"She's an abomination of nature!"
"There's no place for experiments that distort the natural order!"
"How could anyone have the indecency to violate the sanctity of her passing?!"
The committee of politicians shouted these insults and lashes at the group of geneticists in the center of the large chamber where the current debate raged, and had been raging for several hours. Even though the choice seemed rather trivial, the Supreme Court of Equestria could not seem to settle on a fitting punishment for these scientists. The bulk of the meeting had been comprised of angry shouts and sharp verbal incisions, and only now was the throbbing mass of leaders beginning to make a decision. The Supreme Justice came forward after the vote was cast, and opened up the folded paper that contained their sad fate.
"As a group of geneticists from Everfree Laboratories, you have been sentenced, each of you, to death by lethal injection, by a jury of your peers, for the heinous crime of violation of grave sanctimony." The audience in the courtroom started cheering.
One of the accused stepped forward. "Your honor, this is a false accusation! We had official leave from the family of the deceased to deliver the body to the Laboratory! We have not grave robbed a corpse as so many claim!" The other scientists nodded their heads in agreement.
"The evidence is overwhelming. The decision of this court remains final." The hammer came down with a few resounding beats. "This court is adjourned."
The forlorn purple pony sat alone in the corner of the courtroom, penetrated by the cold stares of hatred and dissaproval from the ponies in the audience. She watched as the group of scientists were escorted out of the courtroom, bearing saddened faces of abandoned hope. The scene was one of genuine disgust; the innocent ponies being jeered at and torn apart by the masses of angry ponies. She looked back to the floor and closed her eyes. Silently, she let her tears fall from her eyes as she remembered the clouded memories of her life. Her friends. Her family. All seemed as if shrouded by shadow; nopony she knew even existed anymore. All save one were vanished into the stretching ocean of time. Eventually a tall, strong guard approached her and lifted her somewhat roughly out of her chair. She was escorted out of the room, bearing even harsher looks from the crowds than had been given to the scientists. These were not just looks of dissaproval. These were looks of outright disgust and abhorrence. At the front doors to the Supreme Court Building, the guard pushed her outside and shut the doors firmly behind her. Outside, there was more to the onslaught; ponies with filming cameras and small recording devices pointed them almost directly into her face. No one spoke to her like normal cascades of attention usually warranted; they all just muttered to themselves in a semi-transparent silence. The cracked ground felt strange and unfamiliar beneath her hooves, itself not being like the normal dirt roads she was accustomed to. She seemed to be able to cut through the crowd like a knife with her every forward step, almost like a repelling magnet going through a pile of iron filings. Once the crowd ended, and the voices of condemnation faded behind her, the distressed pony looked up into the sky to see not the clear blue sky with perfectly motionless clouds she had once known, but a hazy glaze of grey fog perforating the constant flow of puffy white. There were no Pegasi hovering about to guide these heavenly bodies' movement; they were as of the Everfree Forest. She cast her gaze back downward toward the strange, rough ground. Her eyes closed for a brief moment, and in that moment, several tears of utter distress and sorrow poured down in a torrent of hopelessness. She tried to use her horn to teleport away from that awful place, but to no avail. Not even a spark of light came forth. She could not feel that wonderful sensation coursing through her body. The magic she had once worked so hard to master, the magic she had poured her heart and soul into, was gone forever, deadening her hope along with its departure. She eventually found even this last shred of familiarity to be hopeless, and began to walk down the side of the street, with no destination in mind. She looked forward down this road to nowhere, and started walking.
***
"Sir, the scientists presiding over Project Ascendance have just been found guilty of grave sanctimony violation. They're being delivered to their execution as we speak. What should we do?"
The brown pony arose from his chair with a single dolorous move. "You mean to tell me that we've lost seven ponies in just one trial? Not just seven ponies; the ponies in charge of the only hope we have of survival?!" He brought down his hoof upon his desk with the last word he yelled. Before the young mare in the lab coat could answer, he waved his hoof in a signal for silence. "What about the Vessel? Don't tell me that she's been lost too."
"We spotted her leaving the courtroom just after the conviction took place. We can intercept her if we act quickly."
"Well then, what are you waiting for?! Go get her!" He cast a serious glance at the mare.
"Yes sir." She walked away to make the necessary arrangements.
The brown pony turned around toward his office's back wall. He gazed at the official portrait of his many-a-great grandfather, Dr. Whooves. "Find her before those zealots get a hold of her."
