhale sharply as I realize that I am in a chariot being carried by royal guards. My heart starts to beat at a mile a minute as I realize I am in the sky, nothing stopping me from falling.

I can’t help but try to look over the edge of the carriage, but let out an almost inaudible gasp as my limbs catch on something. All of my legs are bound by plastic cuffs; I can’t move more than a few centimeters in any direction.

Before I have a chance to panic any further, I realize that I still have full mobility of my neck. So, I try stretch as far as I can and take a look in the distance. The first thing I notice is what appears to be my destination: Canterlot. I freeze and take a deep breath before looking in the opposite direction for a second and freeze in shock; there is a massive hole in the distance. I squint and study the flora surrounding it and come to the conclusion that the crater is in the location of where my home and lab used to be.

With a sharp intake of air, it all comes back to me: The Gate. The successful creation of a portal to another world. The destabilization of said portal. Pain, and then… what had to have been my death. It must have caused a singularity that greatly expanded before destroying itself, and everything around it. That type of destruction must have completely vaporized my body. How am I alive? My shield spell! But, at best it could have left my body intact. No way could I have survived being burnt alive.

Before I have a chance panic once more, a sudden thought brings itself to mind. ‘We should be more worried about illegally creating a rip in the fabric of Equestria.’ I swear I can feel my eyes shrinking to pinpricks. The last creature to do something even remotely like this was Discord, and he was turned to stone… Why would I fare any better?

Now panicking once again, I have a decision to make. Should I escape, or face my judgment like a mare? I glance in the direction of Canterlot. “Oh buck this. I’m going for it.” With that, I charge my horn and try to teleport directly below the carriage, and I am rewarded with my magic fizzling out. “Of course they use magic nullifying rings. This is now hopeless.”

Right as I finish this thought, the most peculiar thing happens; a strange buzz appears in the back of my mind and then the bindings around my legs start to seep through my skin. A second later, I hear a cling as they come out of the other side of my legs and fall onto the carriage. Moments later, the magic dampening device falls to the ground as well.

“What. The. Buck.” Still on the ground, I move one of my forehooves in front of my face in fascination. I twist it around and stare intently at it; nothing seems off about it. I hoof at the ground slightly and my hoof is, in fact, solid. The strange feeling in the back of my mind recedes as quickly as it came.

A lurch in the carriage causes my hoof to poke me in the eye. “Ouch!” I yelp, and I immediately look in the direction of the guards pulling me, hoping the guard didn’t hear me so I can have a little bit longer to figure out what to do next. No such luck it seems.

I panic- I seem to be doing that a lot today- and look to my surroundings for a place to teleport. I gulp and the only thing in sight is the Everfree Forest. “Well, here goes everything”. With that, I charge my horn and disappear with a flash of white light.

An Everfree Event

After a split second of traveling through orthogonal space, I reappear meters above the forest floor, trees rushing past me as I fall toward a single, thick branch. “Oh cra- ah!” I barely utter a sound as all the air is violently expelled from my lungs, the impact feeling like an earth pony athlete just bucked me in the chest. ‘Celestia, I think that broke a rib… This is what I get for teleporting when I couldn’t even see past the tree tops.’

My eyes widen as I realize that I’m starting to slide off the branch. I frantically try to wrap my hooves around it, but it’s too damp and I can’t get a grip. I flail desperately as I start to plummet, my body hitting numerous smaller branches all the way down. I try to scream, but all that comes out is a hacking cough. My journey ends abruptly as I become intimately familiar with the ground, my right hind leg snapping with a sickening crack as it takes the brunt of the fall. The piercing agony causes my mouth to open in a silent scream. I can’t even feel my leg now; this is not a good sign.

I sluggishly tilt my head towards my right leg and immediately pale at the sight before me; my leg is at a crooked angle, one of my bones jutting out, the muscle just barely hanging on. ‘I think I’m going to be sick.’ My stomach lurches in agreement to my thoughts. I have no idea what I am going to do.

Suddenly, the flesh surrounding the wound starts to ripple, spreading apart and leaving a gaping hole of muscle and bone. The exposed muscle spreads into innumerable small tendrils and wraps around my broken bone. I stare in shock, and morbid fascination, as my bare bone is wrapped completely in animated muscle, and wince as the muscles seem to yank my bone back into its proper place with a sharp crack. The muscles then fully surround the bone and cover it from sight. Immediately after, veins slither from under the exposed skin and start to encase my muscle. Spilt blood from the wound starts to flow up my leg and directly into the uncovered veins. After a few seconds, there is not a single drop of blood on me. Finally, skin starts to creep along the exposed veins, coming in from every side of the wound and then meeting in the middle, knitting together in the process. My leg is as good as new.

Shakily, I stand up and look at my right leg. ‘I… I… What?’ I can’t stop staring at my leg. My perfectly normal, totally not mutilated leg. ‘What is happening to me? First hoofcuffs melting through my skin and now… this!’ Starting to hyperventilate, I try to get my breathing under control.

“Okay, deep breaths Fabric. Deep breaths,” I mutter, following through with several deep breaths, trying to calm myself. I just need to think about this rationally. The only thing that is different from yesterday and today is surviving The Gate incident, but I can’t think of any reason that it would cause my current state. Maybe some strange type of energy came through the portal before collapsing in on itself?

I suddenly gasp. “Oh my gosh! What if I have super powers? Isn’t this eerily like how some superheroes get their powers in the Marevel comics? Imagine all the stuff I could do with super regeneration powers and, uh, skin osmosis? Wait, maybe my skin somehow turned itself into water, and that is how the cuffs phased through my skin?” I pause, contemplating the possibilities.

After a few seconds of thought, I mumble to myself, “Stranger things have ha-“ An abrupt, chilling caw cuts through my words like a thick knife, silencing me instantly. A shiver travels down my spine, and I slowly turn towards the source. My eyes must have shrunk to as small as they can get at the sight before me; a creature with the long, thick body of a snake, covered in numerous deep green scales, and below that are two thin yellow legs, each with three razor sharp talons that no doubt could rip through flesh like butter. Attached to the torso are a pair of giant draconic wings, spread in an aggressive manner. And finally, a normal rooster head, with deep, blood red eyes; eyes which are currently staring directly at me, an action that I seem to be mimicking. I am staring into the eyes of a cockatrice. I can feel my heart trying to escape my chest, pumping faster than it ever has in my life. ‘This is it. I am going to turn into stone. Nopony is ever going to find me and I am going to be a rocky snack!’

After a few seconds of staring at the monster in mind numbing horror, the rooster gets a strange look on its face, almost like… confusion. My terrified mind starts to calm just a bit when I notice that I have not turned to stone, and the gaze of the cockatrice has inflicted me with no unpleasant sensations.

The cockatrice’s expression turns from one of confusion to one of boiling rage as it narrows its eyes, emitting a loud squawk and then giving its wings a powerful flap, propelling itself right in my direction. It has its talons stretched out, facing forward and no doubt planning on using them to rip my guts out.

As it takes to the air my back gets a strange itch, turning completely numb moments later. The strange feeling is instantly followed by a sound not unlike a rock being dropped in a pool of mud. The cockatrice immediately stops its lunge and stares as dozens of tiny black objects appear all around me, each the size of a marble, a slight blue glow accompanying each. They pause to orbit me for but a second before lunging at the oversized chicken at speeds so high they are but a blur. They cease movement just before making contact, the cockatrice taking a giant step back and hissing in warning at the small objects. The spheres surround the scared animal, seeming to flow towards it, elongating into needle like objects. And then, all at once, they impale the cockatrice.

My ears fold down in response to the inequine scream coming from the cockatrice’s beak as the thin tendrils wiggle themselves deeper into the beast. As they disappear into the flesh completely, the cockatrice wailing louder than it has yet, I can make out ripples underneath its skin. After a few seconds, the creature ceases all noises, yet its beak is still open as if screaming. A chilling thought comes to me. ‘What if the… black things destroyed its lungs and it is now suffocating?’ I look at the bird-lizard once more and notice the scales are flaking off, black worm like structures breaking through the bare skin just underneath. ‘Asphyxiation seems to be the least of its problems.’

I try not to gag as the chicken’s eyes burst, more tendrils making themselves known in the sockets. I turn my head away, not able to stomach any more. I clench my eyes shut and press my ears as hard as I can against my skull, trying to ignore the horrid sight and sounds of flesh being ripped apart.

After about thirty seconds, my curiosity overcomes my revulsion and I take a peek. Where there once was a cockatrice is now a wriggling mass of deep black goo. The strange substance starts to seep into the earth, disappearing completely. All except for a tiny piece about the size of a hoofball. I have the strangest urge to reach out and touch it; to feel it on my hooves.

I slowly walk towards the volatile substance, no matter how much my brain seems to be screaming at me not to, and stop just before it. My eyes widen in awe as I behold the sight; a black blob with rippling waves that seem to have a mind of its own. Random numbers of tendrils stretching above the mass, only to retreat back into itself an instant later. I reach a hoof towards it, seemingly hypnotized by its form, and I don’t even utter a sound as dozens of thin tendrils latch onto my hoof, sliding up my leg. I follow its movements with my eyes, and when it reaches my back I notice a gaping hole. A hole which it fills up and repairs in a second.

I snap out of my daze and as my mind clears I start to freak out… again. The thought of that coming out of my body is just too much, too horrifying to fathom. The realization that I might have killed a living being, even in self-defense, causes me to fold my fore hooves under myself, allowing me to lean over and dry heave for almost a full minute.

Shaking madly, my eyes burning with unshed tears, I try to calm myself down by taking deep breaths. ‘Freaking out will not help me. I am in the Everfree Forest and breaking down will most likely get me killed… If I can even be killed.’ Considering what happened with my leg and the cockatrice, I honestly have no idea.

I unsteadily get up onto my hooves and glance about. I am not in a life threatening situation for a change, and I really do need to take stock of my surroundings if I want to keep it that way. I notice that there are numerous trees of all sizes, with thick vines creeping up their trunks, dense vegetation occupying the space in between. Looking up, I notice the branches of the eldest trees blocking out all of but some of Celestia’s light, a few dim sunbeams piercing through the thick canopy and lighting the area in front of me just enough to reveal a heavily corroded road, weeds and colorful wildflowers growing through the cracks. It is strangely… beautiful in a way. I smile as I take in the quiet forest, letting all my worries melt away. Even if only for the moment.
//////////////////////////////////////
“What dost thou mean she teleported away?!” I wince as Luna assaults the four guards with the Royal Canterlot Voice. The stallions in question flinch and instinctively fold their ears back in response to her weapons-grade voice. “She was bound, and had a solid state thaumatic field nullifier on her horn! How could she just blink away?! She was out cold!” Luna’s eyes are fixed on the four shaking guards, the full wrath of an alicorn goddess gleaming in their depths, her wings spread fully and her mane warping the space around her, causing everything it touches to be bathed in pure darkness. Luna always did have an overly dramatic flair to her.

Feeling that the poor stallions have had enough, one of them having fainted from terror, I try to placate my sister’s anger. “Luna, you’re scaring the poor dears. How about we tone down the accusations and leave the guards be. They were only pulling the mare’s carriage after all.” Luna glares at me before reluctantly turning towards the guards, deflating once she notices how utterly terrified they are.

“I... apologize for my outburst, noble stallions. My behavior is most unbecoming of a princess.” She nods her head slightly and tries to give them a reassuring grin, her mane still sucking up all the light around her, her face bathed in shadow. This seems to be the last straw for the guards and they flee as quickly as they can, almost tripping over their unconscious comrade in the process. “Wait! Where are you going?” Luna calls after them, seemingly oblivious to her current appearance. Luna huffs and turns away, muttering in a low tone I can barely make out, “Why does everypony always run away?”

Sighing, I place a hoof on her and state, “Luna, your mane is still radiating darkness. You most likely scared them half to death. It is not like the days past, so we don’t extend our aura to intimidate our subjects. Besides, it is not like you were that deep in a rage.”

Luna hums at this for a moment before giving a defeated huff and confirming, “Perhaps you are correct. I wasn’t really that angry. I think I may have reverted to the old ways just a bit.”

I raise an eyebrow at her. “A bit?”.

She starts to dig her hoof onto the floor before conceding, ”Alright, I may have reverted completely to the old ways, but can you blame me? This whole situation has been frustrating. A potentially cataclysmic event occurs, yet once we have a mare in custody that could shed light on the situation, she disappears!” She makes her point with a heavy hoof stomp.

Oh Luna. Sometimes I forget that for her, a thousand years have passed in the blink of an eye. I should have expected something like this to happen, especially since she only just got back. Breaking out of my thoughts, I say, “Alright, this situation is a stressful one. Even I felt like snapping at one of the guards.” I then hold my head high and speak with confidence. “…But I did not because it does not help anypony, and if we started yelling at random ponies who have no control over the situation, what would that accomplish? We must be above such impulses, and as leaders, we will set an example for our little ponies.”

Luna shrinks down guiltily and utters, “I’m sorry, Tia.”

I relax my stance and wrap a wing around her, pulling her close. “I know, Lulu, I know. Just try to restrain yourself in the future, okay?” The contact is something we both desperately need after a day such as this.

The moment is broken by the clinking of metal on the floor. Oh right, one of the guards fainted, didn’t they? Oops.

Once the guard gets back onto his hooves, he looks around and spots Luna and me. He blushes and then utters a “Your Majesties” before turning around and walking out of the debriefing room. Even though it seems mean, I have to give a short chuckle at his expense. The poor dear must be embarrassed about fainting in front of royalty.

With the mood slightly elevated, I lift my wing from Luna’s back and motion for her to walk with me, which Luna responds by following in my steed.

While walking, I inquire, “Any ideas on what we should do about Illuminating Fabric? She is not quite a criminal, but the fact that she was at the epicenter of the anomaly makes her too risky to ignore. Especially since she ran away from her detainment, which was only for her safety after all, considering we have no idea what could have happened to her magic. I admit that she may have panicked, but the fact that she got out of a thaumatic nullifying ring worries me, and her intentions at this point are an unknown. This is more your field, so I will let you plan accordingly.” Luna nods and starts to consider my words.

She seems to reach a decision and says, “We think that sending out guards will be moot: the Everfree is a dangerous and massive place. No telling where she is by now, if she is still alive.” Grim, but I can see her point. The Everfree is dangerous at best, deadly at worst. “Also, we should create a scientific outpost on the edge of the crater to study the effects The Anomaly may have had on Equestria.” She gets a sly grin on her face and adds, “I think your student Twilight Sparkle should be there as well. No doubt she will discover what this thing was, for she is one of the cleverest ponies I have ever had the honor of being acquainted with.

My eyes light up. ‘Of course! I can put this off on- no. Give Twilight the chance to study the anomaly. “Perfect idea Luna! Get a team together. I will send Twilight a letter once you have decided on the ponies to send.”

//////////////////////////////////////

“My Most Faithful Student;

No doubt you have noticed the shockwave and thaumatic discharge, and are most likely hitting the books trying to discern its cause. I am sad to say that you will find nothing of such an event in any historical documents, due to the fact that this is the first of its kind in recorded history. But I have some news that I know you will enjoy. Luna and I have selected you and a few other scientists to investigate the cause of this anomaly at the source. Starting tomorrow morning, you will officially be one of the only ponies in Equestria allowed to even be near this event. Luna will meet you and the rest of the scientists next to Ghastly Gorge. I will send a carriage in the morning, and you should arrive at the crater in less than an hour.

Your mentor and friend,

Princess Celestia of the Diarchy of Equestria.”

I rip the letter out of Spike’s grasp with my magic and re-read it before breaking out in massive grin. “Oh my gosh! Celestia wants me to study an event that hasn’t happened before in the history of Equestria! Me, Spike! Me!” I can’t help but bounce in place a little- okay, a lot- and all but throw the letter in Spike’s face. He does not seem amused in the slightest.

