Titan of Prey: The Beginning.

A few steps in, and lights come on with a noise of breakers connecting, revealing a dilapidated, hospital-like corridor.

“This installation used to be an Initiative hospital, before the cataclysm.” Alexis said.

“initiative?” Starburst asked.

“Yes, thousands of years ago, the Pegasus Initiative came to this galaxy to find a new home, safe from the Reaper threat, and hoping to avoid the mistakes of the Andromeda Initiative, we came prepared for anything.. well… almost anything.. but upon the year 4000 AD, a disaster struck.. entire planets, turned uninhabitable to our kind.. the worlds became toxic.. and I, without humans to protect, became useless as anything other than custodian of the dilapidated facility I once took residence in.. this planet.. it's beautiful..”

“Is it just me or do you just like to flatter everything on this world, including the world itself?” I ask.

“This is the first time I have experienced this world Through the eyes of a human.. it is.. Amazing.”

“Well, that makes two of us, I’m originally a unicorn.”

“Oh, so that explains the intriguing genetic deviation from a normal human genome.. hang a left here.” She told me, and we continued to follow.

“So Alexis, why not explain to Scootaloo the procedure, so she understands how we’re going to help.”

“Okay, Scootaloo, we are going to be implanting nodules of Element Zero along your nerves in your wings to replicate what they should do naturally with magic. There's no need to worry, the medical machines here are precise to a micron, and you'll be sedated for the process. When you wake up, you'll be able to fly under your own power, permanently.” Most of Alexis's explanation Completely went over her head, but at the end, she was as hyper as a foal given a cup of coffee!

I look back to my arm and whisper. “That sounds like what we do with mana crystals in the pony operations, how does that help with the stunted wing growth due to the physical stabilisation in the absence of magic?”

I suddenly heard Alexis's voice.. but it sounded like it was in my head.. “For that, I intend to use genetic therapy, or if that doesn't work, we can bring her back to have her wings biologically reconstructed.”

“We’d be able to notice if it worked or not here, Scootaloo’s wings are the size of a newborn’s so if it works they’d be significantly bigger.”

“Okay, Scootaloo, please lay down on the table.” Alexis told her, and she did so. “Now, Lyra, please put that mask over her face so she can breathe in the anasthetic.” I nod and place it on her, and slowly, she falls asleep. “Now this is when you should exit the room, Lyra. Surgery isn't for the faint of heart.” She said

“I’m a scientist, I’ve seen blood before when I studied medical sciences in university… including my own, but I can handle it… Starburst why don’t you go wait in the next room?” I said, worried that he wouldn’t be able to handle it. But he shook his head no

“Sometimes I get wondering if he remembers some past life..” Alexis said, pondering. Then the machines came down and… began opening up Scootaloo’s wings.

“Woah, a little aggressive, but then again these auto-docs don’t have the ability to teleport the bridging material into the pathways.”

“And doing such with Element Zero would cause irreparable trauma. The laser scalpels ensure there is no bleeding.” Alexis explained.

“As long as they don’t cut into any arteries or veins it will be fine, Pegasi wings are the most delicate part of them, between the thin appendage, the hollow bones, the high magic needs and the fact that each one has their own version of a Carotid Artery, any misstep in treatment means that it has to be amputated.”

“do not worry, I am working with live scans of her anatomy, and even if I make a mistake, Milky Way medical technology is far superior to what you must be used to. And I'm done.” The robots gently pulled the flesh back together, and lights descended, and shone on the incisions, and a few moments pass before it looked like there was no incision in the first place.

“Amazing… so will this biotic stuff conflict with her magic?”

“If my theories are correct, the energies will harmonize. Biotics are essentially Neurological manipulation of Element Zero. Theoretically, when her wings fully grow and her body adapts, she may be more agile or faster than most Pegasi… there’s also a chance she may learn to project her Mass Effect fields to do many other things, such as exhibit biotic telekinesis. Although that will likely require a biotic amplifier.”

I smile. “Well one of her biggest wishes was to be as good of a flyer as Rainbow Dash.”

“She may very well get that wish.” the robots retract back into the ceiling. “Now you can remove the mask.” I do so.

“Will she wake up now?” Starburst asked.

“Mhm. It'll take a bit for her body to get rid of the anasthetic, but she'll wake up rested, with No memory of the procedure.”

“Except for the fact that it actually happened… now how do we do this Gene-therapy stuff?”

“It's already done. Her wings have already started to grow once more. Growth just takes time, something I cannot change. It wouldn't do to accidentally accelerate her aging. For reference, I downloaded all the medical information from this facility… and I suggest you do not go into exam room E-18… there is a Quarian corpse in there..”

“What happened?”

“Quarians have an exceptionally weak immune system, in addition to being a dextro-amino acid species.. they were unprepared for the dangers, and died Quickly as a result.. the one in that room was about to be cleansed of the planet's former poisons, but died during the purification procedure..”

“...is the body’s DNA still salvageable, and not just hair or blood, even bone marrow.”

“Why do you ask, Lyra?” Alexis sounded confused by my question.

“You said something about a reaper threat before, if that’s the case the Quarian in that room may have been the only survivor of their race, even if we cannot save the one in there, we can ensure their legacy continues through cloning and environmental conditioning on the replicated samples. Starswirl the Bearded did the same in an experiment to bring an ecosystem to the badlands, we use those same methods to help animals return to the wild after they accidentally become domesticated by pony hospitality.”

“And what do you propose, Lyra? Raising not only your son and daughter, but Quarian sons and daughters, and many other Milky Way species? Your initiative is admirable, but you must understand the burdens you're going to bring upon yourself. And what of your government?”

“I already have a human son, a Pegasus daughter, and an Earth pony lover, this wouldn’t be as weird as that. Besides, I was going to have Bon-Bon run it by Celestia… also we only have a Quarian sample so far, don’t think too far ahead, for all we know we probably don’t have a usable sample that we can get from her.”

“actually, the medical database I downloaded contained genetic profiles for every Milky Way species. Some of which are simply unsustainable here. And a proposal as big as what you're going to ask, it'll be best to do it in person, not through your lover whom works in the capital. And as for Quarians, Lyra.. their entire species wears environmental control suits near permanently. Not to mention their Species has different amino acids than Humankind and Ponykind. You would also need to find a way to give them food that is compatible with their biology.” Alexis told me.

“That’s what environmental conditioning is, taking a control sample, replicating test samples, then running those test samples to rapidly force evolutionary adaptation, billions of years in the span of a few days, then we clone the finished stable genes, also Bon-Bon has more pull politically due to her job, a job that I’m planning to confront her about.”

“Do you want to be recognized as an actual reputable scientist? I understand she may have political pull, but if you don't do things for yourself, you'll forever keep a reputation that you don't want.” Alexis said.

“It'll be okay, mom! I think Princess Celestia will like your idea!” Starburst tried to encourage me.

“Alright, but I want to talk to Bon-Bon first.”