***
She couldn't see or breath. An opaque black bag had been shoved over her head, and she found herself being thrust into a containment chamber of some sort. She could feel the inertia dragging her across the floor of this chamber as it spurred into motion. It wasn't like the motion of a train. There was neither bumping nor jolting, but instead a seamless ride that almost felt like floating. Any up-and-down motions that the mode of transport procured were like smooth waves rather than jagged and sudden upheavals and downturns. Eventually, she felt it drift to a stop, and could hear the door to the chamber open. The same feeling of a stranger's hooves grabbing her, dragging her, and carrying her away came over her. She could hear sounds that sounded like the opening and closing of doors, only with a slight hissing sound accompanying every instance of such. The voices of two ponies talking in harsh, yet hushed tones pervaded her ears.
She tried to squeeze out a tangible sentence. "Why....why are you doing...th-this to me? What do you w-want?" She could hardly speak through her frightened sobs.
A cruel voice responded. "Shut your filthy mouth, you abomination."
"P-please, I don't even know why I'm here!", she wailed. The bearer of the harsh voice brought down a solid strike on the back of her head. She cried out in pain.
"I said shut your fucking mouth!"
One final door opened, and she felt herself being chained to a cold metal bar. The door shut tight. Bright light flooded into her eyes as the bag was violently ripped from her head. She lay there in a sobbing heap of disheveled hair and stinging eyes. When she finally opened them, she saw two ponies with red masks on standing over her. Her head throbbed from the strike it bore earlier. She could see that the two ponies also had red outfits on, with the symbol of Princess Celestia's Sun Mark on the flank of the outfits. The room they had brought her to was lined with small white tiles on the floor, walls, and ceiling. Bright fluorescent lights hung down and illuminated the room with a painfully bright light.
"Please! Please let me go!" She broke down into sobs after crying this out.
One of the kidnappers stepped forward. "We don't like it when your kind comes around here. In fact, nopony anywhere likes it at all." He lifted up her head so her eyes met with his. "You look at me when I'm talking to you." When he let her head go and it drooped back down, he delivered a strong smack across her face. "Did you hear what I said, Deadhorn? You will look at me when I am talking to you." Her tear-flooded eyes stared back up at him in hopeless obedience.
"Your kind poisons the world that we live in. Your kind seeks our destruction by achieving what you call 'Ascendance'. Let me tell you something: the only way to this so-called Ascendance is through natural magic! Be sure to tell all of your Deadhorn friends that, if you even live to tell them."
"Please, I don't have any i-idea what you're talking about! I just want to go home!" Her speech was by now, hardly intelligible. The two masked ponies began to violently kick her up against the wall. Her cries for help echoed across the room. This continued until they seemed short of breath, after which they both spit on her. She couldn't even cry anymore. She was just a whimpering ball of blood and bruises, hardly conscious enough to even feel pain. The two ponies left the room, turning off the lights and closing the door behind them. She could faintly hear the sound of a lock clicking into place. The beaten, helpless pony fell into a listless state of half-consciousness; short, awful nightmares haunted her sleep, and she awoke every hour or so (as far as she could tell) screaming and flailing hopelessly against the chains that bound her in place. She tried to use her magic to teleport several times, but as before, her horn didn't even glow the slightest strains of light. She started crying out the names of her friends, even though she knew that they were all dead. Long dead. Now, without friends, without family, without magic, and without hope, the Deadhorn Abomination yielded in her struggle to escape, and fell back into the constant stream of feverish nightmares.
The confused pony awoke with gasps of air and screams of terror; she found that her hooves were no longer bound by chains, but that simply gave her more freedom to flail about like a madmare. For some reason, a white blanket had been placed over her, but it simply flew off with the uncontrollable tantrum of fear. She felt the arms of restriction try and pin her down, but the memory of kicking and striking came rushing back to her, and she struggled all the more.
"Hold still! What're you doing?", said the restricting pony. The panicked pony continued to resist the arms that were now surprisingly weak. Then it registered in her head that the voice she had heard was different from the deep, harsh tones of her kidnappers. That alone was not reason enough to end her fit, so she continued to struggle, even if only a bit softer. She let out screams of terror.
"Let me go! Let me go!", she screamed. She eventually broke free of the other pony's hold, and leaped off of the soft bed she had woken up upon. When she turned around, she was surprised to see a pony she'd never seen before standing on the opposite side of the bed. This foreign pony was dressed up not in the red outfits that the abductors had worn, but in a stark-white lab coat and a huge pair of glasses. His hair was blue and wavy, and his eyes were some of the greenest she'd ever seen. It was hard to tell where the lab coat ended and his skin began, because of his own stark-white skin. The most notable thing about him, though, was his horn. It was regular size and shape for an average unicorn, but there were black circuit-shaped lines running over it with a metallic luster.
"There's no need to be scared anymore. You're safe with us now." He turned to a table on the far end of the room and lifted a glass of water with this magic. His horn did not glow like it should have, but the black circuitry glowed the same color blue that donned his hair, and blue lines in a similar pattern formed around the cup as it levitated into the air. He directed the cup close to her mouth. "Here. I know you can't use magic yet. Go ahead and drink up." Even though not entirely within trusting the strange unicorn, she began to drink the water slowly. The sensation of quenching an incredible thirst caught up to her, and she swigged the remaining water in no time at all. The colt set the cup down on the table and began to step slowly toward her.
