Twilight was in the middle of a large clearing. Her friends and the Princesses were next to her, watching the area around them.

It was a peaceful area. A large grass field with lush green grass that invited her to come and lay down. She was half tempted to ask Pinkie if she had the equipment for a nice picnic. A nice picnic surrounded by trees was very tempting when it wasn't in the Everfree. Small mushrooms mingled with flowers as wildlife scurried about. It was a peaceful site and that's what confused Twilight.

Celestia said that they were going to her and her sister's old training grounds. A ground where they could use their magic freely, without hurting any creature.

This was certainly not a place where massive magic could be released without hurting some creature.

"Well, what do you think?" Celestia asked with a smile.

"Uh," Twilight asked, trying to figure out how to respond, "It's, great?"

Celestia laughed, "I see the spell is still working. Which is good."

"Indeed. If Twilight Sparkle, the Element of Magic, can not see it, then it is in good shape, even after all these years," Luna said with a smile.

"Huh?" Twilight asked, looking at her friends to get similar responses.

The two alicorns merely smiled and lit their horns. After a moment, the air in the middle of the clearing seemed to shimmer, shifting the look of the things behind it. Like a dirty window, just cleaned with the wrong cleaner. Though the distortion also wavered, creating a mesmerizing pattern to look at.

"Come," Celestia said, and began to walk to the distortion. The group followed, and Twilight noticed with awe that the white alicorn disappeared through the distortion as if she was walking through a portal. Excitement built in her as she realized what it was. It was a dimensional pocket! A pocket hidden for generations that served as a training ground for the Princesses.

Why the Princess needed such a training ground, she was unsure since she hadn't seen the two do too much in the way of battle. Though after seeing the alicorn of the sun defend herself with a halberd, she supposed that there was a side of the Princess that she didn't know. A fierce warrior softened by a century of peace and harmony.

Though it was her turn to walk into the distortion. She paused, not in fear, but curiosity. She had walked into a portal before, a portal that took her to an alternate reality. This was different, she thought and wanted to learn more. She cautiously stuck her hoof into the swimming air, watching it disappear into the air, completely and utterly. She smiled, feeling curious, and trying to feel the magic that hid it so well.

"Come Twilight, we waste too much time," Luna said with a smile. Then she too disappeared into the hidden entrance.

"Wheee!" Pinkie shouted as she bounded head first into it, vanishing in a blink of an eye.

Twilight frowned, fighting herself about satisfying her curiosity, or hurrying and joining the others. She watched Applejack and Rainbow enter the field and let go of her curiosity. Now was the time to act. After all, the Princesses wouldn't mass teleport them here without a reason.

Her vision wavered for a moment, but she was used to that. From walking into portals and teleporting, such an event was a common denominator. Though she wasn't expecting what she saw on the other side. Soft sand filled her hooves as she stepped into the new environment. It was not hot, but rather a bit cold. The air around them was musty, like a room that had not been aired out for, far, far, too long. Though it was still. No air moved the sand nor the little dust that there was. She frowned, seeing a vast desert expand outwards. It looked like a desert just before sunset, just without the sunset. No appealing colors danced along the sand but a cool blue seemed to permeate throughout. Twilight took another step, and saw huge mounds of sand that looked to be the remains of craters before the sand filled them back in. Though that didn't capture her attention.

It was the glass.

Parts of the desert seemed to be turned to glass at random intervals. Lines of it carved the desert into meaningless sections, or large craters seemed frozen in time as glass reached towards the heavens in tiny, frozen spindles. Large chunks of the stuff also lay undisturbed in the sand, clear as a window.

She picked up one of the pieces with her magic and lifted it close. The edges of the glass seemed to be infected with granules of sand that hadn't been turned entirely into glass, and she could see the warped edges were slightly burned. Though the center of the glass blob was so clear that she had no problem looking into it. She turned it around a bit and saw the light reflect on the top face. She looked up and saw the sun. Yet, it was muted. Like the air was filled with smoke enough to dull its glow. Yet, it wasn't. She could just look at the sun for some reason. Its glaring light a mere annoyance if she stared at it.

"What is this place?" Twilight asked, still staring at the celestial object.

"This," Celestia said, turning to her student, "Is our training grounds."

"This ground has been used since my sister and I were in that battle with Calamity. Though we have since removed its location from history."

"Wait," Applejack said, "No one knows about this here desert?"

"Nope," Luna said shaking her head, "Though it wasn't a desert at its beginning."

Twilight frowned and joined her friends in a questioning look.

"Simply, this entire," Celestia paused, "Desert, is surrounded by a simple barrier that will teleport you to the other side unless you know how to get through. Making it seem that it's not even there. So over time, it has faded from maps and minds. Though if Twilight wanted to calculate the circumference of our planet, she'd get a different result if she measure through where this training grounds were rather than elsewhere."

"So you isolated a stretch of land from everypony?" Twilight asked, "Making a land that essentially is invisible without the right eyes."

"Correct. There are even trading routes that run through here from time to time. They have no idea. And that makes it a perfect place for us to practice our abilities," Luna said, looking at Twilight.

"What abilities? You're alicorns, that's not much of a secret!" Pinkie said with a smile.

Luna smiled, "You are familiar with the morphing that I was able to do when I tried to keep you away from the Elements, when we first met?"

The group nodded.

"That is what I'm talking about. The same with how Celestia was able to make a contained black hole at Canterlot just a day ago. They are a mere glimpse of our true power."

Celestia was walking away from the group while Luna talked, but when Luna had concluded speaking, she turned and faced the group. She flared her wings and began to glow.

"Stand back everypony," Celestia shouted even though she was a distance away.

The glow began to increase in intensity, and Twilight could see red flames flickering around her. They increased in intensity and seemed to flicker in more random patterns. Celestia's hair caught fire and color melted away before a black line. Twilight blinked, the heat drying out her eyes as she would next to a campfire. Yet, this was much hotter. She could only imagine the temperature at the center of the fireball that was now obscuring Celestia. Though it didn't for long. With a quick thoom, it launched itself outwards, quickly dissipating to a wall of heat that hit the group like a slap in the face.

Twilight coughed, trying to clear her lungs of the super-heated air it had been subjected to. Though froze when she saw Celestia walking towards them.

The center of the blast had been turned into one of the glass craters she had seen earlier, only it was glowing white with heat. The towering columns of glass slowly fell to the spindles she saw earlier. The direct center was blackened, despite the glowing material underneath. Celestia herself was also glowing. Her coat remained unchanged as it emitted a gentle glow and her cutie mark was now a single hue of bright orange. Though her hair was now made of fire, its normal self-conscious movements were now quicker and reminded Twilight of a billowing bonfire caught in a sudden gust of wind. Celestia's adornments were glowing, but not from magic, but from the heat they were emitting. They seemed to be molten, yet she could still see the purple gem in the neck as well as in the crown on her head. The metals were quite nearly pure white, just a hint of orange tinged the edges.

Her eyes were also pure white. Though Twilight could still see what she was focusing on since her pupils were brighter than the rest of the eye. She couldn't say the same about the iris. It was lost in the alicorn's eye. Tiny little flames took over her eyelashes, slowly dancing in the absence of wind.