After a few minutes of giggling and jumping up and down saying, “Yes yes yes!” Spike seems to have had enough and yells right into one of my poor ears, “Twilight! Calm down!” I flinch and my ears fold back, and in the process halting my reaction to being hoof picked by Celestia for this historical event.

I glare at Spike and with a condescending tone I state, “You didn’t have to yell, you know. You could have just calmly and quietly asked me to stop.”

In response to my reasonable logic, Spike, somehow, raises an eyebrow and in a dry tone says, “Really? Do you know how hard it is to get through to you when you are having one of your ‘episodes’?”

I open my mouth to retort that I do not, in fact, have “episodes”, I just get a little excited is all. But before I have a chance to, something hits me with the suddenness of an asteroid strike: ”I need to prepare! And preparing means checklists, and telling my friends where I am going! Both will take time, time I have wasted standing around and doing nothing!”

Before I have a chance to hyperventilate, again, Spike puts his claws on the sides of my cheeks and states in a stressed tone, “Deep breaths Twilight, deep breaths. I will get the ink and parchment, will you try to calm down in the meantime?” I nod slowly and Spike leaves to go upstairs, getting said materials.

Finally calm and collected, I ponder what could have caused the thaumatical anomaly. Nothing natural could have caused something with that much energy, my horn is still tingly from the sheer power of it, so it must have been caused artificially. How could something of this scale be achieved, not even the princesses could radiate that much raw magical energy, so what could have done it? Oh, I can’t wait to study this at the source! So many possibilities, so much potential for discovery!

I am rudely brought out of my thoughts by Spike snapping his claws in front of my face. I glance down and notice what he is carrying; he brought the checklist materials! Great!

I turn to spike and grin, for some reason he steps back a bit, and then clear my throat and explain, “Okay Spike, we are going to have to plan this by the book. That means this checklist has to be perfect, no matter how long it takes!” Spike groans but complies, readying a quill with ink already on the tip. “Okay step one, make the checklist for the checklist…”

///////////////////////

First course of action: getting out of this forest. With that, admittedly short term plan, I start walking in a random direction. After walking through the, strangely quiet, Everfree forest for what feels like hours, I notice I am not in the least bit winded from all this walking. I have never been the most active mare, quite the opposite in fact. Strange to say the least. Must be another side effect of my new ‘powers’, for lack of better word.

A few more minutes and I unexpectedly get lightheaded, my vision blurring immediately after, and my thoughts fade to incoherence. All of my senses mesh together and I can’t even tell if my hooves are on the ground anymore. What… What is… going… going on? A sudden influx of sensations and impulses surges through my mind, extinguishing any remnants of cognitive thought. The sound of the ambient background is causing me to see a rainbow of colors, and I can feel the taste of the wind on my fur. Nothing makes sense anymore.

Before I have a chance to go insane, something… clicks, and what feels like a weight I didn’t even know was there lifts from my mind and now...

I am not Illuminating Fabric… yet, I feel as if I am. She may be dead, but I have the chance to be her. I have finished reworking the neural pathways into complex quantum connections, allowing myself to truly be Illuminating Fabric, in everything but soul. The past few hours have given me sufficient time to see how her brain functions while active, and how she reacts to outside stimuli. All I have to do is will it and I will irreversibly be Illuminating Fabric’s personality and sense of self. I will have as much control over my true body as an equine mind can handle, but I will put ‘instincts’ in place to insure I survive indefinitely.

I can’t allow my new self to know that she was never Illuminating Fabric. I do not want the pain of knowing I am not who I thought I was. She will retain most of my knowledge, but none of how I was created or what truly happened to Illuminating Fabric. I will have to fabricate new memories of exactly what happened. My new memories will think that Illuminating Fabric was alive during reconstruction, and in the process think she is the “true” Illuminating Fabric.

My being as I know it will cease to exist once I commit to this, but it is worth it to see the universe in a way other than energy and probabilities. I had a taste of being truly “alive” and I will not give that up for anything.

Leaving The Everfree

...I scream as my head suddenly and unexpectedly flares with the most agonizing pain I have ever felt. It’s like somepony is squeezing my brain between two boulders, while simultaneously scooping out my eyes with a spoon. The sensation is so overwhelming that I barely notice my legs finally giving out, causing me to collapse onto the forest floor. I squeeze my eyes shut, hoping the pain will just go away. And to my surprise... it does.

Just as the agony lifted, a flurry of knowledge and memories brings itself to light. As my mind is trying to comprehend these new memories, I make out just enough to be able to tell what I am. Oh my Celestia! I didn’t even know machines could be scaled down to such a size and still function! Well, this explains how I was able to… kill… that cockatrice. I really hope I can bring this new body under control; I don’t want to accidently kill everything that moves, after all.

As the trickle of information passes, it dawns on me that the memories I get are very specific on how to control this body, but not much else. Well, at least I finally know what happened to me. Or at least the important bits. It’s going to be very weird knowing that I am now a collection of molecular machines arranged in an equine shape. I guess it’s not much weirder than being a colony of cells in an equine shape, but at least biology is something every, or at least most, ponies understand!

Rolling onto my belly, tail twitching slightly, I close my eyes and try calming myself, letting my mind settle… Or I would if my twitching tail didn’t remind me that it’s now just a collection of molecular machines arranged in the correct configuration so as to mimic an equine tail. And so, my breathing picks up and my ears clamp to my head as it dawns on me just how different I am from anything I’ve ever heard of. Everything I knew to be true about what constitutes life has just been toppled! None of what I am should even be possible, except that the knowledge in my head is telling me it is. In exquisite detail. So much detail…

My mood reverses itself in an instant as I start to realize just how good this is. “Celestia, I understand so much now! I could revolutionize Equestria with just a fraction of what I know! Oh~ I could actually get used to this!” I’m surprised to hear myself giggling like a filly who just got her cutie mark, but I can’t help it! Even though most of my new intellect pertains to how I function, it still could fill an almost endless amount of textbooks! How does it all even fit?

I immediately find myself thinking about a computation machine at the center of every cell in my body that stores and exchanges more information every second than all that has ever been written combined. This is amazing! Equestria hasn’t even figured out how to make non-magical devices that use Boolean algebra, yet this race has gone beyond what the brightest minds have even dreamed was possible, even with magic! Hang on a tick, what species could have done all this without ponies knowing about it? ...No answer is forthcoming, which means that of all the knowledge I gained, the minds behind it are not a part of it. Strange, but I really should get up, since my legs are starting to cramp.

Finally getting up, I feel my joints pop (that’s some top notch mimicry), and let out a yawn. It seems my body is happy to behave normally if I am not consciously acting to change it. That’s good to know. I really do need to find shelter, as well as figure out how to control my new body. I don’t think I even need to sleep anymore, so shelter wouldn’t technically be a problem, but I don’t know if I could stand being awake indefinitely. I could just automatically let my equine body function how it would normally; it will make everything so much simpler if I didn’t have to fake fatigue and bodily… functions. Maybe I will turn off the digestive system for convenience sake.

Now, time to test my body’s new capabilities. I glance down at one of my legs and have an idea. With but a thought, I will my left foreleg to lose cohesion, and stumble slightly as the feeling in my leg vanishes. I stare with scientific fascination as my leg turns black as can be, and starts to drip onto the ground. After a few seconds, gravity finishes its work, and there is now a black blob right under my new stump of a leg. Interesting. It seems that I won’t bleed or damage myself in any way as long as I change my flesh to its new default form before manipulating it. Explains why it was painful when my wound healed itself up before: the flesh was still an open wound. As long as I don’t lose any of my matter, I should be fine.

I will my leg to reform, and obediently the black goo extends a few fine tendrils to the stump of where my leg should be, the stump extending a few tendrils of its own, intertwining them together. As the bone and tissue form, the black mass starts to vaguely resemble a limb and I can clearly see movement beneath the skin of the developing leg where muscle is forming. Only a few seconds after the process began, my leg is completely reformed.

I flex my leg and examine it for abnormalities, and find that everything is in place. The frog of my hoof is perfectly clean, and the fur covering my leg is even shinier than the rest of the fur on my body! I guess I don’t need to bathe anymore, this is much more efficient, not to mention faster! I’ll still take baths though, too relaxing to just give up, but at least I don’t have to worry about scrubbing myself anymore.

Checking the rest of my body, I notice some sticks stuck in my mane and tail. I light my horn to remove them, only for it to sputter a weak blue spark. Great, it seems that my magic isn’t working properly. Might as well see how well I can finely control myself. I brace myself and concentrate on the hairs of my mane and tail. Much more easily than expected, I feel the individual hairs of my mane start to twitch, before widely flailing around. I calm them down easily enough and try to slowly wrap a lock of hair around a stick, yet it is a bit more difficult than I thought, considering I can’t really see…

No sooner did I think that before suddenly becoming disoriented with more splotches and blurs in my vision than I knew what to do with. I try rubbing my eyes with my hooves, but nothing changes. Squinting a bit I notice the ‘splotches’ actually become more defined, so I close my eyes completely and I can’t stop the small gasp from escaping my lips. I can now see everything on my body, as well as everything in a three hundred and sixty degree radius. It’s pretty disorienting.

Concentrating, I am able to focus on a single object at once, while ignoring the rest as an analogue to periphery vision. I also notice that focusing actually moves the nearby periphery to physically move into the focus, as well as making my skin crawl, which makes the image much sharper. Focusing on my body to try to see just what is going on, I am awed, and a little creeped out, by what I see: each of the hairs on my body has grown a spot with light sensitive cells, and the hairs move to point at whatever I focus on.

I try to look through one of my tiny spots, but when I do all I see is the vague idea of light, and the direction it comes from. Just small flashes and blurs. I guess it makes sense that I couldn’t truly see with only one, it must be all of the hairs in my coat working together. This is remarkable! It’s like a giant omni-directional compound eye. Now, time to get those sticks out of my hair. I change the focus to the fur on my back and both sides of my dock, and am able to see the sticks tangled in both my mane and tail quite clearly. Moving the long strands of hairs to wrap around the sticks, I pick them out one by one. When the final twig falls to the ground I look myself over and give a little twirl, flicking my dock once to swish my tail. Much better. Those sticks were a bit scratchy, I’m gla-

A howl pierces through the air, snapping me out of my thoughts and making me jump a bit, giving me a good reminder that I’m still the Everfree Forest. Figuring out my body can wait, I need to get out of here! Focusing my new vision behind me, I trot in the opposite direction of whatever made that noise. I assume it’s some sort of wolf, maybe even a timberwolf. I’m not actually sure if those things are alive or not. I do know that they are beings of pure chaos magic, animated to mimic the behavior of wolves, but does that make them alive? Maybe I should go back and scan one…

“What am I thinking? That’s a horrible idea!” I whisper to myself. I decide to just continue moving away from what I am now convinced is a timber wolf. It hasn’t made any other sounds since the first, though. I wonder why that is?

I notice a sudden blur of motion directly at my sides, and see two pieces of animated wood leap out of the bushes at me. I tense up and jerk out of the way faster than I thought I could, causing them to smash into my vacant spot. They snarl with rage as they struggle to recover, getting up only moments later to encircle me. My eyes widen as I suddenly realize that the first howl must have been their attempt to herd me in a specific direction so they can ambush me. I pull back my ears and try my best to growl, even going as far to curl my lips, hoping they might get the hint. They don’t, and only continue their motions.

I spin around to face them, but that is when another pair of timberwolves make themselves known, stalking out of some bushes behind my current position. I am now trapped. The newcomers bark at the first two, and then on cue they all charge. Time seems to slow as my thoughts race, attempting to come up with a way to get out of this. ...I could try rushing one to kick it in the face, then I might be able to get away from the others. Yeah, that’ll work.

With that decided, I lower my head and rush one of the first two wolves. The other three try to keep up, but the two newcomers fall behind due to being further from my target. However, the other of the first couple is getting uncomfortably close to me. I am able to speed up even more, kicking up a cloud of dirt in the process, and turn around to kick my target in the face. It is knocked to the ground and bursts into splinters from the force of the kick. I then turn around as fast as I can, intending to make use of the new opening, but instead I scream as the closest wolf takes a chunk out of my right hind leg. “Mother bucker, that hurts!” It just took a bite out of my leg! I look behind me and I swear that the Celestia damned bastard is smirking. What do these things even need meat for?! They are made of wood! I raise my hind leg to get a look at the damage and pale a bit as I notice the muscle strands barely hanging onto the bone, blood gushing out of an artery. If I wasn’t sure it would heal I think I might faint. I need the stolen flesh to fix it, though.

“You better give that back, you twig!” I scream at said twig, fully intending to get the piece of myself back. Screw running, it’s personal now. Better yet, maybe I can use this to my advantage. I just have to think about replicating what my body did to the cockatrice, and then the stupid thing will be sorry!

I glare at the wolf, and then concentrate on on the flesh to, uh, consume I guess? At my thought, the flesh suddenly bubbles and seeps into cracks lining the wooden creature’s mouth. The creature only has time for a pained yelp before the piece of flesh expands the cracks rapidly, breaking the creature’s entire head into pieces with a thundering crack. The remaining couple suddenly halt their sprint towards me, and turn to their companion just in time to see the headless body collapse and shatter upon contact with the ground. I notice the pieces of me are still attached to the flying pieces of the head, and they rapidly consume them in the air. I then will myself back together, allowing the pieces to rush towards my leg. The blood staining the ground also seeks my leg, and both meet at the damaged limb. The blood rushes back into the gaping artery, and the missing flesh returns itself to reform my arteries, veins, muscles, and skin, all in a matter of seconds.

Once the pain disappears, I lift my hind leg and flex it a bit, giving the air a little kick. Good as new. I turn to the remaining wolves and notice that they actually seem to be backing up, their wooden tails between their legs. One of them gives a whining howl, the other snapping at me with bared canines, but neither making any sudden movements. They both growl at each other for a moment, but then one of them takes a few steps back before stopping, looking at me with uncertainty. Then with another series of whines, they both turn and flee. The pieces of wood left over from the first two start to vibrate before glowing and taking off to follow the retreating wolves.

“Oh dear, where are the cherries? What if they are all gone?” I can't help but worry as I frantically look over all the cherry trees on the edge of the Everfree. I know at least one of these trees must have a cherry. My poor little Angel will be absolutely devastated if I can’t make his favorite dish! I know there were a few ripe ones last week; could they all have been picked already? The only other cherry trees are in the Everfree, and I really, really, do not want to go in there again.

“Maybe Angel will go without the cherry for once? He’ll understand that I couldn’t find any, and that the market was all out as well,” I hopefully whisper, but I know deep inside that it wasn’t to be. Last time I forgot an ingredient, he threw the biggest hissy fit! The poor dear was hysterical, and wouldn’t calm down until I went to the next town over to buy the type of fruit salad he wanted. It put me behind schedule on feeding all the other animals, so I cannot afford to keep all the other critters waiting just because of Angel. My ears droop as I realize I have to go into the Everfree. Oh why couldn’t cherries grow in Whitetail woods? Maybe I can ask Applejack to help grow some next time I see her? Growing cherries can’t be that different from growing apples.

I dig my hoof into the ground a bit, and glance at the barren cherry trees, silently begging them to magically bloom some fruit. As expected, nothing changes. At least the other cherry trees are not too far in the forest. I guess that makes it a bit better. I give my wings a flutter, and with a small whimper I head in the direction of the Everfree.

A few minutes later I land on the edge of the forest. However, I stop just shy of the border. I lower my head and cautiously enter the perpetually dark forest.