"Don't worry. The Purists won't hurt you anymore. We saved you from that awful place, and now you're safe and sound here in Everfree Laboratories." Even if she was comforted by these softly-spoken words, she was still in fear of anything that moved. She began to back away from the strange colt.
"Please, don't come any closer." She started to cower in a corner that she had backed into. The colt was still attempting to approach her, albeit at a slower rate. She jumped up in an offensive stance and pointed her horn at him. "I...said....NO CLOSER!" She attempted to shoot some magic spell at him, but again, her horn did nothing. Not even in a panic, it would provide no magical assistance. She kept trying with all her might, not even focusing on the colt anymore. He stepped in beside her as tears began to flow from her eyes. He put his arms around her and started to rock her back and forth. She buried her head in his shoulder and began to sob.
"What's wrong with me?!", she yelled passed her tears.
The colt started rubbing her back to calm her down. "Nothing. Nothing is wrong with you. I know it hurts, losing your magic. I lost mine only three years ago, but it's something I do not regret. Just wait. We'll get you fixed up in no time." He held up her head so that she could see his face, and smiled at her. She ceased in her crying and smiled back through a tear-soaked face.
"What's....what's your name?", she asked.
"Aerum. Aerum Sarieus."
"Aerum...." She wrinkled her brow in confusion. "I've never heard a name like that before. It's still a lovely name, though. My name is..."
"Twilight Sparkle.", the colt interrupted. "Yes, I know who you are."
Twilight looked back at Aerum with a look of shock. "How could you possibly know who I am?"
"Well, you see, there was a team assembled here at the facility to...oh, what am I doing? Netirius Whooves can explain it better than I can." He began to walk over to the door. "Wait here, Twilight. I'll be right back with the stallion who can give you some answers."
"Oh...ok." Twilight sat down on the bed as Aerum shut the door behind him. She waited there for a few minutes, and was starting to grow impatient. Her mind began to wander beyond the original questions she had held; first and foremost what exactly was going on with Aerum's horn. Her thoughts were interrupted by the distinct sound of her stomach growling. She tried to dismiss it for the sake of remembering what the last thing she did was, before the whole courtroom incident. She remembered sitting in some sort of law-enforcement confinement facility for a few hours before trial, but what came before that? She strained to recall the image of a room much like this one, where she awoke with several ponies standing over her. But what had she awoken from? She couldn't even get a single image to come up of what had caused her to fall asleep before being awoken, but her efforts were cut short by the sound of the door opening. In stepped a brown pony with brown, unkempt hair, wearing a black formal suit. Opening the door for him was Aerum.
"Excuse me, Aerum. I need to be alone with Twilight for a moment." He nodded his head at Aerum.
"Yes sir, of course. I'll be in medical storage if you need me." He left, but not before smiling at Twilight.
"Now, Miss Twilight Sparkle, I presume?" Twilight nodded her head. "You don't know how relieved I am to learn that you've been returned safely to the laboratories. You've been missing for weeks, and we were beginning to fear that we'd never find you alive."
"Please, sir, I just want to know why I'm here." Her stomach growled again. Whooves raised his eyebrow at her and smiled.
"Perhaps I can explain over breakfast, if you care to join me." He gestured toward the door and raised his eyebrows in a friendly manner. Twilight was shaky about leaving the room, but her stomach growled again, and she conceded to follow Dr. Neterius Whooves. She stepped out of the room, letting Whooves shut the door behind her. A long, well-lit hallway stretched to both her left and her right, with several doors lining either side. Her stares were cut off by the stallion walking in front of her. "This way please." She followed him to the left, down the hall and eventually to a set of double doors. He stopped and raised his hoof up to a device that Twilight had never seen before. She noticed several buttons on it, with every button being labeled with a number. Whooves punched in a sequence of numbers, and the door swung open on its own. A strangely serene voice echoed from the device. "Welcome, Doctor Neterius." She followed him into the large room that lay beyond the doors, and was surprised yet again when the doors shut by themselves one they had entered. The entire room was dark at first, but once Whooves walked in far enough, the entire place lit up and seemed to come to life. Strange screens that displayed several confusing images sprang forth in smooth motions from the walls. The walls themselves were of the same black metallic substance that lined Aerum's horn.
"Wow. This is the strangest use of magic I've ever seen." Twilight looked around her in absolute wonder.
Whooves chuckled to himself. "I thought you wouldn't assume that this was magic, Miss Sparkle. This wonderful room is the result of several centuries of technological innovation and scientific progress. You would know since you pioneered the concept of science."