The group remained silent as Celestia walked over, glass circles marking where she had walked. Though they disappeared as she walked along. However, Twilight could still feel the heat emanating from her mentor as she stopped near the group.

"This is my power form," Celestia said, looking at the group, "A form born of fire and plasma. A kin to the very sun itself. This form draws power from the sun, and I would exhaust myself if I were to use this form during the night. But during the day I may use it however I please."

The group uttered a collective, "Wow…" Though Twilight took a step closer to her mentor. The glowing eyes focused on her and a small smile formed on her lips.

"Ask away," Celestia said reading the alicorn's mind.

"Does it hurt?" Twilight asked eagerly.

Celestia shook her head, making the bonfire on her head shudder in response.

"What kind of power output do you get to your magic? Or is it restrained just to physical strength and abilities? Ooh! Are you immune to fire? Could you just go to the dragon lands and walk on lava? Could you make more lava? Though, why does it occur? Is it because you're an alicorn? Will I suddenly erupt into flames?!" Twilight said, pausing in her questions, only to realize, no pony had stopped her.

Celestia smiled, "In order: my magic gets a very large boost of energy. During the day I can't really exhaust myself while using my magic. It recharges much faster than usual, allowing me to use exhausting magic in bursts. I can do more magically exhausting tasks quicker than I would if I wasn't using my power form. My physical strength gets a boost but not as much as my magic. I'd say I'm more flexible if anything. Yes, I'm immune to fire and can walk on lava." She paused picking up some of the sand with her magic. Though, instead of a golden glow, it was a fiery orange that seemed to flicker around the sand trapped within it. Though the sand was now also glowing, being melted together in magic's grip.

"Wow!" Twilight said, getting as close as she dared to the floating of glass, "What spell are you using?"

It floated away a bit, "Be careful my student. I'm using a mere levitation spell."

Twilight looked up at the alicorn with shock.

Celestia nodded, and Twilight noticed the fiery orange glow also around her mentor's horn, "My magic gains another characteristic. Any magic I produce becomes searing hot. To not accidentally hurt things I have to constantly think about turning down the heat. If I don't, they burn. No matter the object. Though it can be useful in making glass, or as you asked, lava."

"What about steel? Could you melt it?" Glyph asked her face seemingly in awe.

Celestia nodded, "Yes, easily. I can even melt uranium."

Glyph's eyes got wide.

"Though not without thinking about it. I do have to put in some concentration to get it to melt."

"Are you hot?" Twilight asked.

"No," Celestia said, turning to her again, "I am warm to the touch. Like one of those heat packs you have to boil to reset."

"What about your regalia?" Rarity asked, pointing to the molten adornments, "Why are they so hot then?"

Celestia laughed, "Oh! I just like the look of them molten. Since I don't have to worry about heat, I figured, why not?"

"But doesn't it hurt the metal? Won't such drastic heat ruin its structure? Look? And overall cut?"

Celestia smiled, pointing to the tiny purple gems, "See these gems? They have an enchantment inscribed on their facets that hold the peytral and crown in their shape. These," She said, lifting her hoof caps, "They don't have that big of a fight against gravity since they are pretty snug on my hooves. So, they have a much simpler enchantment on the metal itself."

"What if something hits them?! Won't it get damaged?" Rarity asked, genuinely concerned, "Take the sand for example! It's probably making all sorts of terrible dents underneath!"

Celestia frowned and looked at the bottom of one of her shoes, though the glowing surface was too bright to reveal any dents. Celestia frowned, "Honestly I've never thought about it too much. If it becomes dented I just heat it up and reform it. I don't need to entire my full form to use some of my powers."

"Like at Canterlot," Twilight replied, "You weren't on fire. Just had those, runes all along you."

Celestia nodded, "Indeed. It's a spell Starswirled helped me develop. It essentially turns on and off the magic state in rapid succession. It allows me to use my powers sparingly, without the whole fireball. I can't use the full powers and it is a tad harder to move since my magic is constantly switching between states. Though over the years it has been easier to master."

"So that's why you didn't use that form when you were attacked at Canterlot by the Changelings," Glyph said, face thoughtful, "There was no way for you to change forms without casualties."

Celestia nodded, "Agreed. Though that's not the full reason. I underestimated her strength gained from Shining Armor's love for Cadence. I did not feel the need to even use a small portion of my power."

"Though there is another reason," Luna said quietly.

Celestia nodded, "Strength of others invites others to get stronger," She turned to the group, "If my power form was common knowledge, our enemies would prepare for it. Growing stronger in turn. Over time they would be able to counter sister's and my powers, just like the Eye of Calamity. And just like then, Equestria would suffer. So, we hide it for our final trump card."

"Though with every power there is always a drawback," Luna said, making the fiery alicorn turn to her, "The alicorn power form is corruptive. Or, at least it responds heavily to the emotions of the user. It is one of the reasons I turned into Nightmare Moon. Her form is similar to my power form."

"So," Twilight asked, remembering what she saw in the Crystal Empire. Her dark mane and dark glowing eyes seemed to pierce into her soul, "That's what happened in that staircase?" She looked at her friends, looking for comfort. They gave it with smiles, and Pinkie even tackled her in a hug, though Twilight remained standing, used to sudden hugs at that point.

"We won't let you turn into a nightmare!" The pink earth pony exclaimed.

The others responded in kind.

"I'm sure the support of your friends will make this path easier," Luna said with a sad smile, "Though even they will not be able to fight such power if it fully emerges not under your control."

Celestia sent her fiery hair into motion with a nod, "Indeed. Your friends were able to pull you out of it before it completely consumed you, but they will not always be able to do so. You must learn to control it."

"That's why you brought me here, right?" Twilight asked, looking around. Despite her friends cheering her on, she felt terribly worried. She had just learned she had a powerful ability locked in her new alicorn body. An ability that could potentially turn her into a Nightmare. Just like Rarity and Luna. She frowned, remembering the amount of power that was available to her when she was in her power form.

Endless.

What would happen if she turned into a Nightmare? Would Equestria even survive?!

"Why didn't you warn me? If this power is so corruptive, shouldn't I know about it when I became an Alicorn?" Twilight asked, feeling her face fill with worry.

Celestia smiled, and sat close to Twilight, extending a wing over her. The layers of feathers reminded her of flowing lava. Hues of white, yellow, orange, and red took turns among the layers but only when the wings were extended.

"I understand why you may be hesitant. But there is a reason why we kept it from you."

"That is?" Twilight asked, her anxiety making her impatient.

Celestia didn't respond. Instead, she turned to the glowing glass that was still in her grip. It tightened together in a ball and began to glow brighter. It shrunk a bit, and Twilight immediately recognized what it was.

Plasma.

The now searing hot fourth state of matter vanished as Celestia's magic sent it away. It was still trackable, if barley, as it hurdled across the sands. Its path stopped as gravity pulled it down, and a large explosion blossomed where it landed, searing the ground into another glass crater. It was much smaller than the one that was still cooling, but still much larger than a large school's cafeteria.