“T-this isn’t so bad, Fluttershy. I-it’s actually kind of n-nice during the day,” I console myself after a few minutes of walking, trying to keep myself moving in spite of my shaky legs. I glance around, trying to take in the scenery to distract myself. I notice some pretty yellow flowers, and even some bright pink ones. The cherry trees are only a minute away at a slow walk, so I should be there soon, thankfully. Last time was with Harry, I really wish he was here right now…

My ears perk up and my head jerks as a mare’s scream reverberates through the forest, directly ahead. “Somepony is out here?! That scream… that didn’t sound good. I-I have to help her!” With a burst of adrenaline, I gallop as fast as I can in her direction, completely ignoring the cherry trees I pass. Why is somepony in the forest? Maybe it’s Zecora? Oh, I hope she isn’t hurt!

My heart almost breaks free from my chest as two timberwolves sprint right past me, neither paying me any mind. This only makes me run faster, hoping I’m not too late. When I get there I’ll... I’ll... I’m not sure, but I’ll think of something! Oh I hope it isn’t a Hydra, they don’t listen to me...

As I stumble into a small clearing, a pony composed of different shades of blue comes into view, my entrance quickly gaining her attention. Was she the one who screamed? I squint, but she appears fine... Maybe something spooked her? I notice that she seems tense at my arrival, as if expecting a fight. I softly smile to her, hoping to calm her down. Her stance quickly relaxes as she realizes I’m not a danger.

“Where did you come from?” She asks with a hint of confusion, looking at me with her arctic blue eyes... Waiting for my response… Annnd, now I am reminded that I am in a forest with a strange pony that I don’t know. I try hiding behind my hair, making me feel a bit better. Why do ponies have to stare at me like that?

I take a deep breath and mumble, “Um, I heard your scream. I thought you were in trouble.”

The mare tilts her head a bit, and she flicks an ear. “Could you speak up? You are a bit quiet,” she explains. Oh, right. I guess I could try speaking louder…

“I heard your scream. I-I came to help you?,” I try to say with conviction, but I think it may have ended up sounding like a question.

Her face lights up in comprehension. “Oh, right. That. I thought I saw timberwolves, but it seems I was mistaken. I guess it startled me.” She says, rubbing her leg in apparent embarrassment. Wait, but I saw some Timberwolves on the way here? Does… does that mean she actually saw them while they were running through the forest?

“Oh my goodness! I think you may have actually seen real timberwolves. Two of them were running in the opposite direction. They didn’t seem to be in an aggressive mood, though. You’re very lucky, because timberwolves can be extremely dangerous!,” I babble out.

“Yeah, lucky.” She agrees without much enthusiasm. Her stance then changes and she gains a curious expression. “Hang on, what’s your name? You seem familiar for some reason.” Familiar? I’m pretty sure I’ve never met her before.

I give her a shy smile and tell her my name: “I’m Fluttershy.”

That shocked me. That’s Fluttershy?! The Element of Kindness? Her name really does suit her. She ‘came to my rescue’, but that still doesn’t explain why she’s out here in the first place. Did the guard send her to come and bring me to Canterlot? No, that doesn’t make sense. Wait, that reminds me; I just escaped from custody. I’m one hundred percent certain that’s illegal. Maybe I can make an appeal? I didn’t mean to rip a hole in the fabric of Equestria, after all… Well, I did try to, but the result was totally an accident.

Fluttershy interrupts my thoughts and quietly asks, “Um, could you tell me your name, please? ...That is, if you don’t mind?” She shrinks back a bit, hiding more of her face behind her wavy mane. I don’t see the harm in giving her my name. Maybe if I get on her good side I could get her help in appealing to the princess. She’s the element of kindness, so she’ll understand, right?

“My name is Illuminating Fabric, but you can just call me Fabric if you like. My full name is a bit of a mouthful, I admit,” I tell her.

“Okay, Fabric. So, um, why are you here, if you don’t mind me asking?,” Fluttershy asks, seeming a bit less shy after getting my name, although she still seems to be trying to hide behind her mane.

I bite my lip, trying to decide how much to tell her. Explaining what I am now would be a horrible course of action. I doubt Fluttershy would appreciate me telling her how I brutally killed and, well, devoured a cockatrice. I guess I could tell her everything except for those details. Good thing I was able to get rid of the ‘fur vision’ before she could get close enough to see me. That would have raised a few questions.

“Alright, I’ll tell you. But after we leave this forest,” I tell her. I may not be in any real danger, but Fluttershy is defenseless.

She gets nervous all of a sudden, fluttering her wings and looking around as if just noticing where she is. “Oh my, you’re right! We really should get going.” She gestures her head in a ‘follow me’ motion and turns around. “I do need to pick some cherries on the way, though. Angel will be a nightmare otherwise!”

As I turn to follow the pegasus, I can’t help but ask, “Who’s Angel?”

Fluttershy's Cottage

My jaw drops as Fluttershy’s house enters our view. There are animals absolutely everywhere! I look around in amazement all the way up to her front door, trying to identify all the different species. “This is crazy, Fluttershy! Are there always this many animals around your house?” I ask as Fluttershy opens her cottage door, a few bunnies scurrying under our legs to get inside as well.

Fluttershy giggles at my expression. ”It’s always like this during the warmer seasons, but even in the winter some animals choose to hibernate here. I absolutely adore all the little critters, and I just love taking care of them!” She finishes with a little flutter of her wings and heads inside her house. A few seconds later, she pokes her head out of the doorway. “Um, come in and make yourself at home, if you want to that is... I don’t usually have guests over, so I’m sorry if it’s a bit of a mess. I’ll make us some tea, and um, you can lay on the couch until I come back. Just…” She bites her lip. “Please try not to step or sit on anycritter! I know some can be tiny and hard to keep track of, but please be careful!” She then retreats into the house.

Stepping in behind her, I try not to scrunch up my muzzle as a putrid scent invades my nostrils. Sweet Celestia, it reeks like a zoo in here! Outside of the smell, I have to admit that the house is pretty cozy, if a bit crowded. There are lots of nooks and crannies for animals to settle, and a lot of animals in said places. I’ve never seen so many different animals in a single room. Looking around I see a few birdhouses, each of which housing many different species of birds. I can see bunnies sleeping in a basket to my right, being quite cute if I say so myself. Less cute are all the mice exiting and entering numerous holes in the walls. I don’t think I could get used to that... I even see a beaver, a porcupine, and some squirrels. There is also this bunny giving me the stink eye. It seems to be lounging on a chair next to the couch. What’s its problem?

I carefully tread across the room to the couch, being careful not to step on anything. Luckily, the animals seem smart enough to make way for me. I climb up on the couch, making sure to check for any animals first, and stretch out, folding my legs underneath me. Ah, this is pretty comfortable. I close my eyes and relax. Maybe I should ask Fluttershy where she got this couch, I would love to get one for my ho- Oh, right. I’m homeless, aren’t I. It’s bad enough that all my research was erased due to one small miscalculation, but my home as well? Tears start welling up in my eyes. “I-It’s not fair,” I whisper with a small hiccup.

A small clatter startles me and I glance to see Fluttershy putting down a tray of tea and crackers on the table to my left. I frantically try to wipe my eyes, but too little, too late. I’m surprised as Fluttershy pulls me into a hug. “Wh-What are you doing?” I ask, trying my hardest to stop the tears coming down my muzzle.

She leans out of the hug and stares into my damp eyes, her own full of compassion. “Whatever it is, it’s okay to cry,” she whispers. The floodgates break, and I hug her tightly, burying my muzzle into her fur and bawling my eyes out in response to everything that has happened.

I start rambling, hiccupping every couple words, “M-My h-house. It’s g-gone! My experiment didn’t w-work. W-wrong universe, less m-magic. D-differences in-in-in,” I take a shuttering breath, fresh tears streaming down my face. “My life’s work, g-gone! I-I think I ripped a permanent hole in-in space and t-time. I w-woke up in handcuffs, and-and-and I panicked! E-escaped to the Everfree!” My eyes widen. “I’m a c-convict! My l-life is ruined!” I wail, getting Fluttershy’s coat covered in tears and snot. She just wraps her wings around me and holds me tighter, not seeming at all fazed by the mess I’m making.

“Oh, you poor thing!” Fluttershy coos, letting me cry under her wings. A few minutes later I calm down enough that I’m only sniffling a bit. She lets me go and I proceed to rub my eyes and snout with a hoof, trying not to make eye contact. “I’m sorry, I don’t know what came over me,” I apologize, embarrassed that I broke down crying in front of a grown mare.

“I don’t mind, I think you needed some comfort,” Fluttershy says with a small smile.

I smile back. “Thank you. I guess the stress just got to me.”

A sudden crash resonates from behind, making us both jump. I look towards the disturbance only to see a mean-looking bunny standing on the side table, thumping his foot in apparent annoyance; the tea and crackers which previously occupied his current location nowhere to be found. I turn my gaze to the floor and spot broken ceramic covered in soggy crumbs. Hang on, is that the same bunny that glared at me earlier?

Naturally, Fluttershy’s mood does a complete one-eighty. “Angel! What was that for?!”

The bunny produces a series of angry squeaks and pulls off some complex paw movements. To my complete bemusement, he pulls out a book from seemingly nowhere and flips it to a page showcasing an admittedly fancy salad, complete with a cherry on top.

With an exasperated sigh, Fluttershy scolds the bunny, “I know you’re hungry, Angel. I’m very, very sorry I haven’t made your dinner yet, but you can’t just break things to get my attention!” The rude bunny, apparently named Angel, just ignores her and points to the page and his mouth in quick succession. Fluttershy bites her lip, seemingly thinking for a second, before turning to me. “I’m so, so sorry about this. Angel gets cranky if he doesn’t get his food on time. I’ll be back in a few minutes after putting together his sala-” Angel gives out a small cheer, interrupting her speech, and settles himself on the table with a smug grin.

To my surprise, Fluttershy actually glares at the bunny for a second, her gaze almost promising further retribution. To my further surprise, Angel actually calms down.

She turns to me again and asks, “Will you be okay? Are you hungry at all?”

“I’ll be fine. You’ve already done more than enough by just being here.” Angel makes an exaggerated gagging sound, sticking his tongue out. I hope he chokes on a carrot. Trying to ignore the living ball of vileness, I continue, “And no, I’m not hungry, but thanks for asking.” I’ve kind of already eaten, anyways. It’s a bit weird to think about, but I essentially ate the head of that timberwolf. I guess I also ate the cockatrice, but I swear most of it didn’t come back to me. Did I leave part of myself in the Everfree? How would I even know?

Fluttershy nods and walks out the door to my right, presumably to the kitchen. Angel watches her leave, an expression of impatience plastered on his face. He looks to me and sticks his tongue out, his paws by his ears in a clearly mocking gesture. What a jerk. I try ignoring him; after all, he’s only a bunny. He blows a raspberry at me.

My ears fold back in annoyance, and I look everywhere but Angel. I survived a massive explosion, a cockatrice, and a pack of timberwolves. I shouldn’t have to put up with a stupid bunny! He continues to make noises behind me, no doubt mocking me. If he doesn’t quit it I might do something we’ll both regret...

Luckily for him, Fluttershy finally comes back with the ‘way too fancy for a bunny’ dinner balanced on her wings. Not so luckily for him, she catches him sticking his tongue out at me. “Bad bunny! You don’t mock guests! You quit misbehaving or I’ll-” She pauses for a moment, obviously not having thought of a punishment. “-I’ll use The Stare.” Ohhh, scary! How is that a punishment? Angel doesn’t seem to share my opinion; his eyes widen, and he lets out a little squeak of fear. “I really, really, don’t want to have to use it, but you’ve left me no choice if you continue! This poor pony has lost everything she owns, and you’ve been mocking her behind her back? I’m ashamed of you, mister!” Fluttershy walks up to the terrified bunny and places the food on the table. “Now, you eat your food and behave.”

She gains an apologetic expression as she turns to me. “I’m so sorry about Angel, we can talk in my room if you’d like. I let my animals know that it’s off limits unless I say otherwise, so we shouldn’t be bothered. I’d still like to hear what happened, if you’d be up to it.”

“Alright, but first let me clear up the broken dishes for you. It’s the least I could do,” I offer.

“Oh no, you don’t have to do that. I, um, I’ve got it.” She glances at the broken cups and plates, fidgeting slightly.

“I have magic and can pick up the shards with minimal risk of injury. I also know a spell to get stains out,” I argue. She bites her bottom lip, no doubt realizing that I’m right.

Finally, she relents. “O-Okay, just, um, don’t cut yourself.”

I get up from the couch, pausing to stretch a bit, and grab the broken dishes with my magic, thankfully it doesn’t stutter this time. “Where’s the garbage?” I ask.

“There’s one in the kitchen, just by the stairs.” I nod and walk through said door. Ah, there it is. I chuck the broken shards in the trash, and head back into the Livingroom to clear up the rest. Stepping up to the crackers and tea-stained carpet, I notice Angel glaring at me. I ignore him, and grasp the soggy crackers in my magic. I then pass a semi-permeable barrier through the stained carpet, separating the tea from the fabric and gathering all of the liquid in my magical field. There.

“Fluttershy, do you mind if I chuck this outside?”

“Oh no, that’s fine. Just open the window above the couch,” She tells me. I open the window and toss the soiled materials. Fluttershy beams at me. “Thank you! Now, um, follow me, please. My room’s upstairs.” I follow her, and after trekking the stairs we both enter her bedroom. It’s bigger than I expected, honestly. Very spacious. She proceeds to climb on her bed and grabs one of the two pillows in her mouth. She gently jumps off and glides to the spacious part of her room, placing the pillow on the ground. She repeats this with the other pillow, placing it directly across the first. “Um, take a seat please. You can tell me what happened, or we can just talk if you want... “ She trails off, blushing a bit.

“It’s fine, I know you must be curious. My, uh, first explanation wasn’t the most coherent,” I say a bit sheepishly. I walk over to the pillow and sit down, folding my tail under me. Fluttershy walks over to her pillow and sits across from me, fidgeting a bit after sitting down, no doubt to get comfortable.

We stare at each other for a few seconds. I’m about to say something, but surprisingly Fluttershy speaks first, “So, um, do you feel comfortable telling me where you used to live? It’s okay if you’re not ready...”

My ears droop a little, but I answer anyways, “No, no, it’s fine. I used to live east of Ghastly Gorge, a few kilometers south of the Everfree. I didn’t have any neighbors, really. I liked the quiet, it made it easier to concentrate on my research.” I pause for a second, reminiscing. “I had a decently sized two story home with a basement. The basement was perfect for my experiments!”

“Oh? What kind of experiments?” Fluttershy asks.

A genuine smile spreads across my muzzle, and I explain gleefully, “I was striving for a way to raise the energy state of the thaumanetic field in a localized space long enough to debilitate the barrier between various localities. Once I did that I could then lower the field’s energy back nominal levels as the complementary field on the other side stabilized the portal. I discovered through years of experiments that tri-harmonic magic is the only type that is able to accomplish this goal. Sadly, the amount of tri-harmonic magic needed is beyond any unicorn. So, I had to figure out a way to convert pure chaos, order, and harmonic particles to a tri-harmonic state and amplify it. So I-” I cut myself off, noticing the look Fluttershy is giving me; her smile is strained, obviously not understanding what I am saying, but trying to appear attentive. “Oh, I’m so sorry! I don’t usually interact with ponies, so I may have gotten carried away. Let’s just say that I was looking for a way to transfer magic from one universe to another."

“Oh, um, is that hard to do?” she asks, seemingly genuinely curious.