A flood of memories came back to Twilight. She herself had been a famous unicorn; not just because of her mastery of magic, but for her groundbreaking research into the world in which the ponies lived. She had revealed that the world worked according to certain laws by recording and analyzing common events in nature. But then......she wondered.......what happened to her? "Dr. Whooves, how did I end up here? Why am I here?" Her expression turned solid and grave.
Whooves sighed. "You are the product of the cutting edge understanding of biology and neurotechnology. You died a great amount of time ago - perhaps two and half centuries - and we have brought you back to life using in-depth DNA analysis and physiological drafting machines." He walked to one of the screens and pressed his hoof up against the black wall. A blue light emanated from the spot he touched, and the image on the screen changed. He walked over to the large monitor that stretched across the wall behind his desk, and pressed on the wall again. This time, a circle of red light lit up, and projected a semi-transparent image of a red keyboard. Whooves seemed to be able to type on it without his hooves going through. The image on the smaller screen compressed, and shot across the wall as a small red line, ending its path with the big monitor, then stretching out again to fit the screen. "You need to see this, Twilight." He pressed the 'enter' key, and the entire room went black again, except for the big screen. Twilight was astonished by what was happening. It was as if she could see the real moving moving through the screen, as if it were a window.
"How are you doing this?", she asked.
"It's called a video, Twilight. We record events from real life, and we are able to replay them through videos. Now, watch."
She looked back up to the monitor, and saw the words "Project Ascendance: Reconstruction" scroll across the screen. She saw a group of ponies in lab coats carrying a white capsule into a room with a metal table on it. A mare's voice started to play over the video.
"This is Doctor Sentara, head of the Reconstruction Stage. We've located the body of the Vessel, and have spent two grueling months trying to get the family's permission to use the body. Now that we have it, we may begin reconstruction immediately. We might actually have a chance this time." The scientists set the capsule down on the table, and started connecting tubes to it. A colorless fluid began to run from containers on the walls into the capsule. "Ok, now we need to wait for a day or two before we can open the capsule.", said one of the scientists. The video cut off and picked up later, right before they opened the capsule. They circled around it, and then pressed a few buttons all around the edges of the container. It made a loud hissing noise, and steam came bursting out. After it cleared, Twilight could see the skeleton of a pony laying within the padded interior. It was extremely clean. They began to use strange tools to open up the bones, and collect samples of the dried marrow that lay within.
"We've collected some of the genetic information from the bone marrow that's been so remarkably preserved over the years. So well preserved, in fact, that a complete genome sequence was able to be compiled from less than ten samples. Fate seems to be on our side." Twilight noticed that the entire skeleton was white, except for the horn that donned it. It was purple. Not a faded purple, but the same color it was before the unicorn had died. They were extremely careful in the process of removing it from the skull. Once it was free from its position on the forehead, they set it down inside a secure container, and closed it. "The horn has shown the most surprising trait of the entire corpse: it does not seem to have decayed in the slightest bit. True, unicorn horns decay much slower than the rest of the skeleton structure, but this....this is different."
The video cut off again, and the next sequence showed a glass tank filled with semi-transparent red liquid. Inside, she could make out the image of what appeared to be a small pony, hooked up to the bottom of the tank by a black tube. The date and time that sat at the bottom of the video began to speed up in its progression, and the small pony inside the tank began to grow extremely rapidly. Over the course of four days, the pony had grown from a pre-birth stage into the stage just passed adolescence. The next sequence showed the scientists draining the tank of its fluid and taking the soaking slimy pony out. She saw, as she expected, that the pony within looked just like herself, but without either a cutie mark or a horn. She awoke in a feral fit of rage, and began to fling her arms at the scientists while releasing roars of violence. They pinned her down and sedated her with a syringe. Once she was unconscious, they picked her up and set her down on a table. They poked a long metal needle connected to a machine by a cord into the back of her head, and then turned on the machine. Her body suddenly tensed up and started convulsing, but the scientists simply stood there until the machine had run its course, then they took the needle out and set to repairing the cranial wound.
"We now have a complete copy of the Vessel. She should look, act, remember, and think like the original subject did. The entire process has run so smoothly, we don't even expect there to be any complications. As we suspected, analysis of her horn suggests that the Tiranium Core within has completely lost connection with the planet's magic. We can reattach the horn, but we will need to perform the standard modification surgery so that she can use her magic once more." The video lapsed over and showed some different ponies in red outfits restraining the scientists. "Where is she?!", shouted one of them to the scientists. The scientist simply looked back up at the colt with an angered countenance. "We will not allow you to ruin our only chance against you monsters." He then spat in the outfitted pony's face. The receiver of this insult struck the scientist across the face with a devastating blow, knocking him out. The video then showed a group of the Purists breaking down the door into the room that the now sane pony was being kept. She couldn't seem to remember this moment, but she awoke and began to struggle against them. They were able to pin her up against a wall, and were about to beat her to death, but a shadow faded into the doorway. "Do not kill her. We will need her alive.", said a mare's voice. The voice sounded so oddly familiar to Twilight, but she couldn't place her hoof on its bearer. The Purists dropped Twilight to the ground, and left the room without another word.
