It was dark.
No sound, no light. Hardly any sensation in my hooves aside from the cuffs that were so tight I could barely feel them. I tried to open my mouth to speak, only to find I’d been muzzled like some rabid animal.
With dulled senses, I made out the sound of hoofsteps approaching. My eyes blurred as a bright light hit them. I got the briefest glance of the room, not seeing anything except for a bag on an otherwise empty desk.
The figure that entered was large, twice my size at least, adorned with a pair of wings that could wrap themselves around me like a straightjacket. Lavender magic lit up the room in a flash.
As I blinked, I heard the familiar sound of a loud, exaggerated sigh.
“Cutie mark experiment log seven: Subject has no relation to me, unlike the previous six, which should result in more objective testing and results. Aside from anomalies and diseases, Starswirl and Starlight Glimmer remain the only ponies in known history to manipulate cutie marks.”
It was Princess Twilight, though she didn’t look at all like I’d seen her in the papers or during her speeches. Her smile was gone, replaced with a total lack of expression that pierced through me with absolute apathy. The color had faded from her, a grayness that made her appear much older, even though she had hardly aged.
At the edge of my vision, I could just barely make out her cutie mark. It was as faded as the rest of her, though something else was wrong with it that I couldn’t make out
“The subject’s name is Whiffle. She has a cutie mark with three bowling pins in a circular motion, the adjacent talent is ‘juggling’. Three props have been prepared.”
I watched as she opened the bag with her magic, floating out three oranges and leaving them to hover just a few feet beside her head.
“Removing restraints.”
With a click, the cuffs that threatened my circulation were released. I shook my hooves to get back as much sensation as I could. My mind was torn between running and asking a dozen questions—but then I remembered the muzzle.
Before I had the chance to do anything, Princess Twilight moved the oranges over to me.
“Display your talent.”
I blinked. She wanted me to… juggle? At least it was something I was familiar with.
I gulped, my back breaking into a cold sweat as I obeyed, throwing the oranges in the air and keeping them in a constant rotation.
“Stop.”
A half-yelp tried to escape through my mouth as I nearly dropped all of the oranges. With another flash, a strange tingling sensation went through my body, and my entire sense of balance went… off.
“Proceed.”
I raised my eyebrows, staring at the princess as I tried my best to ask a question with just my face.
Princess Twilight didn’t even blink, raising her chin as her body tensed.
“Proceed.”
Terror struck a chord with my very soul as she spoke, her voice so firm I didn’t recognize it as hers. With a little fumbling, I started juggling again.
Except I couldn’t.
The moment I tossed the second orange into the air, I couldn’t grab it properly, and it slipped out of my grasp. I tried again and again, raw panic overcoming every fiber of my being as I couldn’t even manage to get the oranges up without dropping them.
I couldn’t juggle.
I couldn’t juggle.
My job was juggling, my life was juggling, I’d loved it ever since I was a filly!
What did she do?
What did she do?
“Good, the spell still works. Cutie mark is appropriately dulled and the subject has taken on a faded hue. Now, for the latter.”
Another spell was cast on me, but this one felt much more… wrong. It was like getting home after trekking through a blizzard, but inverse, as all the heat was sapped from me.
“Now, try once more.”
In a near fugue state, I desperately tried to juggle once more. I bit the inside of my mouth until I tasted blood, shaking for a reason aside from the icy chill that wracked my very being.
Again and again, the oranges fell, thudding to the ground in sync with my heart dropping to my stomach. I tried until the next thing that hit the floor were my knees, losing any strength as they buckled under me
Even if I had the strength, I couldn’t bring myself to stand.
Another sigh.
“Talent could not be restored. This time, the cutie mark is once more flashing as it first appeared, as well as the pony regaining most of their color, but the ability itself has not returned. I must empirically declare this a failure.”
There was a clicking sound from the table, and she approached me. I saw the bottom of her hooves, and dragged my eyes to her face. Her eyebrows scrunched, jaws clenched so tightly I could see her bones.
With it, I could make out the rest of her cutie mark. The five stars around hers had faded to black, the light vanished.
“You will be provided a monthly stipend and complete benefits, along with an assigned job if you so wish, until these experiments prove as bountiful as I hope they will.”
She spoke in an entirely clinical tone, detached from the meaning of what she was even saying. I held the oranges to my chest, unable to stop myself from sobbing. She took off my muzzle, letting me cry freely.
“I have been trying endlessly to figure out how my pupil was so efficient at manipulating cutie marks. If I can figure that out, I can change destiny itself. So, please, be patient with me while—”
“You took away who I am.”
Twilight sharply inhaled, her wings ruffling as she closed her eyes. She opened her mouth to say something, only to partly close it.
“I’m sorry.”