“Considering it has never been done before, yes; it’s very difficult to do. I wasn’t the first to create a rift to another universe, but I was set on being the first to make one that is stable one-hundred percent of the time, and doesn’t need any active magical input to hold it open. I succeeded in making the portal using a machine of my design, but my calculations on selecting the universe must have been wrong. The portal needs two natural thaumanetic fields to be stable, one on each side, but I didn’t take into account what would happen if there wasn’t.” I look down, not making eye contact. “It… kind of ‘blew up’ my house, and everything around it for that matter. I only survived because the shield spell I used was powerful enough.” Too bad that was a lie. My shield spell was not powerful enough for me to survive. She doesn’t have to know that, though. I also really don’t want to tell her how my magic was being syphoned into the portal, in a sense powering it, and nothing I did should have allowed me to survive. If it wasn’t for what I’ve become, I would no doubt be burnt to a crisp. If I didn’t know better, I might have thought whatever did this to me came through the portal. The coincidence is very odd, I have no other data points besides the timing, but I can’t say conclusively. I mean really, what are the odds of some type of alien machine being on the other side of the portal and ‘infecting’ me with itself, saving my life? Negligible, that’s what.

She puts a hoof to her mouth and gasps, “Oh my, that’s horrible! I’m so glad you’re alright.”

I lower my head again. “I may be physically fine, but I am in no way alright. I… I bucked up, Fluttershy. Big time. See, when I woke up after the explosion I was being transported to Canterlot by guards. I was cuffed and everything. No doubt I was going to be imprisoned for what I did.” I take a deep breath. “I panicked and escaped, teleporting to the Everfree as we flew over it. I honestly don’t know why I did it. In hindsight It would have been better for me if I just stayed and made my case.” I put my face in my hooves and groan. “What am I going to do?”

“Um, I’m sure Celestia would listen to you if you talked to her. It was only an accident, right? And, um, no one was hurt…” She trails off. “No one was hurt, right?”

“No. To my knowledge I was the only pony in the area at the time, thankfully. Good thing it didn’t happen in the city, otherwise hundreds could have died, maybe thousands depending on the area!”

Fluttershy’s pupils shrink to pinpricks. “T-Thousands?,” she stutters out. Oops. Don’t talk about hypothetical mass death in front of the element of kindness. Got it.

I wave my hooves in front of me. “Don’t worry! That could never happen, only I know how to make this and I will never make one again.” This calms her down, but sadly for her, that’s not entirely true. I most likely won’t make another one, but if I ever get the proper funding I will try my hardest to make it again. I know I can do it right if I put more precautions in place. Such as a buffer between me and the portal. A buffer of at least one kilometer. Sadly, there’s no way in Equestria anypony will give me funding. It was hard enough the first time…

Fluttershy starts to look a bit nervous, and she says, “Um, Fabric? I could explain the situation to Twilight, and I’m sure she’ll vouch for you if she knew the full picture. If you want me to, that is.”

My thoughts race at that. My choices at this moment are minimal at best. If Celestia would listen to anypony, it would be her student. And Twilight Sparkle would listen to Fluttershy. This might be my only chance. I grin as a sudden burst of emotion flares through me. “You’d do that for me? Thank you so much!” I suddenly find myself hugging her, the action causing her to give a startled squeak. I let go just as quickly, blushing with embarrassment. “Sorry. I’m not usually this touchy-feely.”

“It’s okay. I didn’t, um, mind much. You just startled me is all,” she says, rubbing her right forehoof. “Would you be okay with me bringing Twilight here and meeting you? I think it’ll go over better if you help me explain the situation,” she finishes with a firm nod.

Now that isn’t something I considered. Meeting Twilight Sparkle? The Princess’ prized student? I squirm on my pillow a bit, the thought filling me with both anxiety and excitement. I have no idea what she’s like. I know she’s a magical prodigy, some even claiming she is the second coming of Starswirl, but would she even understand what I tried doing? How specialized is her knowledge when it comes to thaumanetic field theory? She’s barely out of school, after all. And if she does comprehend my work, would she condone or condemn it? Regardless of what happens, it’ll still be very interesting to talk to her if time allows it. The recent events with the Elements really opened my eyes to the possibilities of emotional magic. “Alright. I’ll meet Twilight Sparkle,” I say, smiling at the idea. I mean, she’s the element of magic; that must mean something, right?

“Great!” Fluttershy beams. “I’ll head right over to Twilight’s.” She gets off her pillow, and stretches like a cat. She takes a few steps in the direction of the stairs, but pauses before heading down. “Actually, I think you’ll do well with a nice relaxing bath.”

A bath? A nice hot bath does sound good right now. I nod and get up from my pillow, stretching in a similar manner to Fluttershy. “Okay, lead the way.” And so I follow her downstairs and through the mess of animals that is her living room and to the bathroom. Inside the bathroom, she opens a cabinet door full of towels. Before she can pick one up with her mouth, I grasp it in my magic. “I got it,” I say, placing the towel gently on my back.

Fluttershy starts walking to the door. “By the time you get out of the bath I’ll most likely be on my way to Twilight’s already, so I’ll see you then. It was nice meeting you, Fabric.” She smiles at me, then walks out of the bathroom, closing the door behind her.

I place my towel on the counter, and walk up to the tub. I twist the hot and cold knobs all the way around with my magic, and then stick my hoof in the stream of water to check the temperature. I turn down the cold water until it’s steaming hot, but not boiling. Perfect. I get into the tub and sigh, the heated water seeping through my fur and feeling just as good as it did as a pony. I close my eyes, practically melting with how good this feels. “This is the stuff,” I say, wondering how anything could possibly get any better than this. My eyes shoot open as I get a sudden idea. What if it could? What if instead of feeling like I’m melting, I actually melt? That sounds like it would be a very interesting experience. Just need to access the same feeling I did before with my hoof, and apply it to my entire body… ohh, that’s weird. All sounds and sights cease to be. I lose feeling in my limbs, but at the same time I can still feel the warmth of the water all around me. I can even feel the absence of my organs, with the notable exception of my brain. The aches, pains, pressures, and movements inside my body that I never noticed before, gone! And I feel better than ever!

I don’t know how long I lay there, just basking in the perfection that is the tub, but I realize that I need to make some sensory organs, or else I’d be totally oblivious if Fluttershy gets back. I can tell that I’m entirely submerged given the uniform heat surrounding me, so I form two stalks to emerge out of the water from different ends of my body. I give each one an eye and- oh, that messes with my depth perception. This isn’t as strange as when I gave my hair light sensing cells, but the double vision just looks weird. I move the stalks closer together until it’s a bit more normal and look down at myself. The entire bottom of the tub is pitch black, my freeform body filling it completely. The water has risen almost to the edge, but is just barely low enough to keep from spilling.

I form two more short stalks of flesh and place a fully functional ear on top of each. I twitch both of them and twist the stalks they are on, able to get a full rotation. I form a thin tendril and bang it on the side of the tub, testing my ears. They swivel in the correct direction. They’re both functional, but watching two apparently severed pony ears creeps me out a bit. I turn both eyes to look at each other and then look back to the ears. Actually, this entire scenario is a bit freaky, but kind of cool as well. Maybe I could have some fun with this. I know I can control parts of myself that are not attached to my body, but to what extent does that go?

I let loose a small piece of myself, no more than a hoofs worth, and track it with my eye stalks as it separates from my mass and inches its way out of the tub, feeling a bit colder as it leaves. I continue watching from the tub as it plops onto the floor, making a small black smear as it hits. I reform it and give the thing some skin and four pony legs, with a tiny dock and flowing tail hairs, because why not? I take some shaky steps, but it’s hard to know which direction to go without eyes on the body. So, I retract the four stalks on my main body and give the little creature two tiny pony ears and a pair of eyes. I blink a few times with my new eyes and swivel my ears, testing them out. I then give it a nice coat of blue fur, since it’s a bit cold outside of the bathwater. Heck, why don’t I just make it a tiny pony? I’m already halfway there. I remake the eye and ear stalks on my main body to observe my work, and completely change the flesh’s shape into that of a miniature me the size of a hoof. With a flurry of motion, the furry form grows out its limbs, gains a head, internal organs, and everything else to become a perfect copy of a pony me, but at a small scale. I can move its tiny hooves as if they were my own, as well as see through its eyes, but I can also see it from my vantage point in the tub. I turn its head and stare into my main eyes, seeing it and my stalks all at once. It’s very strange. I wonder if I could somehow get it to move by itself, but still control it without any real split in concentration. Let me think…

“Ah!” I gasp, losing connection with my main mass. That’s not what I wanted to do! I wanted this body to automate itself, not cut off my connection to my body! Why did this happen? I look around a bit, noticing just how big everything appears. I walk to the giant tub, observing it. I stretch my neck up to look at the top of the tub, and can just barely see the eyes and ears of my main body. I swear, it looks like the eyes are staring at me, but I’m not controlling them so that can’t be right. I move a bit to the left, and the eyes follow me, even leaning in a bit. Why are they moving by themselves? Maybe I made my body automatically watch me? I need to see if it is actually being controlled, or just a leftover from me using it.

“Are you conscious?” I ask, confident that it won’t do anything in response besides an ear twitch. I’m wrong. All four stalks jerk back quickly as if startled, splashing a bit of water on the floor in the process. Well, that’s strange. Why is it acting so... animated?

After a moment, the stalks calm down. It looks at me again and waves with a suddenly visible tendril. The action confuses me, but I wave back anyways. Hang on, why is it forming parts of itself without my input? How is it doing it? It stares at me for a few seconds, but then looks into the tub where I can’t see. I hear a sudden exhale, startling me a bit. What is it doing? My question is answered as a creepy looking jaw and muzzle on a windpipe pops up. It then fuses the rest of its stalks with itself and reforms my pony head and neck.

My breathing picks up as sudden possibilities rush through my head. Is it going to replace me? Was it inside me this whole time, and waited for me to mess up so it could take over? It interrupts me mid-panic by asking, “Why did you ask if I’m conscious?” My stomach drops. “Of course I’m conscious! If anything, it’s strange that you are acting as if you are conscious, you’re just a part of me after all.” Oh no, what is going on? This isn’t happening! It’s acting like me… Why is it acting like it’s me?

I stutter out a response, “I… But… This doesn’t make any sense! Why are you acting like you’re me? How are you acting like you’re me?!” Almost immediately both our eyes widen. No way. Are we both sharing the same consciousness? Did I somehow split it into two separate operations? How did I do that? Or am I a clone? No, that’s a silly explanation. I’m not a clone… Right?

My small ears flick towards the bathtub as a huge, to me anyways, wave of water crashes over the edge. My ears fold to my skull and my pupils turn to pinpricks at what I see; dozens of tendrils rise out of the tub, stop after getting to a certain height, and then rapidly angle towards me. I don’t even have time to scream as they reach me and absorb my body on contact.

Ha! It works! It’s walking around on its own, just like I wanted it to! I follow its movements with my eyes, thinking of what to make it do. Maybe I could try to make it do complex things, like dance or something? Hmm, what’s this? The little thing steps up to the tub and looks up at me. Huh, a bit more complex, but I haven’t really told it what to do yet! I lean my eyes in.

“Are you conscious?” The hoof-sized pony suddenly asks in a high pitched voice, startling me out of my observation of what I assumed was its automated walk cycle. Did I really make it so lifelike that it can speak? Why did it ask if I was conscious? Is… is it somehow thinking? I calm down my sensory organs, and stare at the pony again. Maybe… I make a tendril and wave it. The pony gets pretty confused before waving back with a hoof. Alright, so it can respond and ask questions. I wonder if it can hold a conversation?

I form a simple sack to inhale and exhale air, similar to a lung but without all the intricacies to collect oxygen, a trachea with vocal folds, and a fully formed pony mouth with a nostril cavity above it. It ends up looking like a single lung attached to a muzzle by a thin fleshy cord at the back. It’s pretty gross, if I’m being honest. I move my new tongue around the mouth, swishing a bit, and breathe in and out a few times through my nose. Well, it feels the same as my old mouth. Kind of. All this experimenting is intriguing, but I should probably remake my body. Well, once I leave the bath. This state is still very relaxing, so I’ll just reform my head for now.

I move my eyes and ear stalks above the mouth and fuse with it. With another simple command, parts of my body extend themselves out of the water and form the rest of my head, as well as a neck. I look at the little pony, who actually seems pretty terrified right now. “Why did you ask if I’m conscious?” I ask. “Of course I’m conscious! If anything, it’s strange that you are acting as if you are conscious. You’re just a part of me after all.”

The thing’s eyes widen, and its ears fold back in obvious distress. “I… But… This doesn’t make any sense! Why are you acting like me? How are you acting like you’re me?!” Both our eyes widen with sudden realization of what likely happened. Am I controlling both of us at once, but only conscious of one at a time? How does that even work?! Did I clone my consciousness, or is it still one consciousness, but separated? I need to reconnect with it, quickly. That’s the only way to know for sure. It can’t be a separate entity from me, so it will just reform with myself. Yes, this is the correct course of action. I form a few dozen thin tendrils, and quickly rush them at the small copy of my pony self, splashing water onto the floor in the process. Its eyes widen in shock, but my tendrils reabsorb it before it can utter a sound.

I’m reconnected to my main form, but at the same time I swear I’ve never left. It seems I have two sets of divergent memories, both complementary to each other. The image of all my tendrils flying towards me is burned in my mind. Oh my Celestia, that was horrifying! I’m glad I was right and was just processing both in parallel, but only experiencing one process at once. Actually, this brings to mind another issue. How is my brain able to process all this? Am I even constricted to a brain anymore? I would test this and get rid of my brain, except for the very obvious risks of, well, death. The instructions for how to control this form did not explain how exactly my consciousness is still functioning, so until I know I’m going to make sure my brain is always formed. I’ll just have to stay curious for now I guess.

I let myself finally relax, melting my head into the underwater puddle that is my body. I start to feel... well not tired, but something analogous to it. My body feels perfectly awake, but I’m just so comfortable. I focus on the wonderful feeling, my thoughts slowing as the seconds tick by. So comfortable...

I’m jolted awake after an undetermined amount of time by an almost unbearable sensation. It’s as if my entire form is being tickled all at once! My body ripples and spasms under the water, trying to shake off the unwelcome feeling. Ah, make it stop! If I had a body right now, I would no doubt be crying with laughter.

As the sensation almost reaches painful levels, it ceases. My form calms down, but I’m still left confused. What caused it? I form two eye stalks, and break the surface of the now cool water with a noticeable ripple. I look around and- oh. I find Twilight Sparkle herself staring right into my eyes, her own wide with shock. A bit behind her, Fluttershy is shaking in fear, her legs barely holding her up. Naturally, her eyes roll into the back of her head and she collapses, her poor brain no doubt giving up in terror. Oops.

Reveal

Twilight is walking beside me without a care in the world, her tail swishing from side to side with joy, gleefully in the middle of telling me about… something. I’m trying to pay attention, I really am, but even if I was interested I can hardly understand what she’s saying. It is absolutely wonderful that Twilight agreed to hear out Fabric, but does she have to talk about Fabric’s research papers the entire way to my house?

Bracing myself, I try again to tune into what she’s saying, “...which was extremely fascinating, but even I had to scoff at the improbability, not to mention mere implications, of this postulate describing reality. Her hypotheses are alluring, I’ll admit, yet what I read was missing a crucial stipulation for the concept to…” Yep, I still have no idea what she’s talking about.

The house finally comes into view after another few minutes of Twilight’s constant babbling, almost causing me to sigh in relief. I am able to hold the reaction in. A small wing flutter does escape, though. Thankfully, Twilight either didn’t see it or doesn’t understand pegasus body language. Probably both.

We walk up to the door, but Twilight doesn’t seem to be stopping her vocalizations anytime soon. In an attempt to get her attention, I interrupt her, “Um, we’re here. Fabric should be just inside.”

She ceases her lecture and grows visibly excited. “Great! I have so many questions for her!” A checklist appears in a flash of purple, unfurling to its maximum length in seconds. How did she manage to make that without me noticing?