"This is my last log on the project, which I fear is left incomplete. The entire team of scientists working under me have been restrained and captured by the Purists, and I fear that they are coming for me next. This video transmission is being sent to the main laboratory complex to summarize the overall progress we've made on the reconstruction of the Vessel. I must disappear so that my knowledge of Project Ascendance will not fall into the wrong hands. Please, Doctor Neterius, find Twilight Sparkle, and complete the work that we have failed to bring into finality." The video ended there, leaving a black screen before Twilight's eyes, which were again filled with tears.
"So....so I'm just a copy of the real Twilight Sparkle?" Her voice quivered with contempt.
Doctor Whooves stepped forward. "No, no Twilight. Physically, you are simply a copy. But psychologically, you are a continuation of your passed life. Every bit of your memory, experience, and knowledge has been rebuilt within your brain. Everything you knew, including people, places, events, and material, up until your death, has been downloaded into your brain. You're body may be different, but inside, it's still the same you."
"Why me then?! Why are you going through so much trouble to resurrect me, and not some other pony?!"
"Because, Twilight, you're understanding of the magical ties all ponies have to our planet has not arisen since your death. Your knowledge on the subject died along with you, and we need that knowledge now more than ever." He put his hoof on her shoulder. "Please, Twilight. You are the only hope we have of surviving this era of persecution. Lend your strength of mind so that we can live into the future without the constant threat of the Purists."
Twilight sighed and bowed her head. "But I'm just one mare. I don't know anything about this time or how any of your technology works. How am I supposed to help you if I'm essentially 250 years behind the curve?"
Whooves smiled at her. "If there's one thing I'm certain of, Twilight, it's that you...", he pressed his hoof against her chest, "...you will have no trouble learning all there is to know about this time and place. I see the spark of infinite curiosity behind your eyes and the eternal depth of the yearn to learn in your expression." He started to walk out of his office; the screens and lights began to power down. "Now, you must meet the other scientists involved in Project Ascendance, over breakfast, of course." Twilight remembered her hunger, and eagerly made to follow him. The double doors shut behind them, and the serene voice said, "Good day, Doctor Neterius."
***
Twilight's face was absolutely covered with food. The other scientists were extremely amused with the vigorous method with which she consumed her breakfast, and just kept handing her one plate after another.
"Golly, Twilight, being dead for 200 years sure does stir up an appetite.", said one of the scientists at the table.
"250 years, Aeon.", interjected another scientist. "I would think so, especially since she's cleaned up four plates full of food, and she's working on her fifth.
Twilight looked up for a moment. "I've never felt this hungry before! It's been killing me all morning, but it's not going to be a problem anymore." She bit into a piece of toast. After she had finished half of the fifth plate, and decided that she was full enough. She cleaned up her face, and peaked over the cloth she was using to see Aerum and Whooves walking into the cafeteria together. "Aerum!", she shouted, "It's good to see you again!" She tried to lift up a glass with her magic, but promptly realized that there was still no magic, and ceased trying.
"I see you've found your way to the breakfast table, at last.", said Aerum. "Don't worry, you won't have to put up with being magicless for too much longer."
"Would someone explain to me why my magic isn't working in the first place?", she asked.
The pony called Aeon spoke up. "Well, for starters, your horn hasn't been reattached yet, if you haven't noticed." Twilight looked up in shock to realize that she hadn't noticed her horn's absence at all. "You see," continued Aeon, "you and the scientists of Reconstruction were captured by the Purists before they could finish rebuilding you. Luckily, we have your horn in a safe location. You're due to have it reattached once you regain your strength, which should only take a few days."
Twilight beamed. "So then I'll have my magic back?"
"Yes...well no....it's complicated. Your horn's Tiranium Core is essentially useless. After you died, it lost connection with this world's magic. We have to perform a modification surgery to restore it's functionality."
"What's a Tiranium Core?", asked Twilight.
"You wrote about a black metallic substance that you had found from dissecting deceased unicorn's horns within the interior. You didn't name the substance, but presently, it's called Tiranium. Turns out, this metal is what allows unicorns to utilize Equestria's magic. Once a unicorn dies, however, the connection is severed, and to our knowledge, there is no way to reestablish connection." Twilight looked around at all of the scientists. The ones that were unicorns had the same circuit lines on their horns that Aerum had. "The Tiranium lines on the exterior of our horns is the result of our modification procedure, which is necessary to restore a dead horn's function."