Twilight swallowed as she watched the molten crater move because of gravity, slowly falling into a shape it would hold till something broke it.

"Power Twilight," Celestia said in a grim voice, "Power is naturally corruptive unless you have the necessary tools to fight that corruption. Kindness, humility, and generosity are a few of the tools you will need."

"The Elements?" Twilight asked, finding her voice box.

"Not quite. Though you are on the right track," Celestia said, adopting a sitting position, "I am not referring to the Elements themselves, but about what they can represent. Kindness, generosity, loyalty, honesty, and laughter make the magic of friendship. Though that's not the only thing they are used for. They can become the pillars of a greater society, family, and more. They will also lead you on the path to peace with contentions and roadblocks."

"However," Luna said in a dark voice, "Had you have known about your power form in its dormant state, you may have sought it out when times required more strength than you could provide. Instead of going to your friends and allies. You may have sought out the power in greater force, only giving you frustration in return. Then, if you did manage to force it out, you may have relied on it. Then it would have consumed you. Just as it consumed me."

"What do you mean?" Twilight asked amid the silence of her friends.

"My corruption began soon after the battle I showed you. That evil magic I felt, that copy? That was a hint of my power form's abilities. I unlocked it as you had Twilight, under a great need. Though, I wasn't able to summon it like my sister could. Her power form came naturally, and she found she could call it to herself whenever the need arouse. I grew jealous of this, again pushing myself to reach that control that she had gotten. I could not reach it. So, I turned to darker methods…"

Celestia's head hung low at this, and Twilight was about to ask her if she was okay when Luna continued.

"I went to dark magic to force my power form into being, since I had felt dark magic the first time I had summoned it. It," She paused, "Worked. I was able to find the area in my soul where the magic resided and call it when I needed it to. Though it wasn't without its side effects…"

Celestia chuckled, sending her hair into a fit, "Besides sending the whole castle to the dream world?"

A smile tugged at Luna's lips, "Aye. That was not intended."

"Huh?" Pinkie asked, "How did you put the whole castle to sleep without knowing it?"

Celestia's smile only grew as she pondered previous memories, "You saw the fireball that spawned when I summoned my power form?"

The group nodded.

"That's what happens whenever I truly bring it to being. I can mitigate that by using that half-form Starswirled helped me develop. Or have Luna shield me. Though Luna's power form spawns a different type of effect. It puts any creature in a large radius in a sleep only Luna can wake them from."

Luna groaned, "I had to go to every single room in the castle to make sure every pony was freed from their forced slumber. The tops of the towers, to the dungeons below. I also had to check every house near the castle just to be sure."

The group chuckled, causing Luna to smile.

"Aye, you laugh. But it took most of the night and a good section of the morning to do."

"So Twilight's ability knocks out magic?" Glyph suddenly asked, her face thoughtful.

Celestia smiled, "I would guess so. Though its effects seem only to last for a short time. Though judging on how the magic floor in the Crystal Empire's throne room collapsed, I assume that's not limiting to ponies."

"So when I enter my power form, I disrupt nearby magic? In ponies and spells?" Twilight asked, also sitting down. The sand felt sharper than it ought to have, but it wasn't painful.

Celestia nodded, "Yes. Though I feel we are straying a bit. Would you like to continue Luna?"

Luna's face turned into a deeper frown as the memories filled her mind, "Like I said, the power form increases the negative emotions you feel. And I infected myself with dark magic getting it unlocked. While I was training with the power form, I could only feel my jealousy for my sister's power and her fame grow and grow. I found myself getting more and more frustrated!" She growled, stomping her hoof. She took in a breath and let it go, "Though I have learned now that such a position takes a lot more than I originally thought. She has her duties and fame, and I have mine. I was just too blind to see it. Too emotional distraught to want to see it." She paused again, her face showed sadness and regret.

"I should have done something about it. I could—" Celestia said, her fiery hair now dimming with her sadness.

"Stop," Luna said in a gentle command, "That is that past. We have Twilight and her friends to thank for our reunion and for helping us fix old tensions. But, I got so emotionally distraught that I decided to fight my sister for her position and take over as the ruler of all of Equestria. Finally ridding the land of that, 'precious light' that I had become to hate. So, one night I had enough, and confronted Celestia about it."

"That's what Twilight saw with that odd potion right?" Rainbow said, her wings keeping her in the air, "The one Zecora gave her when Discord's plants attacked?"

Luna nodded, "Indeed. My power form is able to reflect the abilities and powers of those around me, allowing me to use it to an extent. Just as I did with the dark magic in the Alicorn amulet. I figured that even if Celestia used her power form I'd be able to get the upper hoof. Though, I didn't plan for something to happen."

Twilight bit her tongue stopping a question from coming out. She assumed that Luna used the power form when they were fighting Flutterbyte and Noah. Though it had looked different than Nightmare moon had. Was it a half form like Celestia? Or was it another form Luna had? She herself already had her harmony form, were there two more forms she'd have to worry about? She strangled the stream of questions into submission, allowing Luna to finish.

"In order to use my power form effectively, the moon needs to be shining. Otherwise, I'd exhaust myself as I did in Canterlot yesterday. That is why I created an eclipse. But while I called upon my power form, the dark magic I had infected myself with resurfaced, and took hold of my magic. It whispered tales of power as it manipulated my magic and body," Twilight frowned as she saw the dark alicorn tear up, "I listened to that ghastly voice, allowed it to take my magic! Turning me into the Nightmare Moon Equestria knows too well."

"It's a great image for Nightmare Night!" Pinkie said with a smile.

"Aye," Luna said returning the smile, "It is indeed. Though this dark magic did increase my power, it turned me into a Nightmare, bent on turning the Equestria into a sunless hole that I'd govern." She took a shaky breath, "To think I would have succeeded if it weren't for you all using the Elements to purify that cursed voice in my mind. Though, it left a permanent mark." She turned to her cutie mark, pointing to the dark sky that lay behind the moon.

"That's not part of your cutie mark?" Rainbow asked in incredulousness, confusion, and surprise.

Luna shook her head, "No. It is a reminder. A reminder that I am more susceptible to dark magic than most. Though, with the help of my sister, I have trained in the ways to purify its dark touch. My sister can even purify it herself without the use of the elements."

Celestia nodded with a small smile, "After the banishing, I remised. I was convinced that the dark magic she had used was the reason she had such a change of heart. Though, as time went on, I realized that it wasn't just that." Celestia took a turn to pause in regret, "But I was convinced back then. So I used my power form to counteract the dark magic. I got it to the point where it naturally opposes the dark magic and prevents it from corrupting my mind. It can, though only if I let it. Now, it's so ingrained in my magic that I do not have to be in my power form to distill the dark magic into regular magic. It is why I am able to use the dark magic so effectively."

Luna nodded, "The ability was helpful. Recall how you all didn't see me for a while after you released me?" The group nodded, "The dark magic was still a part of me, and Celestia was helping me be rid of it. Though my actions still haunt me, I won't randomly change into the Nightmare you fought so long ago."

