Author's Note

honestly at this point i might just re-publish the former "fractures" fic I had posted a few weeks back as an anthology similar to what if but exclusively for this more serious, experimental content. then again, that would also mean that it'd have to be able to stand on its own, which being in its current state of an assorted pile of ideas with little organization, might be hard to do.

for now i'll probably keep posting this sort of content alongside regular what if chapters so that the chapters are more visible. hopefully i can get some more thoughts and feedback that way.

Project Emphenom #3: Slime Study

Fluttershy gently poked the gelatinous blob sitting in the bowl. "Twilight, are you sure this bowl is comfortable enough for him?"

"Fluttershy. As far as I can tell, there is no way that a congealed colony of largely-independent amoebae can feel either comfort or discomfort on a macroscopic scale." She handed her a pair of cans. "Measure out five equal parts of sugar and synthetic mana in separate plates while I divide out some test subjects from the parent mass."

"You-you're cutting him up?" Fluttershy flinched as the bowl lifted away, carefully balanced on a cushion of Twilight's magic.

"Dividing. No point in cutting if it'll simply rejoin around the knife. You saw this slime consume a squirrel. Piercing its surface means nothing."

"Right..."

Twilight carefully poured out as equal of portions as she could manage into separate flasks, pausing from time to time to check in on Fluttershy's progress in preparing 'food' for the colonies. She paid special mind not to touch the blob with her bare hooves, either. Whatever digestive enzymes this colony secreted were quite potent even for something that was effectively a disembodied stomach. Why it had no effect on Fluttershy both when she poked it earlier and when she initially helped to catch it by wrestling it to the ground was a mystery for another time.

"Here it is," Fluttershy slid a tray beside Twilight. "Equal amounts of sugar and mana in little plates. Is it enough?"

"Yup! Well done, Flutters," Twilight picked up the first plate. "Don't forget, we're doing this to see what these slimes prefer regarding food. We've seen it 'eat' plants and animals before, so at the very least it's an omnivore. But I've heard in passing that it's also capable of, and I quote, 'sucking the magic out of things'. I can't say that I've been provided any proof for that yet, but anecdotally I have noticed a number of enchanted items normally placed around Ponyville having seemingly weakened or lost their properties entirely."