"But, if none of you have died, then how come your connections to the planet have been severed?", she asked.
Aerum sat down beside her. "That, Twilight, is the sad reality of the times we live in. There is one pony who can alter and change the magic of the planet because of her god-like mastery of it. We scientists began to drift away from the notion that magic was the only way to explain things after your observations of nature were published, and this pony didn't like such insubordination of her control. She uses the planet's magic to maintain harmony and peace among all Equine races, which is a good thing, but she finds it dangerous to question the absolute of magic. Ponies not too long after your time began to do just that, so since she had control of the planetary magic, she cut us off from it, and seeks to bring us back into her influence. Her closest supporters are those who belong to a group called the Natural Magic Purists, and they are the radicals that seek to kill one of us "Deadhorns" even just by spotting us in the street. However, the genius mind of Doctor Neterius Whooves discovered a loophole in the way that Tiranium connects to the planet. Since his discovery, we've taken advantage of that loophole by modifying our horns."
Twilight began to piece it all together. Her Purist kidnappers' outfits flashed into memory. They bore the Royal Suncrest of Princess Celestia. She looked at Aerum. "So......so the mare who we're fighting against is....." She didn't want to say the name aloud.
Aerum cut in. "Yes, it's her. I'm sorry you have to know that, Twilight, but there is no other way."
"I won't fight against my mentor! She's the greatest pony in all of Equestria! How could she be doing these awful things to all of you?!", she yelled.
Aerum sighed and looked at the ground. "She does good things for the ponies that are under her influence. She takes care of them and makes sure that they never fight with one another. But she finds it wrong to question magic as the core process of the universe, so she intends to bring us back under her rule, where we would live in harmony with everyone else, but we would also be blind, ignorant slaves to her will. No matter how benevolent of a ruler you are, you turn into a tyrant when you force your way of thinking upon your subjects." Twilight simply remained silent, never having heard anypony speak this way about Princess Celestia.
"Are you sure you're ready for this, Twilight?" Aerum stood over her while she lay partially sedated on an operation table. She looked back up at him and smiled, although there was a hint of sadness in the expression.
"Don't worry about me, Aerum." She looked away. "I may not like it, but I have to help all of you. Even if it means sacrificing my natural self." Her vision started to fade into black as the anesthesia took a hold of her. The surgeons began the operation.
Twilight looked into the mirror, thinking of the last thing she remembered before falling asleep. She saw her horn, now ornamented with the same black lines of Tiranium that the other scientists bore. She picked up a brush that lay upon the table next to her with the new form of magic she wielded. It felt different to her than the original magic she had once used. Her original magic was something she could feel on the inside, but this magic....this magic was only on the outside. It was just as powerful and potent, but she couldn't feel it. She began brushing her hair with the comb. 'Oh well', she thought, 'At least I actually have magic now.' She set the brush down when a knock rang against her door. She went over to the door and surrounded it with her magical field. The circuit lines coursed over its frame, and she pulled it into open position. Waiting in the hallway was Aeon.
"Hey there, Twilight! Just coming in to check up on you after your surgery. Most ponies can't use their horns until a few days after the procedure, but I saw you open the door with magic, so I'm not worried about you." He looked down for a moment to reform his countenance. "May I come in?"
Twilight stood aside and motioned into the room with her hoof. "Of course, come right on in." Aeon nodded his head and walked into her room, taking a seat on the bed.
"I was wondering if you remembered your past life's work well enough to enlighten me on some of the facts revolving around our magical connection to the planet. I've always wanted to know if there was more knowledge that you didn't put into your writings."