Rarity nodded, "That is good! Not to mention, that if you do, we will be there to stop it!"

Luna nodded with a smile, "Thank you all a thousand times over! But, that is why we didn't reveal it to you Twilight. We were afraid that in your quest to unlock your own power form, that you'd fall into the same pit as I had."

"Exactly. Since even Starswirled wasn't able to unlock it with his magical abilities, we assumed that only dark magic could do so. Though we do not truly know. It did not take long for Luna to submit to the darkness after she unlocked her true form."

"And if I knew about my power form and a threat to Equestria would make itself known, then I may have driven myself to the darkness in trying to unlock it." Twilight finished, feeling things click into place.

Celestia nodded, "Yes. It is the same with Princess Cadence. I must ask you to also keep it a secret from her as well. Until she herself unlocks it as well."

Twilight frowned, "But how will I be able to know?"

Celestia smiled, "You'll know. For example, when you were doing that entrance exam so long ago? I found hints of alicorn magic in your magical outburst. Powerful energy that I only recognized in my own power form. It was small, undeveloped but I did not want you to grow along dark paths to harness it. It may have been a reason the Element of Magic chose you. You have a powerful ability to harness magic in ways few can, regardless of their source."

"Is that why you chose to give her all your Alicorn magic? Despite no pony before being able to handle that energy?" Applejack asked, "It was because you knew her power form could handle it?"

Celestia smiled, "Not quite. Twilight hadn't unlocked her Alicorn Power form at that moment. She—"

"Alicorn Power form?" Pinkie interrupted looking frustrated, "That name doesn't seem to fit," Her face turned thoughtful, "I'll come up with a better name for you… It may take me a while though."

Celestia smiled at the interjection, "That would be nice. Though try to make it a noun, if you can."

"Sure!" Pinkie said enthusiastically, then settled into a thinking pose that would exist in a statue garden.

The burning alicorn's smile only increased, "Twilight hadn't unlocked the form at that point, yet, because she was the Element of magic I knew she'd be able to control it. Though, you are mistaken to think that Twilight was the only one able to hold that much energy. Any pony could, their bodies would just change to that of an Alicorn, but they wouldn't be able to use the alicorn magic in their bodies. Sure, it may charge their natural abilities such as unicorn magic, strength, and flight but if some pony had my magic they wouldn't be able to invoke my power form. Very few creatures are able to use the magic of others to their advantage."

"Like Tireck?" Rainbow said with a frown.

"Indeed," Luna said, mimicking the frown, "Though, we were not aware whether or not he could use our power forms if he had our magic. It was simply not a risk we could take!"

"But if the power forms have such a corruptive side effect, why didn't you warn me? If I had three different alicorns magic, thereby three power forms, wouldn't it have affected me in multitudes more?!" Twilight said glad no such event had happened.

The glowing eyes disappeared for a moment as she shook her head, "No, Twilight Sparkle. The corruptive effects come into effect when the form is active, and since you nor Cadance hadn't unlocked your form yet, Luna and I were confident that the forms would remain dormant in you."

"But I was able to battle Tireck, who had all the magic in Equestria, to an impasse! You're telling me that the forms didn't surface during our battle?" Twilight asked in disbelief.

Celestia nodded, "Yes Twilight."

Twilight remained in shock and stood there flabbergasted as she calculated exactly how much power her mentor had. Then an idea emerged in her mind, "Wait. Tireck. He stole Fluttershy's magic! Could we do that? Maybe weaken her to a point where we could save her?"

Celestia frowned with the sudden change of thought, but pondered it for a moment, "I'm not so sure Twilight. Remember Starlight's spell? She was without her cutie mark for a while."

Twilight nodded, "But we had other cuite marks during that time!"

"Though she has a point," Rarity said with a frown, "Starlight hit us with a spell remember? Flutterbyte's magic proof."

Twilight frowned.

"Besides," Glyph said, "If we remove her cuite mark, and she has a Cutie mark generator, that may shut her down. Which might be good, but if there is anything biological left then it may die. It could be risky!"

"Hmm, I'm not so sure. Wasn't all of our cutie marks removed when Tireck stole our magic? Fluttershy didn't just fall over. She was still able to walk and run!" Applejack replied.

Twilight nodded, "That's what I mean. It won't kill her, but it may put her in a weakened state long enough for us to do something! And if we can't, we can just release the cuite mark and it will go right back!"

"What about her magic resilience?" Luna asked, "If I remember from your letters, it was a spell that removed your cuite marks. Tireck's ability also stems from magic. If she is indeed magic proof, then that plan won't work."

Twilight frowned, realizing their logic. She mentally crossed it out in her mind. Though she'd keep the idea around, perhaps she could learn the spell from Starlight so if the opportunity arose, she'd be able to pounce.

"But for your final question: Why does it occur?" Celestia said, breaking Twilight's focus, "That is for you to figure out. From our own experiences, we found that it was discovered, or unlocked when we were under emotional strain, mainly anger. Though, through that, we discovered that the power form will also enhance any emotions you feel during the transformation. So, be wary of transforming when you are angry. You will only get angrier. Even after you release the magic. Though with less negative emotions, it doesn't seem to stick as well."

"So if I feel negative going in, I'll only get more negative when I get out? But if I go in positive I'll come out neutral?"

Celestia frowned, "Mostly. If I enter my form angry, then when I come out I will be angrier. Though if I were to enter, determined or happy, then I'd feel whatever emotions I was feeling while I exited."

"Huh? Why does that happen?"

Luna shrugged, "We do not know. Starswirled suggested that negative emotions leave a bigger imprint on our memories than positive ones. Anger sticks with you more than joy. Most of the time. And since the power form is merely enhancing our bodies, it could be increasing what we take in as well. Emotions, natural magic, and other sensory inputs. Though we do not know enough to say for certain."

"Why?"

"It is not a form we use often," Celestia replied, "After Luna's corruption, I only used my power form here. To make sure that if the time arose I'd be able to wield it effectively."

"You must sharpen your blade lest it be dull when thou requires it," Luna said simply.

"So, I have to figure out how to enter my, 'power form,' so I can use it effectively?" Twilight asked.

Celestia shook her head, "No, so you may control when it calls. You do not want to hurt anypony because you enter your power form accidentally."

"Ugh! I really need to make a new name for that!" Pinkie said in frustration, "It sounds so boring! Ultimate form! Cliché. Supercharged! Adjective. Puissance! Maybe, but I need more! Potentiale virtute! Long. パワー! Hmmmmmm…"

The group smiled with understanding.

Twilight sighed, "How did you unlock your power form?" Turning to Celestia.

Celestia frowned, her hair seemed to grow brighter at the question, "When a dear friend of mine was killed before me."

"Walter?"

Celestia nodded, and Twilight noted that her hair was flowing a tad faster than before, "And I can't unlock it like Luna, right?"

"Unless you want to spend 1000 years on a celestial object, I wouldn't recommend it," Luna said with a grin.

"Then how will I be able to unlock it?" Twilight asked with worry and confusion, "I have to find it alone, right?"

