I open the door to my laboratory and a weak, blue light bathes my face in its glow. Pushing aside the thick, metal door in front of me, which is hidden by a false curtain in my room, I step into the small area. My hooves echo against the cold, stone floor. The space was nearly silent except for a weak hum coming from the metal contraptions around me, each one vital to my studies. I check each one carefully, making sure all of them are working, and, more importantly, working properly. If things didn't work, that could potentially delay my studies, while a malfunction could destroy them. Luckily, all of them were in good condition, aside from a small leak from one of the pipes, which I patch up quickly. Cords snake their way from the ground to a large control panel in the center of the room. Stepping over each one, I make my way over to a dash board in the corner. Pushing a button, the door closes quietly, and the overhead lights kick in. I listen for a break in the quiet.
"Hello, Princess Luna."
There it was. I make my way back over to the center of the room towards the control panel and flip a few switches, allowing her to hear my speech. I look over at a large, glass tube labeled "Name: Altered Morph" so I can face her when I respond.
"Hello, Ally."
I brace myself for her next question.
"Princess Luna, may I come out today?"
Little did she now how much pain her inquiry caused me. She knew the answer, but I still had to say it.
"You know I can't let you." My tears turn her body into a blur, her sleek gray coat and foggy pink mane blending at the edges. And her eyes. She had the most amazing deep blue eyes. But I was most likely the only pony who would ever gaze upon them. She was beautiful, even if a bit distorted by the rather thick, transparent liquid she was floating in. A large mask covered her muzzle, allowing her to breathe the stale air sealed inside a large steel tank beside her tube. My eyes begin to sting more and more, but I have to stay strong.
"You know I'm trying my best to study what's been going on. But until I fully understand, you can't come out."
I'm glad she quickly switches to another question.
"Princess Luna, how are my readings?" She always used my name in each of sentences she spoke. It was strange, her habit of addressing me, but it was completely understandable under her circumstances, so I was never upset by this. I glance down at the control panel.
"Only a thirteen percent chance of a switch today." Good. I didn't want her to change yet.
"So why can't I come out, Princess Luna?" She new exactly why. But she didn't know what else to say, and these few moments each day in which she could experience something besides silence were beyond precious to her. Besides, these were the only things she could speak about, as she knew about almost nothing else. And it's my fault. She's lived isolated in that glass cylinder for as long as I can remember, each day with multiple cords extending from her flank. More specifically, her cutie mark, a paint brush.
"I couldn't hurt anypony by painting, Princess Luna."
"I told you, Ally, there still a possibility of your cutie mark . . . you know . . ." We both remain quiet for a time.
"But Princess Luna, even if it changes, how do you know it'll be something bad?"
"I don't." It was so simple, yet so hard for me to tell her these things. There was such a small chance that anything bad would happen, yet I still needed to keep her here, just to be safe.
"Princess Luna, can I at least have a fun dream tomorrow? I'm tired of painting." A knew question. But she always asked it eventually. They always did? I don't really know which to use. There were such drastic changes that could take place. Sometimes it felt like I'd met two different ponies.
"I can't do that for you. Your special talent remains inactive all day. I have to reactivate it at night or else you could be harmed." She didn't respond. She had been only painting in her dreams for nine days now. I felt awful considering I was the one who had control of them. I feared she was mad at me, though she would have good reason to be.
"Princess Luna, can you tell me another story?" Every time Ally changed, she couldn't remember who she used to be. I'm not surprised by this, as the thing that changes is connected to a ponies entire destiny. Their sole, perhaps. No pony had every heard of somepony's cutie mark changing before. Everypony . . . except me and Ally. Sometimes I would tell her about other times when she had different cutie marks. It was about the only entertainment she got.
I look away from her. "Ally, I . . . I can't remember anymore stories."
She studies the side of my face. "Yes you can, Princess Luna."
I sigh.
"Well . . . well one time you had a potion making cutie mark. I looked like a beaker with a blue liquid in it. There was a small bone floating in it as well. I assumed that it meant you used organic matter in your potions. But I was . . . . . You asked me a lot more about your statistics then. And more serious. You were so . . . d-different." I fear that she heard the hesitation in my voice, the sadness. I think she did, but she wants me to continue. "For your dreams, I provided you with all sorts of equipment, and a few mice to test your concoctions on. You started working, then you looked at me, as if you wanted me to leave . . . so I did. But when I came back, I found all of the mice dead. It . . . scared me. Your special talent was in potions, so I knew it wasn't an accident. You'd killed them. On purpose. Your cutie mark changed the next morning."
She seems thoughtful about my story. She was always very thoughtful. At least, with her current cutie mark. I wait for her. After a while, she speaks.
"Princess Luna, did you . . . were you scared of me? Did you not like me?" Oh. I didn't really know. I decide not to answer her directly.
"I felt sorry for you. I was worried that you would never be able to come out and meet other ponies. Especially considering how fast you switched from one cutie mark to the next."
"But, Princess Luna, were your feelings for me different?" She was worried. Worried I didn't like her because of what she used to be.
"That wasn't you. You are kind and curious. That has nothing to do with who you are."
"But that was me, Princess Luna."
"It's not who you are now. And that's all that matters. Trust me, considering my past, I know that better that anypony else."
BEEEEEP
"Princess Luna, what was that?" She presses her mussel against the glass tube, attempting to see.
"It was an update. Your chance of changing is now-" I pause. "Forty-seven percent."
"What? No! Princess Luna, I'm scared!"
"I know, I know. It's okay, I'm coming over." I set the panel to say aloud what her readings are, and I trot over to her tube. I lay my hoof against the cool glass. She does the same.
BEEEEEP PRO-bal-BI-LI-tee OV CHAN-g Is SE-ven-tee FOR PER-sent
"No! Princess Luna, what do I do? Why is it changing so fast!" Ally's eyes fill with tears. "I don't want to leave!" She starts pounding against the barrier between us. "No, no, no!"
"Shhh . . . shhhhhh . . ."
BEEEEEP PRO-bal-BI-LI-tee OV CHAN-g Is NIN-tee Too PER-sent
She's sobbing at this point, and the glass becomes smeared with frantic hoof prints. Even I'm not sure of what's going on. "Princess Lu- Agh! My head, It hurts so bad and- No! My cutie mark!" I watch in horror as the image on her flank starts to flicker.
"What do I-" She pauses. She knows that she can't do anything, and sighs in defeat.
"Goodbye, P-Princess Luna."
My legs tremble and I collapse to the ground. "G-Goodbye, Ally. I'll m-miss you."
"I'll m-miss you too, Princess Luna." She presses her soft lips against the glass. I do the same. I imagine our lips locking together in a kiss. She's like a daughter to me. A daughter who will never stay.
"Princess Luna, l love y-"
BEEEEEEEEEEP CHAN-g COM-pleet
