A changeling study on pony biology
Ponies are such interesting creatures, quick to judge and just as quick to run from danger. I don't blame them really, they don't have the defences we do and there internal systems are terribly inefficient.
Let's start on the outside, it seems even the largest of the species are covered in short hair and skin. It seems like a sturdy enough barrier but it truly isn't, the smallest of scratches and they begin to bleed, such a terrible waste of vital fluids.
After a small amount of work there skin peels off, just like that. inside they are equally disappointing. I will start with the most obvious. the digestive system uses a single stomach that is much too small for a creature this size, the esophagus enters the stomach on an angle such that vomiting is impossible and chocking is... common. the diet of ponies is also strictly herbivore which makes protien. the vascular system has incredible deficiencies instead of a grid the arteries and veins seem to be sprawled out at random. so far all the ponies I have studied have slightly different network of veins. the heart is of equally poor design it beats in a sort of ripple and is one piece that try's to pump blood throughout the entire body, naturally this causes it to wear out quicker, such a shame for something so important. I tried reworking the heart more like that of a changeling by dividing it down the middle to make a tandem system that lasts longer and is much more efficient, the pony simply died.
The next specimen is the first of its kind I've ever gotten the chance to study, a Pegasus. Other then there internal pony biology and skin coverings they are truly a remarkable race. Pegasi wings are extremely receptive to pain, the slightest twist or cut and it leaves the pony screaming and crying out. After muzzling this specimen I proceeded to peel back the skin that "shields" the wing muscles, such a remarkable build. This is the only part of pony biology I can not honestly see a problem with, the range of motion is incredible allowing for agility rivalling only our own in the sky. The sheer size and strength of these muscles is what makes them the fastest creatures in the sky, how amazing.
On a normal day, I would remove the unstudied piece as to get a better understanding to its working. I can't seem to bring myself to remove such a wonderful work of art, so instead I put the skin back into place and sew the flap shut, I shall come back to this… hmm, I don't believe I've done a gender study on these creatures. No matter. I moved to the rear to determine the ponies gender, which happens to be female, a mare is what I believe they call them in there society, and she started whimpering.
I can not have a sad or upset patient in my lab, it really ruins the mood
"what's wrong pony?"
She simply shut her eyes and whimpered loudly
Was she scared? I don't want ponies to be scared, I'm not here to scare them I want to study them.
"why are you scared? You have nothing to fear of me."
She opened her eyes, I had since returned to the front of this… mare so she could see I wasn't a threat to her, her eyes were full of fear and the emotion in the air reflected that greatly. I sighed in discontent this will not do. I finished sewing the skin under her wings and cleaned up the blood off her coat, normally I would leave any blood but her coat was such a magnificent shade of green, I couldn't leave it stained.
After that was done I ordered for the guards
"take this mare back to the holding pen, she is to remain undamaged."
The guards nodded and did so, I will revisit this strange reaction.
I sat in the centre of my lab thinking, I couldn't not think about today's earlier occurrence, all the other ponies (who where awake) where angry, but science does tend to make the religious types angry. This was the first fearful reaction, was I scary? I don't want to be scary…
I must talk to this pony and find out why she thought I was scary.
further thought also made me realize this could've been the first mare I've studied, i thought back to the other specimens, all had squarish and long muzzles and large front shoulders, while she had smaller front larger rear and shorter more rounded muzzle maybe these ponies are different from one another, other than colour, race and veins?
I opened my notebook and filled in a log of today's new discoveries and status of any working theories, I also jotted down a to-do list. I am much too forgetful and these left out studies would help greatly, among them is
Gender
Eyes
And skeletal structure
I've tried to research a pony skeleton but the always die before I can remove any bones and a dead subject doesn't produce the same results, I huffed another sigh and wrote down the ultimate failure of the heart bifurcation, " although tandem heart function is much more efficient pony organs do not self-repair fast enough to prevent bleeding out and 80% of subjects died immediately, the heart failure death is an interesting action and may require a study into the nervous system, upon death the patient tenses all muscles before releasing, this total release also involves the excretory system which unfortunately is very un-dignifying for the patient" chrysalis told me it wasn't necessary to leave such notes but I feel it's very necessary, we are not here to strip them of what they are, we are here to learn. I wonder one last time to the mare I studied today before hanging up my lab-coat and leaving for the night. I always did like the pony princess who set up the night maybe, I'll get to study them one day, an alicorn. That would be the ultimate prize for my career.