Chapter Two: It's never just one job

Imagine if someone said 'Don't think of a white elephant'. Of course that image would pop into your mind instantly. Probably did right now. That's how Arcane's little 'gift' behaved sometimes.

Every Equis had a gift. Normally it manifested during puberty. Some Celestials could fly at mach speeds or be completely silent. Some Astrals had outstanding affinity in a particular form of magic. Often this was a component of fate, something so significant that it was tied to the equis's very name. For example, the Legendary Silver Crescent was a Celestial who could turn her wings into a sharp blade and cleave stone in half. Others like Regent Queen Twilight were a bit more cryptic. "Twilight Sparkle" refers to a primordial element of Beginnings. Of course, the five-year-old Twilight wouldn't know what sort of Beginning she would spark until fate brought her together with a group of unlikely friends that would eventually rebuild the Royal Guard.

The gift of Arcane Gears was far more utilitarian than stone-cutting wings or outstanding leadership skills. With some effort she could block it out and see the world as everyone else could, but if her focus slipped, her senses were assaulted with information. Soft lights ran through the walls where cables were hidden. Lines ran up and down other Equis that mapped out their nervous systems. Even if their powers were dormant she could see wings on the back of Celestials and the tall horns of Astrals. It all appeared as ghosts superimposed on reality, all of it passing through solid objects to no effect.

The "Scared" were painful to look at. She focused on the ground as she walked down the hallway. The child now being helped onto a wheelchair by her mother was fifteen doors away from her, but she still couldn't stomach looking. The hidden lines of his nervous system were frayed along prominent gaps and the light in his Mundane limbs, which should be brighter than any adult, flickered like a neon bulb on the verge of burning out. If it were just visual then perhaps she could get used to it. Seeing damage like that made her own body feel weak. Often it was to the point she had to clench and relax her hands over and over just to assure her own strength remained.

"Bless. Hey, Bless?!"

She paused mid-step as a nasally male voice spoke up from Exam Room 7. She let out a soft sigh and promised herself not to show revulsion on her face as she turned and gave her best fake smile.

"Yes, StarBright?"

A yellow stallion five years her junior gave a laugh that sounded like a torchered squeak toy. Across his scrawny shoulders was a white lab coat that didn't fit him for two reasons. Along his forehead was the mark of a four-point starburst, in other words, Astral. Of course, it wasn't his race she hated. The privilege it often came with curdled her blood. The little shit had his degree practically handed to him. The Goddess knew why he was tolerated. Best guess? His Daddy paid Mr. Ravencroft's rent.

"Bright Star. My name is BrightStar."

She didn't acknowledge the correction and continued to smile 'kindly'.

"So, what can I help you with?"

She followed the stallion into his office as he began to talk about a glitch in his display. She looked around idly as BrightStar used technical terms he knew nothing about. She stopped when she saw BrightStar had a patient. She kept the older astral mare in the corner of her eye and unsuccessfully ignored their presence. The cornflower blue mare was perhaps thirty at the oldest yet looked lost in her own mind. Arcane's gift forced her to feel the middle-aged mare's fragmented and Alzheimer's-addled mind. She finally gave in and looked the patient in her unfocused eyes. Two broad bands of bald skin ran from one temple to the other with a notch taken from the bridge of her nose. Frayed nerves that webbed up her forehead flickered painfully through the lense of Arcane's 'gift'.

"Look over here. I can barely tell what that is."

BrightStar pointed at a random place within a glass box mounted to the green wall. Like the one in her room, this display had thick metal plates along the side which hummed with power. From the left panel snaked out a thick cable leading down to a podium with a full keyboard and directional arrow keys. From there was a cable that led to a large steamer trunk, and attached to that was the chair the patient sat.

Arcane looked at the display skeptically. Inside floated a three dimensional bust of his patient, only minus her skin. The exposed muscles and skull displayed a complex pattern of nerve tissues that snaked from the base of her skull until meeting to a point between her eyes.

The damage could be seen plainly. The severed ends of nerves made out the path of her scars in the form of void. What the under-trained doctor had before him was a puzzle to be solved due to the limits of current science.

The patient laid back in a padded chair with six thick metallic plates. Four were folded back and dormant, two framed her head and hummed with energy. On a nearby table was a single spent syringe made of glass and metal, the contents now swimming inside the mare's bloodstream. Within a saline solution were nano-scale orbs made to interlock and form an artificial nervous system of sorts. All they needed were instructions provided by the resonant plates framing her skull.

There was just one problem. The artificial nerves could bridge connections between neurons and encourage healing, but were crude imitations at best. To do what evolution mastered millions of years ago they needed to patch it with something that transferred power in potentially fatal amounts. A seizure with nerve damage was the best case scenario for a treatment gone wrong. The worst case scenario was significantly more cataclysmic.