Celestia shook her head, her mane and tail dimming, "No. In this task, you may ask your friends for help. Though I do not know how much help they can be with this. Though, if they can, they are allowed to. Just note this is uncharted territory. There could be risks."

Twilight frowned and looked at her friends, including Glyph and excluding their timid friend. Should she have them help? And risk them getting hurt?"

They must have read her mind cause Applejack smiled and responded, "Look sugarcube, we here are no stranger to danger. And if it involves our friend then you better believe we'd be helping out."

"Believe it!" Rainbow said with a grin, taking off in the air with a smile.

"Whatever we can do darling," Rarity replied, a warm complexion on her face.

"Obtinuit eam! Er, you got it!" Pinkie said with a bounce, pause, bounce.

Glyph nodded, "Sure! My harness might be able to help."

Twilight smiled, "Thanks girls!" Though her heart was heavy when she didn't hear Fluttershy reply in kind.

Celestia nodded, her fiery complexion slowly fading back to the normal Celestia the group had gotten to know, "Alright, with that out of the way. I do request Twilight that you do not use the power form unless you need to, or when you are here training. We do need to keep a tight lid on things for now."

Twilight and the group nodded.

"Great. Now, you and Glyph go work on those Quantum Tracers. Everypony else should help Cadence and Starlight in the library." Celestia said with a smile, then held out her hoove, "Twilight, I'll give you the key to the door in this dimension. From her hoof grew glowing lines of golden light arranged in an ancient text in glowing circles. Her cuite mark seemed to lay in the center of the arrangement, but Twilight wasn't too concerned about that. Her cuite mark was a common star shape.

"That's Starswirled's writing!" Twilight said in awe, "How old is this?!" She said raising her hoof as well, though her's went to her face with awe and excitement, but one hoof separated from her face to get close to Celestia's.

"Told you," Luna said with a smile, pulling another smile from Celestia.

Twilight blushed but copied the key. Purple glowing lines appeared to mimic the golden ones in a perfect recreation.

Twilight admired the key, floating in her grasp but looked through it to Celestia as she spoke.

"To open the dimensional barrier near you, turn that key counterclockwise about 90 degrees. Be sure to turn it back when you enter to stop any stray magic from exiting."

"Stray magic?"

Celestia chuckled, "Twilight. We are in a training ground that is meant for us to unleash our true potential. Explosions are quite common. If you create an explosion on the open door, then it will spawn where you entered."

Twilight frowned, thinking about the nice little clearing they had entered from bursting into flames.

"Exactly," Celestia said with a chuckle, "Now, to exit, you create a door by turning the key clockwise 90 degrees. Though, again, you have to be at the edge of the barrier to do so."

"How do you tell?"

Celestia got up and walked past the group. After she had gotten past them, she suddenly disappeared. Or, at least her front did.

Her back legs took a few steps back and the rest of the alicorn reappeared.

"The barrier is linked to the other side, just like how it is on the outside. Though, if you get close to it, you'll feel pressure around you. Here, come here."

Twilight nodded, pulled the key into her magic, and walked to Celestia. Once there, she allowed her mentor's magic to lift her hoof forward, and indeed felt an invisible pressure surround the limb. It was like she was underwater and quite far down. The pressure she'd feel on her barrel was now on her front leg. She moved her limb in and out of the zone, feeling the pressure come and go.

"Try to make an exit door," Celestia challenged with a smile.

Twilight nodded, summoning the key to her outstretched hoof. It appeared instantly, and when it had fully assembled, she twisted it by rotating her leg a little to the right. The key glowed a bit brighter, and the air in front of them shimmered, just as it had when they had entered.

"Well done Twilight," Celestia said before disappearing through the shimmering mirage.

Twilight smiled and pulled the key back, then followed her mentor out. The group also followed with Luna taking the rear.

Twilight summoned the key again once every pony had exited and returned the key to its starting position. The shimmering air vanished, leaving the clearing undisturbed as before.

Twilight smiled and stepped forward to satisfy her curiosity. She walked over to where the air had been and cautiously stepped through it. She was traversing an entire desert in a single step! She smiled and returned to the group with an awkward smile.

"Soon, you'll be able to use the key without summoning it, though for now, you'll need to summon the spell key," Celestia said with a smile, "Do try to hide it though, we don't want anypony getting curious. "There are already too many rumors about this area," Her smile took that of an annoyed pony but quickly faded, "Now, let us return to the Crystal Empire. We have a plan to set into motion."

The group nodded as the alicorns' horns began to glow. Then, with a large flash of golden blue light tinged purple, the group disappeared as the teleportation spell whisked them to the Crystal Empire's throne room.

Twilight smiled as pulled the magic from her horn and looked at Glyph, "So we get to do some quantum mechanics!?"

Glyph nodded, mimicking Twilight's smile.

Twilight grinned, showing pearly whites. She rarely had an opportunity to work on the sciences with another. Especially quantum mechanics. Though she wasn't going to drag on this experience. She had to work fast, and effectively. The quicker the tracers were done the quicker they could try to rescue their friend.

Though as the group was heading to the door of the throne room, there was a little knock on the other side. It was quick and seemed to betray urgency and excitement.

Celestia opened the door with her magic, revealing Cadence and Starlight with eager looks on their faces. A few books levitated in their grasp, surrounded by their respective colors.

"I think we may have found one! Maybe two!" Cadence said eagerly.

"Really?" Celestia responded.

"Yeah! This book," Cadence said, lifting up an informational guide on crystals, "Mentioned the Facet Jewel heist where a large shipment of gems was stolen and lost at sea!"

"And this book mentioned the heist in more detail! It stated that among the jewels there were two that were gifted to the Crystal Empire but the entire boat was seized by pirates. The ship unfortunately sank during the battle, letting the gems and precious cargo to the bottom of the ocean." Starlight said, lifting one of her books.

Cadence nodded, "And among a history book I found a recovery mission to retrieve as many gems as they could since it was worth a lot. They were unsure if the pirates had gotten everything due to the nature of the security on the ship. After several years of the recovery effort, and the few years it took to get it started, they managed to retrieve the ship and about 39% of its original cargo. Among that cargo was one of the gems Luna had gifted the Empire. Though by then, the Empire had already vanished because of Sombra's curse."

"Wait how did the book know about that? The empire was already gone, right?" Twilight asked.

"I've had the library updated a bit so the ancient knowledge could be easily tied with the modern ones," Cadence said with a smile, "But the book said Luna didn't want the gem back but instead gifted it to a localized jousting competition in honor of Crystal Empire's jousting."

"Yes," Luna said, "I do remember that, though I didn't think it would still be around since my absence. Does it still have competitors?"

It was Starlight who nodded this time, raising the final book, "Yes! The competitions only meet every now and again since the sport is not as popular as it was, but the main prize is a large gem trophy!" The book hovered close to her face as she read a passage aloud, "The first place trophy is often the reason behind competitors' reasons to win. While it can't be sold, it is a wonder of gem crafting and rather stands as a boasting right to whomever wins. Older than everypony who has ever laid eyes on it, it was originally crafted by coating a gem in pure crystallized glass. Every year, before it got too big, the winner would add a layer with their jousting emblem embedded in the glass. Forever framing their victory for all to see!"