Blinking in disbelief, I raise an eyebrow at the scroll. “It’s… pretty long.” I say. And it was. The thing was at least the length of an average mare, if not longer. Again, I can’t help but wonder when she had the time to write it. Maybe this wasn’t a good idea after all. Twilight might mean well, but an interrogation is the last thing Fabric needs. Taking a deep breath, I explain as calmly as I can, “Twilight, I don’t think this is a good idea.” Seeing Twilight about to interject, I quickly clarify, “The checklist, I mean. Fabric kind of already thinks she is in trouble with the law, and you coming in there to, well, interrogate her would just make her feel justified in thinking that.”

“But- I just-” Her ears lower in defeat and she vanishes her checklist with a burst of light. “You’re right. I’ll try to be concise in what I ask. However, information on the portal she created is crucial. Her methods for doing so were obviously extremely volatile, and a danger to everyone.” She puffs up her chest in outstanding imitation of Rainbow Dash. “Princess Celestia herself is counting on me to determine the cause!”

Trying not to laugh at how much her demeanor resembles our boastful friend, I say, “Okay, that’s fair.” Walking up to the door, I grasp the metal handle in my mouth and pull it open. I glance back to make sure Twilight is following and we both make our way inside. Critters of all sorts are occupying many different nooks and crannies. The wonderful smell of numerous animals seep into my nostrils. I take a deep wiff. “Ah, it’s good to be home,” I breathe out. Twilight’s face instantly turns green.

“Y-yeah, wonderful,” she says.

I beam at her. “Great!” Looking around, I notice that the bathroom door is still shut. Is she still in the bath after an hour? She must be freezing by now! “I’ll go and get Fabric. She was taking a bath when I left, but for some reason she still seems to be in the bathroom. I think she might have fallen asleep, the poor dear. The day must have tuckered her out.” I walk to the bathroom, Twilight trailing me as I continue, “She’ll no doubt get sick if I don’t wake her up, I can’t imagine the water still being warm after an hour!” I knock on the door to the bathroom. “Fabric? You awake?” I softly, but firmly, ask through the door. No reply. Well, that answers that. “Wait here, I’ll go wake her up,” I tell Twilight.

Pulling the door handle with my mouth, I head into the bathroom. The first thing I notice is water splashed across the floor, and that there is still a clean and folded towel next to the sink. The second thing I notice is that nopony is in the tub. It’s completely full of water, but all I can see is the pitch black bottom of the- wait, black? Why is my bathtub black? There is no way it’s that dirty! I just cleaned it last night!

Quickly trotting up to the tub, a single hoof slips out from under me. I emit a sharp gasp and spread my wings reflexively, giving them a few quick and hard flaps, barely saving me from crashing head first into the edge of the tub.

Twilight rushes into the bathroom, no doubt having heard. “Fluttershy! Are you okay?!”

Carefully regaining my balance, I respond, blushing a bit, “I-I’m fine, I just slipped on some water by going a bit too fast.” I ruffle my wings, a bit shaken, as well as embarrassed, from almost falling.

She raises an eyebrow. “Why were you running in the bathroom?” She looks around, and her eyes rest on the still full tub. “Actually, better question; where is Illuminating Fabric?”

Nervous and confused, I answer, “I, um, I don’t know?”

“But I thought you said she was in the bathroom?”

“I, I... but she should be! The bathtub is full of water, and her towel is still unused! I don’t know where she is... The only thing I noticed is this weird black stuff settled on the bottom of the tub.” I gesture to the tub with a hoof. She walks up to the tub, but upon stepping into the puddle of water she lights her horn and grasps the towel. She then places the it on the ground, soaking up the water. With a nod, she steps onto the towel and observes whatever it is in my tub.

Feeling even more embarrassed for slipping when I should have just cleaned it, I walk up next to her and examine it as well. Whatever it is, It’s taking up the entire base of the tub. Every now and then a silver metallic gleam ripples across the dark uniform surface. It’s almost as if it sucks the light out of the room. I nervously glance to Twilight, herself seemingly transfixed with wonder. “T-Twilight, what is this?”

“I have no idea! It’s unlike any material I’ve ever seen or heard of!” She excitedly exclaims right in my ear, said ear flicking in response to the loud noise. She then asks, “Are you sure you have no idea where it came from?”

“I’m positive. I’ve never seen anything like this either.”

Twilight gains a thoughtful expression. “This is peculiar. The fact that this is the last place Illuminating Fabric was either means it’s related to her in some way, or it being here is a huge coincidence. Regardless, I need to scan its composition to even begin to understand what it is.” Her horn begins glowing a deep pink. “Stand back, I don’t know how it’ll react. I’ll be casting a small barrier around the tub first, just in case.” She smiles a bit sheepishly. “This is actually my first time casting a barrier spell this size, but I’m pretty sure I can do it!”

With that the light around her horn reaches its brightest point, causing me to shut my eyes. When the light dies down I don’t notice anything different about the tub. “Um, Twilight? Did it work?” I ask.

She suddenly swings a hoof, which stops just short of the the tub with a clang, forcing a pink bubble to ripple into view. “Yep! It works just fine.” Her horn glows once more, this time with less luminosity. “Now I just have to scan it. This shield was designed by my brother to allow the magic of the caster through, but not much else. As long as I cast it correctly it shouldn’t interfere with my analysis spell.” The pink glow surrounds the black form in the tub, and almost immediately ripples flow across its surface in what appears to be a random fashion. “Amazing! To be able to respond to external stimuli in such an organic way, it must be alive in some way!”

Alive? I squint. Is it actually a living creature? I face Twilight with wide eyes, fearing for its safety. “Twilight stop! You might be hurting it!”

She continues her spell. “Don’t worry. The most it’ll feel, if it is indeed an animal, is something akin to being tickled, or maybe just a mild irritation. Nothing painful in short bursts.” Her horn stops glowing, the creature instantly ceasing its spasms. “Besides, I’m already done.” Her brow furrows up in confusion. “That’s strange, the spell’s results are all over the place. I’ve never seen anything li-” She cuts herself off, looking for all the world like she’s seen a ghost. I follow her gaze and right in the center of the bathtub are two stalks breaching the surface of the water, with… w-with two s-severed eyes attached... S-s-staring right at us… P-pony eyes.

The eyes blink, causing my heart to skip a beat. Oh... my head… Everything goes black.

Fluttershy’s sudden collapse breaks Twilight out of her stupor. She rushes to her side and shakes her a bit, all the while moving her mouth as if she is saying something, but I don’t hear her for some reason. Oh, right. I’m just a pair of eyes right now, aren't I? Buck, this isn’t good. I could change back to normal while she is checking on Fluttershy, but that would just create more questions than answers. There is no way I can hide what I am right now, but they do not know I am Illuminating Fabric. The best course of action is to change back into myself and show her I am who I say I am. I just hope she believes me…

Concentrating, I picture my previous body in my mind’s eye. My flesh creeps up and around my stalks, filling the gap between them. My entire head quickly forms, and my body soon after. Naturally, water gets absolutely everywhere with the speed of my reformation. Finally back in my ‘normal’ body, sounds, tastes, and smells ram into my senses, almost overwhelming me.

Quickly getting used to my body again, I take a deep breath and turn towards Twilight. My eyes widen at the sight: she is shielding Fluttershy with her body, charging up some sort of spell, fear and panic obvious in her features. Starting to panic a bit myself, I immediately try to show I mean her no harm. “Waiiit! It’s me, Illuminating Fabric!” I yell. Granted, it’s a bit blunt, but I don’t really know what else to say.

A burst of indecision flashes across her face, but in the end she ceases charging the spell. However, her stance doesn’t change. “What are you? H-how did you get in Fluttershy’s house? Why are you pretending to be Illuminating Fabric?!” Her words drip with hostility, as well as a hint of fear.

What should I say? Starting from the begining sounds like my only option. “Th-” I choke a bit due to nervousness. If I buck this up who knows what will happen? I take a deep breath, I only have one chance at getting her to believe me. “This happened to me after the collapse of the wormhole I created. Long story short, I woke up with these… powers? No, that’s not the right word. Nothing about this is magical. In simple terms, I’m now made up of machines smaller than any living ce-.”

Twilight interrupts me “But that doesn’t make any sense at all! No pony made machine can possibly function at that scale, not even with magic!” Her stance grows more aggressive. Uh-oh. “Tell me what you did with Illuminating Fabric!”

Sweating a bit, I just barely choke out, “B-but that’s who I am, I swear!” I know she most likely couldn’t hurt me, but if she decides I am a threat I am royally screwed. Celestia no doubt could destroy me, regardless of how strong my new body is. What could I say to convince her? Maybe telling her how I escaped from the thaumanetic nullification cuffs would give me some plausibility. “I escaped from nullification cuffs by passing them through my limbs, like so.” I lift my forelegs up out of the tub and let them drip onto the ground. This causes her eyes to widen, not with fear, but with a hint of curiosity. “How else would I get out of them?”

She seems to think for a moment. “Celestia never told me about how you escaped.” My eyes brighten. She said ‘you’, not just my name! That’s progress! “Although, if you really are Illuminating Fabric, you could tell me how exactly you got your portal to work, since she hasn’t published anything hinting that she was working on it. If what you say sounds plausible, I’ll believe you.” Hmm, just tell her how I made the portal? I’ll have to simplify it a bit, because we hardly have the time for a lecture.

“Alright, I’ll try my best. I’ll have to simplify it a little, though, as I’m sure you’ll understand.” I take a deep breath and start. “At first there was this small little issue of accumulating enough tri-harmonic magic, due to the fact thaum glands can only produce a finite amount in a given time. An amount that isn’t nearly enough to raise the energy state of the thaumanetic field to the level of which I required. I fixed this problem by designing a machine to do the job of dozens of thaum glands at once.” I pause, taking a deep breath. “After that, I had to build a very specialized projection device to focus the tri-harmonic particles. However, this was very tricky considering the spell pattern I invented is three-dimensional, not your usual two-dimensional pattern easily put into a book. As you well know, two-dimensional spell patterns draw out the instructions for three-dimensional spells, the two dimensional pattern being the ‘shadow’ of a three-dimensional spell in a way. My three-dimensional pattern draws the shadow of a four-dimensional spell.”

Twilight seems about ready to burst with a question, so I nod my head in her direction. “So your spell manipulates space-time itself, not just the distance between objects like a normal teleportation spell?” She asks me with wide eyes. She seems genuinely interested! My ears perk up as a burst of happiness flows through me. I think she might just believe me.

I answer with a smile, “Yes, my spell changes the probability of the fabric of spacetime itself, not just the distance between two collections of particles. At first I tried to do this using the much, much, simpler method, but it turns out that you can’t affect another universe without changing spacetime, and that requires four-dimensional spells. This means I needed a way to draw the spell pattern on the underside of a ring, and then be able to physically rotate said ring in any direction. The pattern is way too precise and complicated to do mentally. However, the spell pattern isn’t just spatial, but temporal as well. I had to find a way to change the amount of particles being emitted over a certain period of time, in effect making a dynamic spell pattern. ” I stop my explanation, realizing that Fluttershy is still on the floor, and that honestly should be a priority. “Anyways, I feel that is enough. We need to help Fluttershy up. I’ll explain how I used a computation machine to sequence the changes in the spell pattern later.” Her eyes light up at that, but she quickly gets back on track.

“Alright, I believe you. Help me with Fluttershy, okay?”

I nod, and I try to get out of the tub, but my horn smacks into something with a dull womp, causing my vision to go pink for a second. What is this? A barrier? When did she cast a barrier? “Uh, Twilight? A little help here?”

Her eyes widen. “Oh, right. I cast a barrier just in case you were hostile. Can’t really blame me, considering the scare you gave Fluttershy and I. I’ll dismiss it.” Her horn glows for a split second, just long enough for the barrier to dissipate with a wet plop.

As I get out of the tub, I land on something squishy and wet. I look down and notice a thoroughly soaked towel, said towel partially submerged in the giant puddle across the floor. I give Twilight a sheepish smile. “My bad. I’ll, uh, clean this up..” Evaporating it would be the easiest option, but doing that would make the room way too steamy. Guess I’ll just have to collect the water and transfer it back into the tub.

After placing the water in the tub and pulling the drain, I notice that I am still dripping onto the bathroom floor. Could I make my fur and hair hydrophobic? So far I have been able to change things without thinking about the structures too much, so this should work. Getting back in the tub, so I don’t get water everywhere, I concentrate on all my hair. Instantly, I feel a slight tingly sensation throughout my skin as all the water clinging to me is repelled. “Well, that was easier than expected,” I whisper to myself.

My fur is perfectly dry getting out of the tub, but Twilight stares at me for some reason. She’s biting her lower lip, almost as if trying not to laugh. “What?” I ask, a bit miffed.

She lets out a snort. “Sorry, it’s just that you’re so fluffy!”

With a groan, I realize she’s right. I’m fluffier than I’ve ever been before. Ugh, this is embarrassing. Wait, I could just force my hairs back into place, instead of sticking out like they are now. My fur, mane, and tail style immediately reform themselves with a slight tingle.

“How are you doing that?” Twilight asks in obvious fascination.

On my way across the bathroom to Twilight and Fluttershy’s position, I explain, “I have full control over my entire body, which includes the cellular level.” I bit my lip, debating if I should open this up for conversation or not. “I’ll tell you more about it later.”

She gives a nod, and then proceeds to check Fluttershy over. “I already checked her pulse and breathing when she first collapsed, both of which seem normal. Of course, since I’m not a doctor I could be wrong, but she appears fine.” She lifts Fluttershy’s head with magic and feels around with her hooves. A few seconds later she places the head on the floor and gives a relieved sigh. “Thank Celestia, she doesn’t seem to have hit her head on the way down. From what I’ve read about fainting she shouldn’t be out for more than two or three minutes. At most. It’s already been over a minute, so she should wake up any moment now.”

Anxiety rushes through me. The thought of Fluttershy seeing me and thinking of a monster is too much. “T-Twilight?” I nervously start. “Do you think we could maybe leave out the fact that I’m what made her faint? I really, really, don’t want her to look at me and be reminded of what obviously terrified her so badly that she lost consciousness.” I almost beg, trying to look as pathetic as possible.

She stares at me with narrowed eyes for a few seconds, causing me to fidget in place a bit, but her eyes soften soon after. ”I’m sorry, but even if I did lie to Fluttershy, she wouldn’t believe it. Fainting doesn’t usually cause memory loss, after all.”

Sighing, I concede her point. “You’re right.” My ears fold back as a wave of despair flows through me. “But she was so nice to me, now she’ll just see me as a monster.”

“I highly doubt that.” Twilight counters in a firm tone, causing my ears to perk up. “Fluttershy is one of the most accepting ponies I know.” She states, eyes full of pride. “She’s treated vicious manticores as if they were harmless kittens, so I guarantee after you explain to her what you are she’ll be absolutely fine with it.” Both of our ears flick towards Fluttershy’s prone form as she makes a sudden groaning noise, her wings twitching as she regains consciousness. Twilight smiles at me. “Perfect, she seems to be waking up. I’ll leave the explanation up to you after I help her up.” She leans into Fluttershy’s side, giving the shaky pegasus much needed assistance as she stands up.

“T-thanks,” Fluttershy says. She ruffles her wings and looks around, her eyes widening with delight as she spots me. Smiling brightly, she exclaims, “Oh, there you are, Fabric! It’s so good to see you!” Nervously, I smile back. She tilts her head in confusion. “You weren’t in here when Twilight and I came to find you. In fact, all we found was the-” Her eyes widen. “T-the eyes.” She squeaks, and flees in a blur of pink and yellow, settling in the corner of the bathroom, using both her wings to hide her face. Was it really that terrifying?