Three years ago everyone with a working tongue said the words "There is a hole in Golden Hills". This phrase was uttered with the same cadence and tone no matter the race, language, or age. However, nobody could say what it was or why it was said, not until several oddities became apparent. A particular point on maps became painful to look at. Specific routes along the southern countryside became unnavigable. Entire families and members of extended families either didn't exist or their names were missing from all records both personal and official.

All we know of the village comes from unsent mail found in post offices adjacent to the anomaly. Letters bound to unnamed Equis speak of entire lives that no longer exist, their Destinations left blank except for the Country and County Golden Hills was believed to reside. Among the thousand or so is a frantic letter begging an unnamed colleague to reconsider an experimental treatment. Though conjecture it is believed the unnamed colleague planned to instruct a young Astral to cast as many spells as possible while under aggressive treatment. He or She believed exhausting the patient's magic would counteract overload. It, apparently, had the opposite effect.

"I need you to look at her."

Bright Star mumbled his words quietly, cleared his throat, and repeated himself when Arcane didn't respond.

"I don't have a medical license." Arcane whispered flatly.

"So? I know you can see her nerves better than this machine. Just give me a clue, anything."

"N-no. I help, she dies, and I'm locked in a dungeon."

"Die? You know that's not the worst-"

"It's fine. Twenty milligrams of serum isn't enough for a Golden Hills scenario. Just use the torso plates to guide the serum into her liver. It will break down in a few weeks."

Bright Star fell silent.

"How much did you use?"

"I got the syringes mixed up."

"Mixed?"

"It's… I used a dose drawn for a Mundane."

"You used eighty milligrams… On an Astral?!"

Arcane hissed out in a whisper she desperately wanted to scream.

She turned to the chair and flipped the four remaining plates into active mode before rushing to the console. BrightStar stood there stunned with a question that wouldn't come out of his lips as Arcane rushed over to the console and began tapping out a short series of commands. On hitting 'enter' the display showed small arrows coursing down the Astral patient. Under this was a glittering of red lights indicating where the serum was in her bloodstream. Slowly but surely these little dots were converging down to the patient's left leg.

"You said you don't have a medical licence!"

Arcane turned to him and cupped his shoulders as her blue eyes burned into his. She did all she could to control her strength, yet the grimace on his face suggested her grip was rather painful. Not that she felt any guilt for it.

"I don't need a licence for an oil change. Go to cold storage and get me five bags of her blood type and a large pan with the same volume."

As he rushed off she prepared the 'oil change'. From a tall wooden cabinet she took tubing and an I.V. stand. From a drawer in the cabinet she took two sterilized needles. To her relief the patient remained lost in her own mind even as Arcane pressed a needle into her right arm. She began a tap with a small bag of solution that could be easily replaced With a blood bag,

She was inserting another into the patient's right leg when Brightstar came back panting and arms full of red sloshing bags.

"Hook her up. Did you get the pan?"

Bright star nodded as his left hoof dragged behind him. A shallow pool of dirty mop water soaked and sloshed about his foot as he scooted it into place.

"That's my mop- no, nevermind. Put the other tube in the bucket.

Arcane's finger hovered over the console's button as she watched the scrawny stallion perform his first oil change on a living Equis body. With a blood bag hooked up and the 'drain' in place she pushed the button. The six plates framing the older Astral began to hum. She let out a distressing moan as blood began to rush into the dirty mop bucket on the floor. On the display a body in green had bright red dots flowing down its leg before flickering out. Once the last red dot was gone Arcane hit a red button on the console. The panels went dormant as the older mare fainted.

"Cut it off and bandage the wounds."

StarBright leaned against the far wall, dazed with a blank expression on his face.

"Is she… are we…safe?"

Only now did Arcane notice the audience. Nurses and two white coated doctors looked through the open door. A cold chill ran up Arcane's spine. They were looking at her. So many eyes and so much judgement in them. There was disdain, concern, and so much more being thrown at her. Magic and thoughts were cousins of sorts. She couldn't read minds but she could feel thoughts well enough. What many simply call 'empathy' is, in fact, a common sensitivity to magic. Her own was made more potent by her 'gift'.

She had to lower her head and let the wavy locks of hair obscure her eyes.

She shouldered past the three mare nurses and two male doctors, accidentally knocking one of the stallions on his ass. Another nurse raised her hand and tried to speak to her without success. Her ears folded back and focused attention solely on her hooves and where she was headed.

StarBright smiled nervously as he met his colleagues' eyes.

"One of our serums was mislabeled and Bless was just assisting me in an emergency… oil change."

The stallion that rose up from being knocked down let out an indignant huff and walked away. All but one nurse wandered off indifferently after a few seconds.

"Doctor BrightStar, there's a basin under your sink. You can use that next time you have to perform an emergency exsanguination."

He blushed and gave an absent minded nod. He turned away speaking under his breath.

"No, I'm still going to call it an oil change."