The book snapped shut with a small puff of dust that made Starlight sneeze, breaking her train of thought. Though, after a moment of pause, she resumed, "Older than anypony that has laid eyes on it! That's got to be the gem!"

Luna nodded, "If it is the same jousting competition then it is. The gem is yellow if that helps."

Starlight frowned, "The trophy is coated in frosted-like glass so the center is unseeable. That's not including all the emblems that have been placed in there as well."

Luna nodded, "I guess, but I believe I could recognize the base. Do thou have a picture I could examine?"

The book was magically reopened, pages flipping as Starlight returned her gaze to the book. After a moment she nodded, turning the pages to the dark alicorn to show a full-page picture.

It was a large orb of sorts that had almost every color imaginable in its depths as well as on its surface. They didn't generally blend well if you looked at the whole thing. Though, you could find individual emblems standing among the colors. The base of the trophy was quite simple, looking like a wide medieval torch. It's black metal shining gently in the camera's flash. On top, was a similar material that looked like a pot of a kettle. Though a tad spikier and a tiny jousting pony on top.

Luna's face lit up at the picture, and she got closer, "Yes! That is it! I'm astounded it has been around for so long!"

"Nice find girls!" Twilight said with a smile, "But you said you may have found two?"

Starlight nodded, "Remember Tempest? Since she was the head of the Storm King's fleets, which included pirates, we may be able to see what happened to those gems as such a heist would probably be recorded in their history!"

"That's if the pirates kept history…" Twilight said with a frown.

Cadence smiled, "That's why we said, maybe. We can't be certain but that's definitely a lead."

Celestia nodded, "I can get in touch with Fizzlepop, and inquire about the pirates in question."

Cadence nodded, "That would be wonderful!"

Luna nodded as well, "Indeed, though there are still quite a few to find," She paused, her face scrunching up a bit, "Twilight?"

The purple alicorn frowned, "Yes?"

"The memories bring up some rather unpleasant memories on how I tricked the dragons into taking one of the gems. For, safekeeping, I told myself." She sighed, looking at her hair, "Lost all my hair that day. I guess even my pocket dimension can't handle too much fire…"

"Hmm," Twilight said, understanding, "I'll have Spike get in touch with Ember. Though if it is with them, it'll be quite painful to search for it. They have an awful lot of gems. Though it could have been eaten at this point…"

Luna shook her head, whatever memory she was experiencing leaving her eyes as she turned to Twilight, "Nay. The gems, while brittle under certain circumstances, are nearly impervious to the dragon's eating habits. It is also able to take a, dip, in lava. If my memory serves me correctly, then it ought to still be in the lands. My question was more about trading. If the dragons ever used the jewels to trade, it may be in another trading loop we would have to search through."

Twilight nodded, "I suppose. I'll be sure to ask Spike."

Luna nodded.

Celestia gave her sister a glance, "Do you remember anything else?"

Luna shook her head, "Not anything of any use. I remember giving one of the gems to a trader in exchange for, something. I do not recall. However, it's been far too long and the trader had no such markings as the ones I've seen today. It could be anywhere."

Celestia nodded, "Indeed. Trading has sped up quite a deal in your absence. Now it's done generally with bits."

Luna nodded, "A change that took some getting used to I assure you."

Celestia smiled, "Yes, I do remember. You traded a silver comb for a near-flawless diamond."

"Whaa?" Rarity said in shock.

Luna frowned, "Back in my time such a price was fair. Diamonds were not that hard to refine and were quite common. It seems that years of mining and searching have changed that."

"Silver comb?" Twilight asked, though she figured she knew the answer.

Luna sighed, "Silver is the only metal that can hold the enchantment allowing me to comb my hair. It is not a process we take often, though it is a process we must do from time to time."

"We?" Celestia said with a smile.

Luna blushed, "Gah! Stop it with your flustering words!"

Her sister smiled, "Alright, well I do believe we all have jobs to do."

"Uh," Rarity said with a frown, "Not all of us."

Celestia shook her head, "Despite the new changes, the jobs remain the same. I do encourage you all to take to the library and use your sources to find any relic like gems."

"Oh, I could talk to Daring Do!" Rainbow said with a smile.

Luna paused, "I do not believe I gave the gems to anypony who could have put them in those temples. The inhabitants of those lands long ago wished to be apart from our kingdom. Gifts were not exchanged on their wishes."

"What about Somnambula? Surely her people may have an idea or two?" Pinkie said with a bounce.

Luna nodded, considering the idea, "It may be worth asking. Though I was talking about the jungle areas of Equestria. But do ask our daring friend Rainbowdash, it could lead to insightful knowledge."

Rainbow nodded.

"Alright, I suppose I have a few contacts I could get in touch with," Rarity said, then sighed with relief, "For a second there, I was worried about not having an excuse to not attend the Sparkling Boutique tomorrow."

"Whaaa?!" Pinkie said dramatically, with a hint of sarcasm, "Rarity doesn't want to go to a Boutique?"

Rarity frowned, hiding a small smile, "Oh hush. I would love to go, though I do think our present situation is much more important."

"I'm just kidding Rarity! Of course I understand why you wouldn't go—" Pinkie started, but Celestia interrupted.

"Hold on. The boutique in Canterlot?"

Rarity nodded slowly.

"Hmm," Celestia said with a frown, "It's the extensive clothing showcase correct? Once a year thing?"

"Why yes! I didn't realize you were into fashion Celestia!" Rarity said with a gleaming smile.

Celestia returned it awkwardly, "Unfortunately I am not. Rather, I do recall my sister and I talking to the original managers of the gathering. Back then it was called the, Splendidus coetus ec gemma or something similar…" She paused with an awkward smile at the blinking eyes, "I know. The language back then was different than ours. But it meant Dazzling gathering of gems. It was held every year in honor of how many gems there were in lands we lived in. But they needed a precious gem that they could use to disqualify gems that didn't meet the minimum requirements for the contest. We offered one of the amulet's gems since the gem was super high quality and the family was very careful with such items. They accepted the gem and used it as a staple of how gems ought to be. It deterred competition from trying to put in any gem to gain the prize. The contest and gathering grew to be quite a tradition, even when gems became more and more obsolete in the trading world. As time continued to move, they started to add clothing to the mix to keep the tradition going. Soon, the trend caught and they changed the name to the Sparkling Boutique. Though they still pull gems from all over Equestria to show off. As far as I'm aware, the gems are still shown in the honor of the tradition."

"Indeed," Rarity said with a look of remembrance, "Though it is such a small part of the event now. Did you want me to go and retrieve it?"

Celestia shook her head, "No. I do not believe trying to pull all of the gems containing the Amulet's true power would be wise. We don't truly know what Noah's plan is. If we pull all the gems, we make it very easy to collect them. We saw what Fluttershy under the control of Noah could do. By keeping them separated, we give ourselves time to act. Though if we can verify the locations of the missing ones, we can use that to bait Noah into action. Which we could use as leverage against our situation."