Twilight, now having at least some pseudo-connection to the planet, was able to remember her past life very well, especially the things she had studied. "Absolutely! I've actually been wanting to talk to someone about it." She sat down beside the young scientist on the bed. "My studies were initially sparked by my discovery of what today's ponies call Tiranium within unicorn cadaver's horns. When I collected my first samples, I didn't know what to initially expect, besides that there might be some dangerous consequences to experimentation. Nevertheless, I exposed the samples to different kinds of magic, and they all responded with uniform results. They amplified the already powerful magic that I was using, so I naturally assumed that the substance was a channeling device for magic. My assumption was confirmed when I did a brief side-study on unicorns who were magically disabled from birth. My conclusion on the matter was that every single unicorn with such disabilities had hollow horns with either scarce or no traces of the substance within. So then I started wondering about what magic actually was. If unicorns needed this metal to use it, then it obviously was a dual-part system. I conducted many experiments, most ending in failure, that would determine what magic was. Eventually, I developed a spell that allowed my visual perception to perceive trails of magic wherever they may be. I set up a test with a friend of mine called Rarity to see how the magic manifested whenever she used it. When she would pick up a flower with her magic, I saw something astonishing: There was a magic trail running from the flower to her horn; from her horn to her brain; and from her brain into the ground. The trail ended there, but I could tell that there was more to it. I refined the spell to its absolutely most powerful version, and repeated the same test. I couldn't believe what I saw. I still get goosebumps thinking about it." Twilight was now staring up into the ceiling, with a look of awe on her face. "I looked down into the ground, and saw.......a great network of magical trails running from an immense magical core within the very planet itself. I was even shocked to see one running through my own body. The connection lines where of so many different hues of color, I couldn't even begin to list all of them. My own was purple, and Rarity's was blue. But even beyond ours, there were hundreds, maybe thousands of other lines. I walked around Ponyville in complete amazement, because the lines weren't just connected to unicorns. I saw Pegasi flying around, with the lines shooting out of the ground to meet them, and Earth Ponies connected in the same manner. It was all so wonderful and incredible, because the ponies simply walked and flew around on their own business, completely unaware of this ubiquitous presence. But the most beautiful thing of all....was the fact that there were dimmer lines connecting all of the ponies with each other. When two of them got close together to talk or laugh, the lines flashed brightly and vibrated in beautiful patterns." She let out a soft chuckle. "I must of looked so silly, standing there in the middle of town with my jaw completely agape, tears of joy streaming down my face. I just never knew that the element of magic manifested itself so literally in the form of friendship and harmony. I was, by then, well aware of the common propensity for violence that lay deep within the Equine psyche, but what I couldn't figure out was why we still managed to get along not just effectively, but so naturally." She closed her eyes. "I can still picture the beautiful arching lines stretching from the underground network, shooting up in the sky to connect with the Pegasi, or snaking across the ground to connect to the Earth Ponies. Not a day went by after that where I didn't look at the network with my spell. Oh, one of the most beautiful moments I've ever seen was when I looked at my brother Shining Armor and his wife Cadence with it. The magic lines that ran through them were the brightest I've ever seen, and they made several loops in and out of each of their brains and hearts, tying them together in this knot of magic and love. The Elements of Harmony themselves were curious. They were not connected to the network, except for the element of magic itself. That's what leads me to believe that there are other types of networks that pervade the planet; not just magic. I never saw them in my lifetime, but I had a strong belief that they were there."
Aeon had simply listened in wonder as she retold this story of discovery and knowledge. "Wow, Twilight." He looked at the ground, trying to picture the network. "I knew there was a magical force on the planet, but I didn't know that it was a network that connected all of us together." He looked up at her. "For the two and half centuries that you were dead, everypony has believed that there were only individual connections to the planet, but nothing about inter-connectivity, and certainly nothing about there being other possible networks corresponding to the different Elements of Harmony. I think the only thing we know much about on the matter is the way Tiranium works. You, on the other hand..." He pointed his hoof at Twilight. "You studied these things for almost your entire life, beyond the understanding of any other pony." He scratched the back of his head. "Heck, I'd even be so bold to say that you know more about it in terms of structure than Neterius himself."
Twilight blushed from the prolific complements coming her way. "I could give you a glance of what it all looks like. I remember the spell perfectly. As long as our horns are touching, you should be able to see the network as clearly as I do."
Now Aeon was blushing. "But Twilight, I might not be able to see it because of my modified horn. What if you can't either?" He was hoping she would be sure on something like this.
"I don't know Aeon, but it wouldn't hurt to try." She got up from the bed and closed her eyes. Her horn's Tiranium lines started to glow, and her hair started to hover around her head. A sort of wind began to circle around her, blowing around her mane. A bright flash of light emanated from her horn, and Aeon had to look away for a moment. When he looked back, she was looking straight at him. Both of her eyes had started glowing, and were completely white.
"It's working.", she whispered. Her voice seemed to echo through the air. She slowly approached Aeon and leaned her head in towards his. Aeon's eyes widened as her horn came closer to his, until finally the glowing spectacle touched his own horn. He felt a surge of extreme magical power that he hadn't ever felt before. He clenched his eyes shut from the overwhelming amount of power that coursed through his body. He felt a final, strong surge of magic that forced him to open his eyes. The world around him look much different. It seemed like everything material had faded into some background darkness, leaving behind only transparent shadows of their form. He didn't see anything at first, but then his eyes moved downward. He gasped for breath whenever his gaze fell on the floor; he could see a massive ball of bright, coursing light coming from deep within the ground. To his surprise, the ball was connected with him by a curved, flowing magical line. He looked at Twilight and saw the same thing, only hers appeared to much more powerful than his own. Twilight was now resting most of her body weight upon him; she seemed entranced by the intricate network that stretched out below them. Her hooves had wrapped around his torso, and he found that he had wrapped his hooves around her. He could feel her breath on his face, and the magic still flowing from her horn into his. Even though he couldn't see her pupils and she couldn't see his, they could each tell that the other was staring into their eyes. He looked down again to see a bright, thick, pink line form in between them that connected their hearts. It began to move and stretch in crooks around their hearts, which appeared as golden balls of light within their bodies. It eventually sewed itself into their hearts, and started to form a knot.