I give Twilight my best bemused look. She only shrugs. That… isn’t very encouraging. My redundant heart starts pumping faster as a feeling of dread creeps up on me. Great, the anxiety is back. How am I supposed to tell her what I am if this is going to be her response? My breath catches as I look at Fluttershy’s cowering form. Easing her fear should be my first priority. “Fluttershy, there are no eyes in the bathtub anymore, it’s perfectly safe now,” I softly tell her.

She peaks through her wings and looks at me with her teal eyes. “Really? W-where did they go?” Oh Celestia, why did she have to ask that question so soon? What’s the best way to answer? They say the best way to take off a band aid is all at once, so maybe the same rule applies here?

Taking a shaky breath, I go for it. “Okay, please don’t freak out, but the strange material you saw below the surface of the water was me.” Seeing her eyes widen, I explain further, “I can change my body into almost anything biological, so those eyes you saw was just my way of quickly seeing what woke me up. I swear I wasn't trying to scare you!” Still seeming uneasy, she glances to Twilight.

Upon seeing that the unicorn is unperturbed, her demeanor does a complete one-eighty, and to my utter shock she walks right up to me with a curious glint in her eyes. “So, you’re not a pony? That’s so exciting! I’ve never heard of a sapient creature that can change forms like you can!” She says with a flutter of her wings, her face positively beaming.

What, does she think I’m some kind of exotic creature or something? Well, it’s better than her being fearful and cowering, but it’s not really accurate. Would she even understand the difference between machines smaller than viruses mimicking life, and actual organic cells?

My body instinctively leans back as she gets even closer, examining me with big eyes. “You look perfect! I can’t even tell you aren’t a pony!” She then gets a little too close to my flanks for my liking. “You even have a cutie mark!”

Feeling a bit self-conscious, I blurt out, “Yep, one-hundred percent pony to the naked eyes. No need for an in depth examination!”

Her eyes widen as she quickly scurries away from me. “Oh I’m so sorry! Was I being too invasive?” She apologizes, lowering her head and hiding behind her mane in apparent shame. Great, now I feel guilty.

I decide to mollify her. “No no, it’s fine. I haven’t told you exactly what I am, and examining me like that won’t help. In fact, I don’t think I could fully explain what I am to you.” This is not entirely true. I could explain what I am to her, but some of the words for what I am don’t actually exist in the Equestrian language yet. “The first thing you should know is that I was actually a pony yesterday. Through a process I do not yet fully understand, I was changed into a collection of very tiny machines. This means I am not actually alive… Or at least in terms of how we as ponies define life.”

Fluttershy squints her eyes in confusion. “Um, but aren’t cells just tiny machines anyways?” Twilight stares at her in obvious surprise, to which Fluttershy responds to her by saying, “I remember you talking about the differences between animal and plant cells a few weeks ago. You said cells are little biological machines when you talked about them, which made sense to me. It was actually pretty interesting if I’m honest.”

“I guess I did say cells were machines, didn’t I?” Twilight says. “I haven’t really gotten enough information to say for sure how different Fabric’s components are to actual cells, but I assume when she says she is made of machines, she means something a bit different than cellular biology.” She then looks at me. “Actually, do you think you could explain how you work in greater detail? I would love to take notes!” To my utter surprise, she levitates a notebook and quill out of her mane. Is she serious? By the look of her smile and rapidly swishing tail, it seems so.

“Um, Twilight, Fabric?” Fluttershy begins, anxiously fidgeting while looking to the door. “Can we talk about this someplace other than the bathroom? Like maybe, um, my livingroom?” Twilight and I look towards each other, then around the bathroom.

“You’re right.” Twilight tells the pegasus. “We’ll follow you out.” I nod along with her statement, and all three of us make way through the door.

Upon exiting the bathroom, we are halted just outside by the annoying little bunny ironically named Angel. “Angel, what’s wrong?” Fluttershy asks. He rolls his eyes and points to the window, showcasing how dark it’s getting. Huh, is it really that late? Fluttershy’s eyes widen with panic. “Oh no! I need to feed every critter!” She turns to both of us. “I’m very sorry, but in a few minutes it’s going to be absolutely packed with animals while I feed them.” Packed with animals? More than it already is? Sheesh, that’s crazy.

“Alright, I understand,” Twilight tells her friend. “You must be very behind as it is.” She then glances in my direction. “Would you mind following me to my home? It’s a library, so it should be pretty quiet. I’m also under the impression that you need a place to stay for the night, and I can offer you a guest room.” Oh, that’s nice of her. “It’s also very convenient because Celestia appointed me, along with a few others, to study the side effects of your, uh, failed experiment. Your help would be greatly appreciated.“ She enunciates ‘greatly appreciated’ in such a way that it feels less like a request, and more like a demand. She wants me to help figure out what kind of damage the portal might have caused, and since it was my fault I really can’t say no.

With a firm nod I say, “Of course I’ll help, it was my fault after all.” My eyes the lock on Fluttershy’s and I give her my best smile. “And thank you for being so nice to me, even when you figured out I’m not really a pony anymore. And thank you for the, um, being there.” I may have broken down crying in front of Fluttershy, but I don’t want to blab about it in front of Twilight.

Luckily, Fluttershy seems to understand my wish for it to remain private as she responds. “It was no trouble, I’d do what I did for anypony, or even anything. It really was nice meeting you. I may not always go looking for new ponies, but I always love meeting new friends.” She paws at the ground while giving me a soft smile. “I hope you and Twilight get along without any trouble.” She says this with a sidelong glance to Twilight, to which said unicorn smiles nervously. What is that about?

“It was wonderful meeting you as well, Fluttershy. I’ll try to visit you whenever I have time.” In the spur of the moment I decide to give her a short hug in gratitude. She tenses a bit in surprise, but quickly relaxes and softly squeezes back. As we separate, I turn to Twilight. “Alright, lead the way.”

“Great! I have so much to ask you when we get there!” Twilight turns to leave, her tail swishing in excitement. I give Fluttershy one last smile, and then follow Twilight to the front door.

Limits

The Ponyville market is strangely vacant as Twilight and I walk through it, as there seems to only be a few ponies out and about. This town is not comparable to Manehattan, or Canterlot for that matter, but I would have expected the stalls to at least be open. Heck, the sun hasn’t completely set yet! “Hey, Twilight, where is everypony?” I ask her, genuinely confused.

“Shops close much earlier in small towns such as Ponyville, and usually all at the same time,” She explains while we walk. “As a result nopony has much of a reason to be outside at night, and that makes it really quiet when compared to Canterlot, or other more developed cities.”

“Oh, that makes sense. I’ve never really thought about it, to be honest.”

We continue walking through the near-empty street for a few minutes, only seeing the occasional pony here and there. She looks to me curiously. “You’re from Manehattan, right?” How does she know where I used to live? I don’t think I ever told her!

“How did you know?” I ask aloud.

She looks away and says, “Princess Luna mailed me your housing records at my request-”

“What?! When did you have time to do that? Why would you need to do that?” I interrupt, raising my voice slightly. My housing records? That’s kind of creepy...

Her eyes widen as she briskly responds, “Oh no, I did that before I knew you were at Fluttershy’s, so I had a few hours. I was appointed by Princess Celestia to assist in analyzing the site of your, uh, experiment, and determine the potential effects, if any, it induced. I concluded that a good course of action would be to do some research on the scientist involved. Which is you of course,” She laughs awkwardly. “So, when I mailed Princess Celestia about getting information about you, she sent me a letter telling me to expect a few letters from Princess Luna within the hour. Within twenty minutes she sent me research papers, your housing records, your schooling, and-”

I cut her off, “Okay, I get it. Anyways, as you apparently know, I grew up in Manehattan. I take it you also know that I attended Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns?” She nods. “Well, I was in my final year there when you completed your entrance exam. Even though I wasn’t lucky enough to see the dragon you somehow hatched, I did hear the loud crash when it burst through the roof.”

She blushes, looking down. “Oh, right. That.”

“Don’t be embarrassed! That was pretty impressive for an adult, let alone a seven year old! There is no way I could do an age spell of that magnitude. Heck, I had trouble turning a chick into a hen during one of my final exams,” I admit to my own shame. Age spells are horrendously difficult and require immense power when trying to change the age of magical creatures. Chickens are different. They have no way to naturally produce magic, only absorbing some minor amounts from the environments, and as such the spell shouldn’t have been a problem for a unicorn ready to graduate. Anyways, it’s hard to imagine anypony could change the age of a dragon. Dragons have more magic than any other creature, as well as a natural resistance, so I almost didn’t believe it when I heard how it happened.

She grows bashful. “It’s not like it was something I did on purpose! I was only a child experiencing a magical flare!”

I smirk. “The most powerful magical flare in recorded history. I’m almost jealous by how much magic you have.” The jealously is very real, but it would be rude to whine that her thaum gland produces more magic than mine. Even if I am convinced she unfairly got that powerful due to the element of magic cheating for her ever since the entrance exam, if unknowingly. No way to test the hypothesis at the moment, though. I have a bit more than the average unicorn via practice, anyways, so I guess I shouldn’t complain too much. Even if I don't genetically have very much...

She relents, “Okay fine, I admit it! It was pretty impressive. But I can’t take all the credit! I recently discovered that my friend Rainbow Dash, who I didn’t know at the time, performed a sonic rainboom moments before I took my test. I was extremely nervous, and as such I could barely produce a spark with my horn. When the shock wave washed over Canterlot it unlocked something in me, and for reasons unknown, my magic lost control and did more than just complete the test. The rest you most likely know.”

“Interesting.” And it really was, but I’ll ask her more when we reach her house. Wherever it is. “I’ll have to ask more about that later, but right now I’m curious; where exactly is your house?”

“Oh, it’s actually the town library.” Huh, that’s pretty neat. “It’s called the Golden Oaks, and is built within a tree.” That’s a new one. I don’t think I’ve heard of a library inside a tree.

We walk in silence for a few more minutes, but finally Twilight’s library comes into view. It may be growing dark, but the orange glow of the sunset is still enough to illuminate the absolutely massive trunk in the distance, a few windows dotting its surface. After another minute of traveling, we make it to the door, and I glance up at the healthy looking leaves attached to the thick branches, impressed that the tree can survive with an entire library built into it.

“I’ll admit, Twilight, when you told me you lived inside a tree I didn’t expect it to be alive,” I remark as she unlocks the door.

Twilight looks to me after the door opens without a sound. “I heard that the tree was fully grown into this shape using some extremely complex spell matrices, as well as a bit of earth pony magic. Post construction, some simpler spells were woven into the trunk to keep it healthy, and even allow somepony to remodel it if they redesign a specific sigil correctly.” She steps through the open door and beckons me inside. “Anyways, come on in!”

Once we both enter, the baby dragon she hatched comes into view, currently reshelving books. He lives with her? Did she adopt him, or are they like brother and sister? Hmm… I don’t think I really thought about that. His name is a mystery as well.

The dragon drops a book in surprise at the noise. He quickly turns around, but upon noticing Twilight he relaxes. “Oh, it’s just you, Twilight.” He glances to me, his weird spine things perking up. “Oh, hey. Are you the pony Twilight said she was out getting?” She planned on having me over before she even asked me?

Looking to Twilight, who smiles nervously, I say, “Yeah, that’s me.” I walk up to the dragon and hold out my hoof, offering to shake his, uh, claws. He wraps his claws around my hoof, which feels a bit creepy to be honest, and we both shake limbs. “My name is Illuminating Fabric, but you can just call me Fabric if you want. It is a bit long," I offer.

“I’m Spike!” He enthusiastically chirps. Dropping my hoof, allowing me to place it firmly on the ground again, he continues, “So, are you the one who blew up their house?” Twilight’s eyes widen. “It’s all Twilight would talk about.” Well, he’s blunt.

Twilight nervously glances between the both of us before trotting up to him and harshly whispering. My ears flick towards them, and I am able to just barely pick out what she’s saying, “Spike! Try to be more sensitive!”

Spike’s head fins lower as he apologizes, “Sorry Twilight.”

I step in. “Twilight, it’s fine. I’m not offended or anything. Let’s just go over what you wanted us to do, okay?”

She looks to the dragon. “Spike, Fabric and I are going down into the basement. Come knock on the door when it’s almost time for dinner, okay?”

The little dragon salutes. “You got it Twi!”

Walking up to me, she asks, “Is that alright with you? I have a few things I need to ask, and the basement would give us privacy.”

“That’s agreeable.” I say, nodding my head.

She grins widely. “Great! Okay, follow me. The basement is this way.” Her grin worries me, but I follow regardless.

She goes through what I assume to be the basement door, but before I enter Spike stops me. “She can get a bit crazy when she’s like this.” I give him a funny look. “It’s true!” he defends himself. “Her smile is exactly the same as whenever she gets a new book to study, or—”

Twilight’s voice echos from the basement, “Fabric! You coming?”

I give Spike an apologetic look, and say, “I have to go. Nice meeting you!” I then respond to Twilight, “Yeah, coming down now.” Walking through the door, and closing it behind me, I immediately come across a flight of stairs.

After I make my way down, I come across Twilight standing in the middle of the room, various machines in the corner. One is set up near Twilight, though, and at first glance it seems to be a thaumograph.

She turns around upon hearing my hoofsteps. “Ah, there you are! So, I planned on asking you a few questions related to your research. However, in light of new discoveries, namely your unique physiology, I was wondering if we could get some data in a controlled setting."

“I’m not sure I—”

“Oh come on!” She urges. “You said yourself that you don’t know how this happened! What better way to figure it out than the scientific method? I’ll ask you to perform certain actions, and then write down what I observe.” A couple of blank notebooks appear with a flash, and she scribbles something on the headers of each, an eager twinkle in her eyes. “It would also help if you describe any and all sensations you experience.”

I sigh, deciding there is no true reason not to. “Fine. However, I won’t do anything that makes me uncomfortable.”

“Great!” She exclaims, a huge smile on her face. “Let’s get started right away! This is going to be so much fun!” She giggles as she levitates the thaumograph's headpiece over to me.

As the device sits snugly over my head, she observes the thaumograph's readouts, a steady stream of data being produced. “Uh, I already said that I don’t use magic to transform, so why are you doing this?”

“I need to know if you are able to mimic a normal unicorn’s magical production, as well as if it gets interrupted at all when you transform.” She flicks a switch on the machine, halting the stream of data, and records the information in one of the notebooks. She turns the machine back on. “Okay, I need you to get rid of your thaum gland. You can do that, right?”

“Yes, I think I can do that. I didn’t have it when I was in the tub, after all. Tell me when to do it.”

She watches the papers coming out of the machine, and waits a few seconds. “Okay, now.” I quickly determine the parts making up my thaum gland and deform it, a slight tingle accompanying the change.

“It’s gone,” I tell her. The red lines on the thaumograph's readout quickly narrow as the magic within me bleeds into the background.

She turns off the machine and meticulously reads through the data, writing a note every now and then. “Amazing! This shows a sharp decrease in magic until it stabilizes and detects only background levels, as if you never had any to begin with! Tell me, what did it feel like?” She rests her quill on the other notebook, waiting for my response with a giddy smile.

“It felt tingly. That’s about it, really.” I say with a shrug. She deflates slightly, but writes it down regardless.

Her motions pause, her quill resting just above the page. “Hang on, you mean you only felt a tingle? That’s it? You lost all the magic in your body, but you are perfectly fine?” I nod, the implications apparent to me as well. “This means you do not require magic to live! Every single creature in Equestria needs at least some magic, even the ones that don’t produce it, so this is completely unheard of!” She breaths out, her expression quickly growing unhinged. Was this what Spike was referring to?

“Shouldn’t we wait to discuss the results after gathering the data?” I remind her in an attempt to calm her down. Luckily, it works.

Her ears perk up, and she concedes my point by saying, “You’re right!” A short giggle escapes her. “Silly me getting off track, we need to move on!” She levitates the equipment off my head and roles the thaumograph back into the corner with the other machines. When all the equipment is put away, she rolls out a portable microscope, looking pretty high quality if I say so myself. It’s obvious what she wants it for.