"So I attend, looking for Fluttershy?" Rarity said with a tilt of her head.

The alicorn nodded.

The unicorn smiled hesitantly, "Though, what do I do if she does show up?"

Celestia looked to Twilight, "If it's possible, you'll use those Quantum Tracers Glyph and Twilight will make. Do you think that you'll be able to make at least one by tomorrow?"

Glyph frowned, "Kinda. The device is easy, I think. Though powering it on such short notice will be the problem."

"Could you use the cuite mark energy?" Twilight asked with thought.

Glyph nodded, "Yeah, though I don't have a tiny reactor, lugging such a power source will be very noticeable."

Twilight frowned as the gears in her head turned and started to pump out ideas. Ideas turned to sketches. Those would have to be refined if she wanted to use them, "I've got a few ideas," She said, "Rarity, I think you'll want to come with us. You may have to modify your dress design."

"It won't be a problem," Rarity said with confidence, "Anything for a friend."

"Great! We'll just teleport over to Canterlot since we don't have that much time. We'll pick up Spike and head to Glyph's place." Twilight said, igniting her horn.

Celestia nodded, igniting her own horn, "I too must be off before day's end. I am still behind on the schedule of things." Her mood darkened a tad, "Oh they are not going to be happy I missed four meetings." She shook her head in annoyance, "It will have to be taken care of on a later date. I wish you all well on your travels and activities. Please. Write if you find anything or need a question answered. Just recall that we are dealing with very sensitive matters, please keep it to yourselves as much as possible."

The group nodded in unison.

"Good." Celestia said turning to Twilight, "My sister and I are going to Canterlot as well. Shall we do a group teleportation?"

Twilight nodded, "Sounds good to me!"

"Hang on a sec," Applejack said, looking at Twilight, though she knew the question she was going to ask, "Hey Twi? Could you let ma family on the farm know where I am? I don't think we will be home till late."

Twilight nodded, "Yeah, I think I can do that."

Applejack's face filled with relief, "Thanks Twi."

The alicorn nodded.

"Okie Dokie! The books aren't going to read themselves!" Pinkie said energetically, "And I think I hear the thesaurus calling me."

"Thesaurus? Why do you need a thesaurus?" Rainbow asked with an odd look.

Pinkie frowned, "I've got to think of a better name than, 'Alicorn power form.' It's so lame!"

Rainbow matched her frown, "Aren't you supposed to be helping us find the missing gems?"

Pinkie nodded with a smile, "Of course! You can read two books at the same time, right?"

Rainbow let her head droop a bit, "If you could, I'd be reading a Daring do book at the same time…"

"Wait, you don't do that? I'd really recommend it!" Pinkie said with her energy.

Rainbow rolled her eyes with a smile, "Sure, I'll try it some time."

"You just need to visit a special pond first," Pinkie said walking out the door.

"Okay," Rainbow replied nonchalantly, then paused as her brain interpreted what was said, "Wait. No. No, we are not doing that again!" Rainbow said, going after her.

"Kidding!" Pinkie's voice came from down the hallway, "Uh, which way is the library again?"

"This way!" Cadence called, motioning to the other side of the hallway, "I'll lead you all there."

"Good luck my little ponies," Celestia said, igniting her horn, "To Canterlot then?" She said directing the words at Twilight.

Twilight nodded, barely able to contain her excitement about working with Quantum mechanics, "Let's go to the throne room. Spike ought to be close by."

Celestia smiled as the group vanished in a flash of multicolored light.

Fluttershy felt like her eyelids were tied to anvils. Not painful, just it felt like they could close at any second. Her limbs felt like lead and, with the past few day's events, she wouldn't be surprised if that's what they were made of. She lifted a foreleg for the thousandth time. Looking at it with intense scrutiny for any reason it would be made of metal. Though, she didn't see anything. She could squish it, move it, and could recall several cuts from animals, tree branches, or even rocks!

She paused for a moment. Had she ever used a band-aid before? She frowned, of course she had. She had gotten numerous scrapes in learning to fly. Painful and definitely organic scrapes. Sure, she was young at that point but wasn't she made this way when she was a philly?

The massive walls of the city where Noah's mansion stood came into view. They were still a bit off, but at the speed the wagon was going it wouldn't be long now. Fluttershy frowned, frustrated. Not only at her situation but how her exhaustion had prevented her from pinpointing her location. She could see the crystal mountains around her, but that was an entire mountain range to look through.

"It's better than nothing…" She thought as the gate of the walls loomed closer. If by some chance she could talk to her friends she'd have something to give to them. She frowned but quickly forced it into an awkward smile. She didn't want to alarm anypony that she was upset. Their mission had gone well! At least Noah's mission. And to the ponies he knew, that's what she was supposed to feel as well.

The wagon slowed as it approached the gates, light but piercing squeaks sounded from the wagon as it did so, making the hairs along her body raise a bit as she flattened her ears.

Her coat! She had a coat! Tiny little hairs that covered most of her body. What were they made out of? Metal as well? If that was the case, then why was it soft? Her feathers? She had lost a few here and there. Were they irreplaceable? Or would she have to go into a shop and buy more as they fell out?

She frowned at that thought, wondering the implications of such a requirement. She was then tempted to pull out a feather and look at it with more detail than she would have before. Were they razor-sharp? Sharp enough to be thrown like a throwing star from an enemy ninja in Spike's comics? A small chuckle emanated from her lips. She would have to stop reading those things.

Though her thoughts paused as the wagon came to a halt where they had began. Just in front of the mansion she had been taken to in the first place. Though, now she had an excuse to look at it in more detail.

It was black and red. Though that didn't quite come as a surprise. Though it was heavily damaged in some areas and others looked modernly repaired. Despite the modern look, it did feel to be more of a castle. She felt her head tilt as she saw both mansion and castle depending on how she looked. She saw high walls like a castle, but a multitude of windows adorned by angled roofs like a mansion. There was no large gate or walls, but if the walls were painted differently, it would be very easy to see a castle. Though besides the odd differences between castle and mansion it was a very simply adorned building. Lights stood guard for darkness. Their large forms seemed ready to tackle even the darkness of night without a challenge. Though, that was the only thing out of the ordinary. She could see a lot of windows. Some windows had curtains. Others had large secondary windows made of wood that could swing in and out to cover up the clear window underneath. It looked quite nice.

Though it didn't feel that way. There seemed to be a bad vibe coming from the building the longer she stared. The black seemed to get darker in her mind, more fluid and ready to reach out and grab her. She shivered as she looked away, but a sudden blue line raced across her vision outlining everything in a 3D mesh. Every nook and cranny of the mansion, including rooms she could see within windows, the pony walking up to them with a smaller foal on her back, the road, even the hummingbird feeding of some of the flowers hanging from the window sill above. It faded quickly though, returning her vision to normal. Though a few words danced in front of her screen for a moment or two.

No threats detected.

Had she done that? How?

Though she had no time to recollect her memories as the pony with her foal had gotten close enough to be noticed by Noah.

