Of Cyborgs And Alicorns

It had been several months since the accident. More than half a year since Twilight Sparkle had disappeared from her library, leaving only a scorched mark on the floorboards.

The Princesses had arrived post-haste once the messenger delivered the news of what had befallen the newly-minted alicorn. They'd cast powerful scrying spells, trying to ascertain where the Element of Magic had disappeared to - and failed, turning up empty-hooved hours later. Despite this, they did not give up, returning to the Golden Oaks library whenever their schedules permitted doing so. Twilight's friends also visited regularly, doing what they could to help. But it was all for naught. Twilight Sparkle was nowhere to be found.

Rarity trotted downstairs slowly, shaking her head at her friends' questioning looks.

"Spike's still refusing to come out. I left some gems for him by the door."

The young drake had been hit hardest by the loss of his surrogate big sister, retreating to his room in the aftermath of the explosion that rocked the Golden Oaks.

"D'ya think he'll ever let us help 'im? He don't have to power through that hurt alone." Applejack muttered, returning to rummaging through a bookshelf - she knew Twilight would have a fit if she was to witness the farmpony jumbling up the indexed books. Ah, well, she'd make amends later. A jar or two of zap-apple jam, perhaps.

"'Tis a fool's errand. We shan't find Twilight Sparkle by picking over the books here." Luna groused, several heavy tomes floating in her magic grasp. "And what of Discord? That wily fiend must know something about Twilight Sparkle's disappearance."

Fluttershy shook her head at that, her voice quiet, but firm. "I asked him, and he knows nothing. Wherever Twilight is, it's outside even his reach."

"That's a likely story." The Night Princess scoffed skeptically.

Celestia sighed, letting out a tired yawn - of all ponies present, she was most worried, having known Twilight ever since foalhood, having watched the bookish, reclusive unicorn exceed all of her expectations. Twilight had the makings of a phenomenal pony, a spectacular future awaited her.

Well, at least it would've, were it not for this tragedy. What had happened, she wondered? There was literally nothing to tell them of what had happened, save for some scorch marks and remnants of magic.

"Is it just me, or is there something burning?" Rainbow Dash piped up all of a sudden, sniffing the air alertly, and Applejack looked around worriedly.

"Ya don't think Spike's fixin' t'burn this place down now, right?"

That's when Rarity noticed a single mote of lavender-hued light wink into existence - a meter above the scorched floorboards. It wavered, disappearing twice before reappearing, and steadily growing in size. "Um, girls?" She called out, pointing at the odd anomaly. Everypony else paused in what they were doing to look. Soon, the mote of light had grown a meter wide - it flashed brilliantly, momentarily blinding the spectators as something shot out from the sphere of light, tumbling across the wooden floor before slamming into a wall with a deafening rattle. Bleeding purple light, the sphere vanished in moments as everypony turned to look at whatever had been tossed out.

"Goddamn, that fucking hurt..." It took Celestia a moment to recognize the voice, but when she did, two thoughts - first off, Twilight Sparkle was back, and second, she just cursed. This new information gave her pause.

That was not the case with Pinkie Pie, who made a beeline for Twilight, who was slowly getting up on her hooves. Yelling a cheerful 'TWILIGHT!' at the top of her lungs, she tacklehugged her long gone friend - or would have, hadn't Twilight whirled around, grabbing Pinkie by the scruff of her neck, planting the pink mare on her back on the floor, knocking the wind out of her. As they watched, Twilight's right foreleg - which had been replaced with a metal one - transformed as the purple alicorn jammed its tip into Pinkie's cheek, making the babbling party pony's speech indecipherable.

Now that she paid more attention, Celestia noticed that a noticeable fraction of her former student was replaced with metal - her right wing was no more, replaced with a metallic mockery. The left side of her face had suffered the same fate, replaced with a scuffed plate of some foreign metal, a mechanic eye, its iris bright red, glaring down at Pinkie. A bright light shone in Twilight's chest, surrounded more of that queer machinery.

"Twilight?" Pinkie Pie tried anew, her mumbling barely audible. At that, the alicorn in question blinked, her artificial eye losing its baleful hue. Her metal leg changed shape again, more closely resembling a pony's foreleg. Letting out a sigh, Twilight stepped back, pulling Pinkie Pie back on her hooves.

"It's me, Pinkie. Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye. I Pinkie Promise." Twilight went through the motions, her left foreleg clacking dryly against the artificial eye. Pinkie stared at her silently for a moment before breaking out in one of her trademark smiles as she hugged Twilight again. Seeing this happen, the other Elements rushed over, joining up in a group hug.

A moment later, Rainbow Dash drew back, eyes wide as she looked at Twilight. "You look like you got run over by a train!"

"That's not too far from the truth, Rainbow." Twilight chuckled, turning to look at Celestia, her grin widening as she trotted over to her former mentor. After staring at the elder alicorn for a moment, she waved sheepishly. "Hello, Princess." Her small grin subsided as she looked around. "Um, where's Spike?"

The room was dark as she pulled the door open - barely illuminated, save for the dim beam of light emanating from the compact reactor in her chest. Noting a small bundle, covered with a blanket, she cautiously approached it. Poking it lightly once, she spoke quietly.

"Spike? Are you awake?"

"Go 'way, Twi... 's too early..." The sleepy dragon grumbled, shifting about as Twilight let out a quiet chuckle. She only had to wait for three seconds before Spike threw the blanket aside, launching himself upwards, wrapping his arms around a foreleg in a fierce hug. "TWILIGHT! You're back!"

Twilight chuckled, fondly hugging the young dragon in return. "I am, Spike. And I've got quite a story to tell."