“So, you want to look at me under a microscope?” I deduce. “It’s hopeless you know. I doubt it’s powerful enough to be able to even catch a glimpse at what passes as my new cells.”

Her tail twitches in agitation. “This is a state-of-the-art optical microscope that can see things down to twenty micrometers. Almost at the limit of what can be seen with visible light!” She smirks, straightening out her stance.

“Sorry, but you would have to get down to ten nanometers to even begin seeing it, and even then you’ll only see a blob. A resolution of about two nanometers would be sufficient to make out some details, but a resolution of around five-hundred picometers would be needed to observe it in enough detail to even begin to understand it. So until Equestria invents a new type of microscope, you won’t be able to see a single cell.”

Her jaw drops. “What?! How is that possible?”

“I would love to explain it, but a lot of the details would go over your head.” Twilight’s ears fold back in frustration and she opens her mouth, but I quickly add, “Not that you aren’t smart enough, it’s just the terminology to describe this in full detail literally does not exist.” I pause, thinking for a second. A solution comes to me, making me feel a bit stupid. I facehoof. “Oh, duh! I could just create a three dimensional illusion and you could write down your observations. Simple!”

She looks dubious. “You actually know what your ‘cells’ look like? It’s a good idea, but how can you even know that?”

“I just know. I can’t explain- Well... actually, when this happened I learned a lot about what I am. If I want to know something, it comes to me instinctively. It’s not all there at once, but when I need it it’s there. Including vocabulary that doesn’t exist, but makes perfect sense to me regardless.” My weight shifts as I shuffle my hooves, tilting my head in confusion. “Strangely, this doesn’t include what created these machines or anything unrelated. No context at all.”

She squints, saying, “Let me get this straight; you now possess a phenomenal amount of advanced knowledge, but nothing unrelated to the tiny machines making you up, or even where they came from? That’s strange… Regardless, I think I’ll take up your illusion idea last, because it’ll be time-consuming to examine it. I’ve decided to save the microscope for later as well, which is what I should have done in the first place.” With a tail flick she turns around towards the microscope. She pushes it back into the corner with her magic and comes back to me.

“So, what’s next?” I ask her.

She bites her lip. “Well, I was wondering how detailed your disguise is. Is your equine form skin-deep, or are all the organs there?” She looks me over. “From a cursory examination, you seem absolutely perfect!” Her eyes widen as she realizes what she said. “Purely from from a mimicry standpoint!” I just roll my eyes. “A-Anyways, I know you have lungs, deduced from the fact you can talk, as well as a thaum gland, but I’m unsure the nature of other such areas. Do you have a functional digestive system? How about urinary? I, uh, was able to determine that you have an anus and external genitalia, but are those for show or functional?” She blushes slightly.

I sputter out, “O-of course they-” My throat catches. Are they? My digestive and urinary systems, um, excrete waste, but they currently are not processing anything. They don’t need to, after all. But what about reproduction? Would I even be able to have children? The answer comes to me quickly; my cells can make perfectly normal ovum based on my DNA as long as they have organic matter to construct them with. I wasn’t quite planing on having kids anytime soon, but still having the option is a relief. “Yes, my organs are functional, even my reproductive system.”

Twilight’s quill scratches down the information to her notebook, and then asks, “What organs can you function normally without, while still holding up your equine form?”

“Uh, all of them except the obvious?”

She raises an eyebrow. “Even your brain?”

“Of course not!” I hastily say, but then reconsider. “Well, maybe. But there is no way I am testing that!”

“I wasn’t going to ask that, considering it might accidently kill you. I was only wondering if you knew is all.” She turns the page of the notebook. “Anyways, how are your pain receptors? Do you feel things the same way as before?”

My mind flashes back to the timber wolf biting off a good chunk of my leg, and I grimace. “Yes, when my cells are configured to make neurons I can feel. When I deform them, however, it’s painless because the neurons themselves come apart. So don’t go asking me to cut off my leg without deforming first, because it would feel, and look, like it does for a normal pony.”

“Oddly specific example,” She observes, looking at me curiously.

I’ve already told her this much, no point in leaving the rest out. “I kind of got attacked by timberwolves in the Everfree. One of them got a good chunk out of my leg.” Twilight’s ears fold back as she flinches. “Yeah, it felt about as bad as you’d imagine. Luckily, I was able to get it back.” As well as the head of one of the timberwolves. No need to tell her about that minor detail, though. How would she even react to the fact I can deconstruct any organism, and apparently any material, to make more of myself?

“How did you manage to get away?”

“Uh.” Buck, what do I say? Maybe the truth, but with a few details omitted? Yeah, that’s not really lying… Right? “I was able to kick one of them hard enough that it dropped the piece of my leg, and then the others got scared and ran off,” I explain, shifting my weight with a nervous grin.

“Really? One kick and they backed off?” Her muzzle scrunches up in confusion. “That’s strange, from what I’ve read timberwolves are usually less skittish than that.”

“Maybe they sensed I wasn’t food, and decided I wasn’t worth it?”

“Maybe,” she says slowly, staring at me with an inquisitive expression. She then perks up after a few moments, grabbing the other notebook that I’ve come to associate with physical observations. “Anyways, we’re getting off topic. I want to test the limits of your transformations.”

“How so?” I ask, curious as to what she’ll come up with.

With a flash of light, a long piece of parchment appears directly in front of Twilight. “Well, the plan is for you to change into increasingly more complicated structures.” she levitates a quill, her notebooks floating off to the side in her magenta light. “Starting with inanimate objects, and ending with organic creatures, this exercise should shed some light, mostly for myself, on what you can and can’t do. So, give me a moment to finish this checklist, and we’ll start!” she says with a smile, before rapidly writing her list, humming a random tune.

As she writes, I can’t help but wonder what she’ll have me do. I know that I can easily turn into things my ‘instincts’ know about at the molecular or atomic level, or at least mimic well enough to pass, but I’m unsure on how well I can change into animals I lack genetic information for. I haven’t actually tried changing into anything that already exists yet, just variations of my own biology, so this testing might help me as much as Twilight.

“Okay, done!” Twilight says with excitement. She examines her list and then looks to me. “First things first, let’s start this exercise by having you turn your foreleg into various metals. Or if you cannot do that, just try to make the properties as close to genuine as possible.”

My limitations instantly come to the forefront of my mind. “I can replicate the electrical conductivity, tensile strength, and texture of most metals. However, under intense scrutiny you’ll find that the natural frequency, thermal conductivity, and energy needed for a phase change will be inaccurate.”

“That’s fine, we’ll just go through five basic metalloid alloys and elements. We don’t actually have enough time to test their properties besides basic looks and feel, so it’s optimal that you explained what you did.” She says, walking up to me. “I want to get this part over with quickly, so I’ll say the five metals now, and then you cycle through the list as I finish observing the previous. Got it?” She asks

“Yep, makes sense.” I say.

“Great! Okay, the metals are as follows: copper, zinc, brass, steel, and aluminum.” Taking that as the queue to start, I focus on the properties of copper. Sadly, my components are much too large to simulate the atomic lattice of true metals. Luckily, whatever it is that controls my transformations, because my brain is obviously not powerful enough, comes up with a workaround about as fast as I could inquire.

With a slight tingle, my right foreleg deconstructs itself before swiftly taking on the macro properties of copper, color and all. Taking my weight off the leg, I lift the off-red limb and observe it; the now rectangular surface is reflective, gleaming slightly in the low basement light. Twilight also comes up to it, absentmindedly writing down some quick notes, and observes my limb. She then lifts a hoof and knocks it against my leg. The gong that emits travels up my shoulder, and through my body, causing me to emit a yelp as I jerk away from the unexpected sensation.

“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry!” Twilight quickly apologizes, her eyes wide as her ears fold back in distress. She sounds genuinely sorry as I shake my metallic limb to try and get rid of the sensation. “I-I wasn’t trying to hurt you, I swear! I was just trying to hear if it sounded like metal, or just looked like it!”

I cut her rapid babbling off, the tingling in my shoulder quickly fading, “N-no it’s fine. It didn’t even hurt, it just felt really, really weird.”

“You sure?” She asks, her ears perking up.

“Yep, I’m fine.” I lie, but only a little! It was in fact slightly painful, kind of like hitting your hoof against something, but telling her that would be counter-productive. Stupid oversensitive nerves. I need to make a shock absorber between where the flesh and metal connect if I ever do this again.

“Oh thank Celestia. I thought I might have actually hurt you!” She says, sighing in apparent relief. “So, what exactly did it—” her horn suddenly flashes bright-pink, causing her to groan in irritation. “Ugh, that was my timer spell, which means it’s almost time for dinner. No doubt Spike prepared some for you as . . . wait, do you even need to eat?”

“I can eat, yes.” I also can consume entire life forms from the inside out, turning them into more of myself.

She grins. “That’s great! Spike’s an excellent cook; I’m sure you’ll love his spinach and hay casserole! In any case, if we are going to have time to test your imitation abilities, we are going to have to skip the rest of the inorganic tests.” She concedes. “What do you need to be able to change into something organic? Visualization? Memory?”

I quickly summon up the knowledge. “From what I understand, visually I can mimic the external structures of something. However, if I have a sample of DNA I can make a complete transformation.”

“You can sequence DNA?!” She asks, her eyes going wide in obvious wonder.

“I can’t consciously do so, no. But my, we’ll call them instincts, can. Numerous cells surround each nucleotide from all points, and binds to it. Then each cell plugs in their small chunks of information into a massive algorithm to reconstruct the DNA, determining exactly how the organism functioned.”

“Fascinating.” Twilight breaths out, frantically scribbling what I said into her notebook. “You’ll have to explain the process in more detail when we have more time, but right now I want you try changing into me. After that, I’ll uproot a hair and allow you to use that to change more completely. I want to compare both versions and see what the differences are.”

“Change into you? Isn’t that a bit invasive?” I ask cautiously, slightly nervous at the prospect of transforming into another pony.

She honestly looks confused by my hesitation. “I don’t see how it would be invasive. I’m giving you permission, after all.”

“Well, if you say so . . . Should I start now?” She nods, reading her notebook in a magenta glow. I take in the shape of her body, her mane style, her tail style, the slightly different color streaks going through her hair, her eye color, her cutie mark, and everything about her in much less time than I thought it would take. I am even able to figure out the exact size and shape to make my larynx and tongue in order to produce her voice. However, I can’t seem to figure out how to make my magic the same color as hers. Oh well, this ought to be good enough. And with a nod to myself, I change into a superficial copy of Twilight Sparkle.

The transformation is much faster than I expected. A slight tingle accompanies the reorganization of my cells, but by and large I barely felt a thing. Heck, the biggest difference is that of my throat and tongue, and even then the sensation was a slight tingle. I swirl my tongue around in my mouth, getting a feel for the slightly smaller tongue.

“How do I look?” I ask the wide-eyed unicorn. The voice that comes out is foreign to me, slightly off from how Twilight sounds, but I chalk that up to hearing it resonate through my skull. I then give myself a twirl, showing off Twilight’s starburst cutie marks on either side of my flanks.

“Uncanny,” Twilight says, her eyes gleaming with focused intent, seemingly getting over her shock at seeing an identical twin quite quickly. “Now, hold still, I need to examine you in more detail; It’s crucial that I get a good look if I’m going to be able to spot any differences between this and the next version.”

I try my best to hold still as Twilight looks me over, pausing to make notes every few seconds. She gets pretty close to my face at one point and stares into my eyes, before summoning a mirror of her own, no doubt comparing her own iris’ color to my copy. After that she circles me, making her way to my behind, and inspects her cutie marks plastered on my flanks.

After a few more… slightly invasive examinations, she steps in front of me. “Everything seems identical to me, except the obvious exception of what I can’t see. But what of your thaumanetic spectra?”

“I wasn’t able to change my magical aura, so it’s the same.” I answer with a frown. “It’s weird. Everything else was easy, but it seems like my body doesn’t know how to modify a thaum gland. Maybe I’ll have better luck when I have your genetic information.”

She nods. “Right. So, what would be optimal: hair root, cheek swab, or a sample of my blood?”

I don’t even have to think, the answer coming to me instantly. “A hair from your tail and mane, as well as a cheek swab. Should account for any disparities between the samples, resulting in a more authentic copy. Blood would allow me to better determine various factors of your health I couldn’t know with DNA alone, which would produce an even better copy, but it’s not really necessary due to the hassle of needles.”

“No need for needles, I have a book somewhere in the library with a section on intravenous teleportation. It’s very fascinating, but I haven’t really read too much into it. But now I have a reason to!” Her horn glows a deep pink. “Just give me a second to find it.” The search takes about five seconds, but a fairly thick book pops into existence in front of her. I can just make out the title, which reads Common Medical Applications of Magic. “There we go.” She opens the book and quickly finds the page she was looking for.

After a half minute of staring at the page, she shuts the book and poofs it away. “Got it. Fairly simple modification to the standard teleportation sigil.” She lifts a foreleg and orients her charging horn towards it, a weak pink glow appearing around a small patch of fur. With a soft pop, a tiny amount of deep-red fluid appears within her telekinetic grasp, the volume comparable to that of a small marble. Twilight grins, the sphere of blood orbiting her head. “Yes! First try, and I barely felt a thing!” Huh, she learned that spell pretty fast. That’s pretty amazing, actually.

“Good job, now I just need a cheek swab and two of your hairs.”

She complies, and with a small wince she plucks out two of her hairs; one from her mane, and one from her dock. She then opens her mouth, a pink glow coming out of the orifice as she no doubt levitates a small sample of her flesh.

“So, do I just set these against your fur?” Twilight asks me, seemingly unsure as the various samples lazily orbit around her head.

“Yeah, just give me the samples and I’ll do it.” I light my own horn, and gently poke at her own magical aura, asking for permission to take over the hold of the samples. She complies, and the shimmer around the objects shift to my own light-blue glow with a flicker.

I first move the globule of blood to my back and press it against me. It stains my fur, but the surrounding hairs quickly split into numerous microscopic filaments, splitting again and again, ripping into every single cell nucleus, excluding the red-blood cells of course; they just get recycled for resources, only a few hundred being analyzed for various reasons. From the surface, it appears as if the bloodstain vanishes into a blur of obsidian.

I become vaguely aware of numerous aspects of what makes Twilight herself, but I easily ignore the data streaming into the back of my mind. Focusing on the rest of the samples, I consume them just as quickly, getting a slightly greater sample size.

Something stands out as her buccal cells get disassembled; a few bits of lettuce and hay, most likely from her breakfast. Numerous bacteria and viruses also get caught in my crosshairs, the machinery deconstructing them just as swiftly as Twilight’s own cells.

“Okay, done.” I tell Twilight as I finish, only a second after the process started.

“Really? That was fast.” She says.

“My cells are very efficient. Anyways, I’m ready to change when you are.”

She floats her notebook in front of her, resting the fully inked quill against an open page. “You may proceed.” Twilight says in a level voice, her fidgeting hooves and swishing tail giving away her excitement as she attempts to stay professional. I don’t know why she’s so excited, it’s not like I’ll look any different externally than I do now.

“Alright, transforming now,” I tell her.

My entire form ripples as all the cells in my body change into an exact replica of Twilight’s. Outwardly, this doesn’t result in any difference, but inwardly I feel every single shift as my organs liquify, reforming a split second later with a slightly different structure. As Twilight’s thaum gland forms, however, I am unprepared for what happens; my magical potential increases by an order of magnitude in an instant, making me gasp in simultaneous pain and euphoria.

“O-oh b-uck, that’s a lot of m-magic.” I stutter out as my new gland fills up, the sensation unlike anything I’ve felt before. Where before I could barely hold a pool’s worth of magic, now my thaumanetic capacity has passed that of a small lake, and it keeps on increasing! My legs struggle to support my weight, the limbs shaking as my body tries to figure out how to contain this much energy.