The scene suddenly ended, and the view of the network vanished as Twilight quickly pushed herself away from Aeon. Aeon seemed a bit shocked, but immediately understood why she did.
"I'm sorry, Aeon.", she muttered, quite flustered. "I just.....I just can't right now." She looked away from him, her face red hot with embarrassment.
"Twilight, it's ok.....I-"
"Please, Aeon. I......" She sighed. "I just want to be alone right now."
Aeon nodded his head even though she wasn't looking at him. He got up from the bed and walked out of the door, peaking his head back in for a moment. "I'm sorry to have bothered you, Twilight." He shut the door softly behind him. She heard him sigh in disappointment before he walked off.
***
Twilight walked into the large central chamber that Whooves had called her to. He turned around to see her approaching him. "Ah, Twilight! I was wondering if you'd gotten lost." He looked up at the large tower-shaped structure that stood upright in the center of the chamber. "This, Twilight.....this is our key to freedom." He raised his hoof, motioning to the structure. Twilight stared up at it with curiosity.
"What is it?"
Whooves chuckled. "That, my dear, is what we call a rocket-propelled spacecraft. It's a way that ponies can venture into the cosmos beyond this planet. Our key to freedom lies in the fact that the planet's magical network can only reach so far. If we leave its reach, we'll essentially sever our connection to it."
Twilight seemed appalled. "Why would you ever want to disconnect from it entirely?"
"Because that is how Celestia continues to influence us, and to control everypony around us. The only way we can be truly free from her is to sacrifice our magic to do so." He stared adamantly at the rocket. Twilight started to back away.
"Now wait just a minute, I don't want to live without magic. Magic is my passion. It's who I am!"
"I didn't say you had to come with us, Twilight. It would be preferable, but nopony's going to force you to."
"Then why do you even need me if you can just fly away in your spacecraft?!"
Whooves sighed. "We're not exactly sure what will happen when the magical connection leaves us. As far as we can tell, it connects to everypony at their birth, and doesn't disconnect until death. It might play a crucial role in what keeps all of the Equine race alive, and we wouldn't want to die just from venturing too far beyond the planet's surface." He turned to her. "That's why we brought you back, as I've told you. You know more about this magical network than anypony that has ever lived since your time, besides Celestia herself. We were hoping you would research a way to sever a pony's connection without killing them. Celestia can only dampen the brain's ability to channel the magic through the Tiranium in our horns, but the connection from brain to network still exists. That's what makes my modification procedure possible. We place a long resonation tube made from Tiranium into our heads, serving as a physical channel for the magic. The magic resonance has to be just right for it to work, so that's why we have to cut grooves in the horn and fill them in with Tiranium." He had been getting closer to her during this short harangue, and now, he was almost whispering into her ear. "Twilight, listen to me. If anypony can figure out how to accomplish what we've been working for, it's most definitely you."
Twilight simply looked at the ground. She didn't know what to do, or what to think about the situation. She remembered seeing Aeon in such a state of awe whenever he first witnessed the network firsthand. How could she take that away from somepony? How could she work against the natural process that she herself had come to involve herself so deeply in? Being even partially disconnected from it left her feeling empty and meaningless. She turned around and walked out of the chamber. Whooves simply watched her leave, heaving out a long sigh. Twilight walked through the halls of the laboratories, not wanting to end up anywhere specific. She eventually stopped and collapsed sobbing against the wall. She hadn't asked for this. She hadn't been twisting in her grave for somepony to come along and snatch her out of it, just so they could get away from one of the greatest ponies she'd ever known. How was it that this many ponies of such reason and morale had come to hate Princess Celestia? She had died happily in her past life, being content with knowing and discovering all that she had about the universe. No, she thought to herself. I won't do it. No matter what they say or do, I won't tear anypony from the network. Even if it turned out that it was possible without death, how many deaths would she have to cause to get it right? She could almost hear her friend's voices in the distance. She wished that they were real. That all of this had just been a bad dream. That she would wake up any second now to find that Pinkie Pie and Derpy had brought her a fresh batch of muffins for a surprise breakfast. She jumped a little when she felt a pair of hooves rest upon her shoulders. She looked up, tears dripping from her face, to see Aeon sitting on the floor beside her.
"Aeon.....I......I don't know what to do! I can't do this anymore! I can't! I just can't!" Her tears started to flow even more vigorously, and she quivered from her heaving sobs.
Aeon put his arms around her and held her closely. "Shhhhhh...Twilight. It's alright. It's alright. It's alright." He kept repeating this, softening his tone each time, eventually letting his speech fade into silence.