Twilight looks at me strangely as I start giggling with joy, pink static zipping across my fur as I barely hold back my new power. This is what it feels like to be Twilight? Celestia, this is amazing! Just imagine what I could do with all this magic! Hay, I might have even been able to stop my portal from collapsing into itself, or even stabilized it completely, if I had this back then!

“Fabric, are you feeling okay?” Twilight asks with a concerned tone.

I pant at the exertion of containing the power bubbling underneath my skin, the leylines throughout my body burning as my thaum gland fills to capacity. “You have so much magic! I-I can barely hold it back! It feels so good!” I almost moan, the electric tingle throughout my body making me feel more alive than ever before.

However, the event takes a turn for the worse as a painful pressure suddenly makes itself known behind my horn, causing my eyes to widen. Oh buck, my mind isn’t prepared to rein in this much magic…

The pressure gets exponentially worse, and a bright pink light fills my vision as my horn heats up, a phenomenal amount of energy forcing its way through the path of least resistance; my horn. “Twilight! I-I can’t control your magic!”

“What do you mean you can’t control my magic?!” Twilight exclaims, her voice full of panic as the light of my horn takes up my entire vision, and my forehead starts overheating, singeing my mane.

“My brain lacks the synaptic wiring, which is something I really should have expected! And as a result- ahh!” I scream as the magical radiation waving off my horn starts to scorch my retina. My eyes shut tightly, the pain excruciating.

Buck, buck, buck, what do I do?! Magic needs years to grow alongside said unicorn’s brain and body, but this instant transformation is forcing me to adapt in seconds. I may have Twilight’s magical capacity and the genetic layout of her leylines, but I don’t have the correct wiring in my brain, and that’s not something I can correct unless I can scan Twilight’s. But if I did that, would I even be myself? I-I can’t take that risk!

The pain starts to grow too much, so I shut off all sensation, causing me to gasp in relief as my body grows numb, my legs giving out as my body relaxes. “Twilight! Please, do something! I can’t think of anything that won’t result in a magical cascade!” I beg, completely out of ideas.

The information within the nanomachines cannot help me, because for some stupid reason they know buck-all about magic. I can’t help me, because anything I do would cause me to become a smear on Twilight’s basement. If I get rid of Twilight’s thaum gland, the magic explosively vacates my body. If I try to cast a spell without the proper internal wiring in my brain, I also explode. If I wait too long, I bucking explode. It’s like the portal all over again… What am I going to do?!

Suddenly, a high-pitched whine penetrates my skull, scattering all my thoughts, the light from my horn becoming blindingly white through my closed eyelids. And then... nothing.

“Twilight! Please, do something! I can’t think of anything that won’t result in a magical cascade!” Fabric begs of me, but I can barely even look at her due to how bright her horn is! How does she expect me to help her? Wh-what could I even do?

The energy rippling off her horn actually starts scorching my fur, so I surround her in one of my brother’s shields, the heat instantly vanishing. I bite my lip, trying to think of ways I might be able to save her, but I come up with nothing. This is unlike any magical flare I have ever heard of. Heck, the closest is my own flare during the entrance exam, but even then my magic wasn’t this volatile. Chaotic sure, but not deadly!

My ears fold back as the whine of her magic increases in volume by an order of magnitude, the light from within my shield becoming blindingly bright, forcing me to look away. My heart drops as I realize what’s happening; her magic is destabilizing.

Panicking, I raise my voice, “Try to control i— ”

I am cut off as a deafening bang reverberates throughout the basement, my shield barely holding back the shockwave as the magical feedback slams through my forehead like a sledgehammer. The flash is so bright that I can see an afterimage burned into my eyes, even though I wasn’t directly looking at the source.

I can’t even think of anything other than the sheer magnitude of the explosion that I contained, my ears ringing as sound slowly returns to me. The entire basement could have become a crater, the tree collapsing into itself, and crushing anypony inside! If I didn’t surround—

My eyes widen, and I start shaking, the implications too horrible to imagine. “Fabric! Oh Celestia, no!” With spots in my vision, I turn my gaze towards the flickering shield as my magic barely holds it up. I rapidly blink, and after a few seconds the spots fade away. I grow ill at what is revealed, my hind legs giving out in shock; the entire bubble is dark, blackish-red fluids seeping out through the cracks in the spherical barrier.

My magic sputters out with a whimper as I grow dizzy, my breaths coming in increasingly short bursts. The putrid smell of burnt flesh and blood seeps into my nostrils, the bits of Fabric clinging to the walls of the bubble falling to the ground with a wet plop as the shield shimmers away. A perfect circle of blood and burnt flesh is all that remains of Illuminating Fabric. Looking closely, it appears her pelvis and rear legs remain intact, or at least the bones are. The rest of her is in pieces, no doubt ripped to shreds by the raw magic.

“N-no...” I whisper, starting to hyperventilate, tears streaming down my cheeks. She’s dead. There is no way she survived that, even with her new abilities. She’s d-dead. My gut clenches up, and the small amount of undigested food within my stomach rushes up my esophagus, ending up all over the basement floor. I dry heave a few times, before it starts up all over again as I glance at the mess that was Fabric. Sobs escape me in short bursts, my body shaking as I take shuddering gulps of air.

“Twilight! What was that noise?!” Spike’s voice echoes throughout the basement as he slams open the door, panic in his tone. My eyes widen as I watch him rush down the stairs, heading straight for me. I want to tell him to leave, that nothing is wrong, but I think I need someone here right now. I don’t think I can deal with this alone.

“S-Spike!” I cry out. I get up off of my plot and rush into his arms, making sure to block his view of Fabric’s remains as I nuzzle him. A sob escaping me as he wraps his claws around me, brushing my mane in an attempt to comfort me.

“A-are you okay? Where’s the other unicorn?” Spike asks, sounding more concerned than confused, but nonetheless hugging me back just as tightly. His question only results in me bawling harder.

“W-we n-need to go upstairs. I-I have to contact Princess Celestia!” I manage to say, hiccuping every few words. However, I don’t budge, the thought of actually telling Celestia what happened is horrible. Instead of doing what I said, I just hold him tighter, my body shaking as I cry.

Where am I? What’s happening? Why can’t I feel anything? Did I explode? No, that’s impossible. I’m still able to think, after all. So, what does this mean?

Concentrating, I am able to bring up a mental hologram of my body’s current state, and it doesn’t look good. At all. I’m literally a fine paste right now, and the biggest piece of me that is intact happens to be my ass. And even then, it’s only my pelvic bones, my hind legs, and a small amount of flesh in various places. I guess that explains why I feel like I’m spread out, and also why I can’t feel anything with my nerves. I’m a literal pile of blood and bones.

Why I am so calm? Oh, right, I don’t have the brain chemistry to freak out. Because I don’t even have a brain. How does that work? What I’m using to think right now has motivations and curiosity built in, but no deeper emotions. Strange. No matter how hard I think, I can’t seem to get any information as to why this is. Oh well, at least I know what the issue is. Just have to pull myself together is all… Huh, not even a twinge of humor at that horrible joke. Shame.

I deform all my cells back into their component nanomachines, and then form myself into a singular mass as quickly as I can. Sadly, it takes a little over a minute, considering some of my parts are slightly damaged and have to be repaired. A few million were completely destroyed, but enough survived that the others can cannibalize them for molecular components.

Finally, I am a single mass again, and it feels great, but I quickly reform my original body. My entire body is complete, but I still leave my skull empty, hesitating as I think. It seems my brain’s structure is copied every couple picoseconds, and as such I can reform my brain to the same specifications as when it was destroyed. Doesn’t that mean I died? Or am I the same pony because the same parts are going to reform my brain the same way? The same atoms, with only a few changes… I still think, therefore I’m still me. With that final thought, I reform my brain, and instinctually figure out how to process my thoughts using it.

I gasp as I open my eyes, sensation returning to my body. I’m sideways on the floor, and I swear I hear sobbing. My ears swivel towards the sound, and as I turn my head I notice Twilight hugging Spike, her back to me as she cries into his arms. With a wince I realize she must think I’m dead, and no doubt saw my gory remains.

With a gulp, I decide I need to just call out her name and tell her I’m okay. So, I get up and say, “Twilight, I’m okay!” Said unicorn’s hairs stand on end as she jumps into the air with a shriek, unintentionally knocking Spike over. She turns to me with inflamed eyes, her coat stained with fluids. She quickly relaxes, and a huge teary smile appears on her face.

“You’re alive!” Twilight hiccups, giggling with joy as she gallops in my direction. She practically knocks me over with a hug, sobbing in relief as she hangs on my neck with her hooves. “How is this possible?! You were—” She shuts her mouth with a snap, and carefully glances to Spike, said dragon getting up off the ground while rubbing his head. “You exploded, and you were e-everywhere!” She whispers harshly, a slight sob escaping her. “H-how are you okay?”

“Twilight, what’s going on?” Spike asks, twiddling his claws as he glances at us with unease.

Twilight chuckles nervously, and let’s go of my neck. “Um, you see- well- ah-.” She takes a deep shuddering breath, placing her hooves against her chest. “It’s fine, Spike. We just had a misunderstanding. You can go upstairs, we’ll meet you for dinner in a second.”

He looks dubious, and seems like he’s about to argue, but sighs as he looks into her eyes, his spines deflating. “Alright, Twi, but are you sure you’re okay?” He stares at Twilight, showing genuine concern.

Twilight smiles. “Yes, I’m fine. I just have to talk to Fabric alone for a minute, and we’ll be right up!”

Spike nods, heading to the stairs. However, he stares at the scorched circle on the floor for a few seconds, before shaking his head and continuing upstairs, closing the door to the main floor with a soft click.

“So, turns out I can survive being blown to bits. Who knew?” I say after a few seconds of silence, attempting to alleviate the awkwardness. I immediately realize that wasn’t the best thing to say as Twilight turns around, disbelief on her face.

“Really?” She enunciates the word slowly, glaring at me. “Are you really going to joke about this? I thought you died! It was the most horrible thing I’ve ever seen!” A shuttering sob escapes her as she clenches her eyes tightly. “Oh Celestia! It was like you were inside-out, there was blood everywhere!” Her voice hitches as she breathes deeply. She sits down, and moves her forehooves in time with her chest, and slowly starts to calm down.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you! I assure you that the experience wasn’t pleasant for me either.”

Twilight takes another shuddering breath. “I-it's fine. Let’s just go upstairs and eat, okay? We still need to talk about your attempt at making a stable wormhole.” She looks to the scorched circle in the middle of the room, a slightly concave indent in the center, her breathing picking up slightly. “Let’s just forget this happened, okay? The sooner I get out of this basement, the better.”

Hearing the desperation in her voice, I am about to rapidly agree. Yet, I first need to get a scan of her neural pathways. Now that I know I don’t actually use my brain as my consciousness, I can modify it however I wish, and I really want to be able to use her magic. With a quick overhaul it could work! I just hope she understands. “I agree. However, I kind of have a favor to ask of you. Do you think I could get a synaptic snapshot of your brain?”

She gives me an utterly baffled look. “Why would you possibly need that?”

I bite my lip, my tail swishing in anxiety. “My magical capacity is kind of, well, small. At least compared to yours. And um, I just need your neural wiring to be able to use your thaum gland without exploding.” I paw at the ground with a hoof, hoping she doesn’t say no.

“Wait, you’re serious?” She asks in surprise. Her eyes then widen in apparent understanding. “Are you… jealous of my magic?”.

My face burns in embarrassment. “Yes, I guess I am,” I admit, to my shame.

“I don’t actually know what to say, Fabric. If I let you scan me, it would feel like I’m giving you magic without any effort, and that feels wrong to me. You also would get my memories, right? This sounds really invasive.”

“B-but you aren’t giving me any knowledge, just the ability to use what you were born with! And I promise I won’t even peek at your memories, even if I figure out how to! I studied my entire life to ration the amount of magic I have, and if I have more I might be able to do so much! I’d finally be able to teleport longer than short distances without being exhausted!” I plead.

Her eyes soften, and she sighs. “Fine.”

My ears perk up, and a huge smile creeps across my face. “Really? Thank you! Now, I can do it using a run of the mill scanning spell, the same kind you used to scan me earlier today. The normal limitations of this spell being brainpower means I can just tap into the massive computation power I now possess, and get a carbon copy of your brain, right down to the individual molecules. I’m only going to use the synaptic connections I need to use your thaum gland, though.”

“Fine, just hurry up. I’m actually pretty hungry, especially since I vacated my stomach.” She swishes her mouth with a look of disgust, and flashes her horn, the contents of her stomach on the floor being teleported away. “I also need to wash my mouth out, ugh.”

“Fair enough,” I say, crinkling my muzzle a bit. “I’m going to start the spell now.”

The familiar light-blue glow of my magic surrounds Twilight’s head, and the spell finishes in only a couple seconds, Twilight’s brain being copied in full. Okay, now I just need to pick out the right connections, and apply it to my own— a strange nagging sensation appears in the back of my mind, urging me to compute my consciousness using the sum of all the nanomachines in my body while I operate on my brain. Make sure nothing goes wrong. It’s pretty insistent, and it makes sense.

There, now my brain is running by itself. I can still experience through it, but now I have the strangest detached feeling. I access Twilight’s brain, and… Oh. I can easily experience her entire brain. Every single synaptic connection at once, and every single memory. No strain at all, it’s just there. I don’t feel overwhelmed, or any other emotion really. Just a detached feeling of awe through my own brain. My mind won’t be able to remember even a fraction of this when I return to processing myself with neurons again, but in this very moment I understand everything there is about Twilight. Her hopes, her fears, her goals.

I logically realize this is invasive, even if I don’t actually feel guilt for it, so I ignore it all and quickly find the connections I need to operate Twilight’s thaum gland. Applying the connections to my own brain only takes a second, and then I reform Twilight’s thaum gland. I also figure out how to change the color of her magic to mine. Done.

With a rush of sensation, I return to thinking with my brain, the whole experience feeling as if a dream. Wow, that was a rush. I don’t even feel overwhelmed as Twilight’s magic flows through me, the connections making me used to it. Good, I would hate to get distracted by the power.

I light my horn up, and my own glow surrounds it, except with a phenomenal amount of power behind it. “Yes! It works! Thank you so much, Twilight!”

“So, it works now? What exactly did you do?” She asks, her curiosity returning in spite of her previously emotional state.

“I just had to pick out the right synaptic connections for it to feel like I’ve always had this much magic, nothing too complex. Or at least, I remember it being simple. I did it manually instead of automatically, and as such I had to think using my base components. This means I cannot understand exactly what I did, the information too much for my brain.”

Twilight nods, her curiosity seemingly sated. “That seems to make sense. Now let’s go. Spike is no doubt wondering what’s taking so long,” She says, urging with her head to the stairs.

“Alright, but what are you going to tell him about the obvious explosion, and the mark it left?” I ask her. It’s a great question in my opinion, especially considering how Twilight reacted.

She shifts her weight a bit, biting her lip in obvious indecision. “I don’t know. I would tell him it was a failed experiment, which is true, but he won’t buy it. I’ve never gotten that upset before. Ever.” She looks at me with big eyes, pleading. “What do I tell him?”

“Twilight, you’re overthinking this. Just tell him you thought I died during a volatile experiment, but was mistaken. You don’t have to mention the gore or anything.”

She sighs, rubbing her temples with a hoof. “I guess you’re right. We’ll just say it was an accident.” she stands up and stretches. “Let’s go, okay?”

“I’ll be right behind you.” I tell her. She nods, and then turns around with a swish of her tail, heading for the stairs, myself just behind. Time to eat food I don’t even need. I hope Spike’s a good cook.