He gave her a knowing, annoyed look, "Yes?"

The mare's friendly look turned sheepish, "Uh, I was hoping you could fix my son's leg? Or are you too, busy…" The mare looked away with sadness, then sighed, "Um, never mind. I'll see what I can do, at home…"

Fluttershy frowned. She was able to fix her own leg after it was ripped off, surely she could help the foal!

"Uh, wait!" Fluttershy said, jumping from the cushions of the wagon and landing next to Noah. The little square suddenly turned yellow, making her pause. Though she wasn't going to be the element of kindness if she wasn't going to try to help. Especially if it was a foal!

"Uh, could I take a look at it?" She timidly said, "If you don't mind that!" She mentally shook her head. There she went again. Of course she wasn't going to mind! She asked! She hid her frown under her smile as she mentally cursed her shyness.

The mare lit up with joy, "Yes! Please do!" She quickly added and walked closer. There she turned and knelt to let the foal off her back. He looked worried and looked at his mother for comfort.

The mare smiled and gently pushed the bent foreleg forward offering it towards Fluttershy.

Fluttershy mentally gulped and sat down next to the foal and mare, gently accepting the foal's leg. She held it up as much as she could having it still attached to the foal. It was a simple leg it seemed. A simple metal cylinder that connected to another cylinder with a joint of sorts. Though the section that she would call her cannon bone was bent and she could see into the leg between the broken sheets of metal. Beneath she saw a few multicolored wires, and if she tilted the prosthetic a certain way she could see crystal pieces at the bottom. She bet if she somehow removed the hoof she could see those crystals in better detail.

Fluttershy then felt a bit of panic. She had no idea how to fix herself, let alone another pony's prosthetic limbs. She took a breath, realizing that she had called herself a prosthetic. Which, at this point, is what she could call herself.

"How did this happen?" She asked, trying to figure out what to do.

"He likes to jump from things," The mare said with a disapproving smile that had hints of understanding, mirth, and sadness, "He jumped from the stairs again. It's something he did often when he was younger you see. At first we wanted to stop said behavior, but we instead worked with him to take a little at a time. To take it safely. We banned jumping from the top of the stairs, but four steps were okay in our book."

"Was that before he got the prosthetic?" Fluttershy asked gently, looking at the leg rather than the mare's eyes. She didn't want to show she had no idea what she was doing.

Though she could still see the mare's head in the edge of her vision as she nodded, "Yes, and we've tried to get him to stop it. Though it was a favorite activity! And while he's normally pretty good about it, he tends to forget when he gets excited."

The foal looked even more worried, but now Fluttershy could see sadness in his eyes.

"Today was his birthday you see. And the first thing he did was jump down the stairs in delight, shattering his front leg," She sighed with a sad air, "His birthday party is in an hour. Though he can't walk, we were going to make do with what we could. I'm sure his old chair is around the attic somewhere. Though," She said hopeful, "If you can fix it. I'd be happy to pay you! Or, something else if needed. You probably don't need money…"

Fluttershy smiled, though it didn't mimic the internal screaming she was hearing. Great. The foal's birthday experience was held in her hooves. Hooves that she only yesterday discovered could heal, switch forms, and smash stones with ease. Now what?

She shook such thoughts out as she shook her head, "No, that won't be necessary," She looked the foal in the eyes, not in a dead stare but a happy one, "Happy birthday little one!"

The foal smiled, if a bit. Though she could tell his eyes were still on his broken leg attached to his shoulder.

She took a breath and thought for a moment. How could she fix the leg? She fixed hers with ease! And she ripped it clean off! Well, the computer did anyway. Wait. The computer had also fixed her leg, right? She hadn't. So, she just had to ask the computer to fix the foal's leg, right?

But she had a problem. She couldn't boot the MMO. Which was the only way she knew to communicate with the computer. Was there another way to interact with the computer? The memory of trying to find Spike after he had been captured flowed into her mind. She suppressed a twitch. Though, it had been very picky about what she had said. What could she say now to repair the leg? What had happened with hers?

"It's okay if you can't," The mare said with a knowing look on her face, "I'm sure I can jerry-rig something."

"Wait!" Fluttershy said, holding to the broken leg. She had to do something! She couldn't just leave the foal's leg broken on his birthday! She closed her left eye, putting her hoof to her head, "Just give me a moment, please?"

The mare nodded, "Of course!" Her reply was hopeful.

She thought back to when the computer pulled off her leg to rush after Sombra. It had hurt, and then she had found herself putting a blade to Sombra's head. Though, she shook off that excruciating memory. She was trying to remember what had happened when the computer repaired her leg. Had it said something? Then it clicked.

It hadn't. Noah had.

He had said, "Repair mode." Then she felt the pain from her throbbing shoulder cease as her hair reattached her leg to her utter relief and amazement. Could she ask the computer to enter repair mode? She took another breath as she pondered what she ought to say.

"Enter Repair mode?" She asked the recesses of her mind, ever so quietly.

Checking for permissions…

She felt her insides fill with joy and wonder. But also with despair and fear.

No current permissions prohibiting access to, 'Repair mode.' Access granted.

Entering Repair mode…

She then saw a, Normal mode, appear in tiny print along the top left of her vision. It went down, quickly disappearing as it went. Though it was replaced by, Healing mode, then Battle mode, then it stopped on Repair mode and quietly disappeared.

"Wow!" the foal suddenly cried, "You can change your eyes?!" Fluttershy blushed with a smile. Now she was in the right mode, she thought, she could fix the foal's leg, right?

She then opened her left eye, and focused both orbs on the broken metal in front of her. The leg was surrounded in a light blue rectangle that was interrupted by a bright line going through the top. It only took a second, then the square turned red in her vision with words hovering above it in red.

Broken. Repair?

She looked at the words and paused. She was tempted to nod, but would the computer know that? It hadn't reacted to anything else but her voice.

So she stared at the words and replied, "Yes."

Beginning diagnostic for repair…

Booting MMO_Library for blueprint identification for prosthetic reconstruction.

Library has been successfully opened! Using scan data to look for a match…

The blue square now had constant lines running from the top to the bottom. Next to the words, she saw in her vision, she also saw hundreds of tiny images flashing in place as it seemed to go through a cycle. Though, after a few seconds, it remained an empty rectangle that flashed red.

Error. There are no matching blueprints in Library. Attempting to use existing blueprints to repair…

Fluttershy frowned at the words and continued to watch the little dots taking turns in disappearing and reappearing.

"Is something wrong?" The mare asked with worry.

Fluttershy looked up and smiled, "I don't think so," She paused trying to figure out how to word it, "My Computer doesn't recognize his prosthetic."

"So it can't be fixed…" The mare said with a frown, sitting down.

"I, uh…" The words died in her throat. She didn't know what was going on. What could she say? Though as she looked at the depressed mare another blue rectangle appeared around her metal leg. A single bright line went through it, illuminating the leg as it had with the foals. Though it too turned red and had the word, Broken, above it.

She was about to comment when more words appeared in her vision, replacing the flittering images.

Error. Combination of blueprints was unsuccessful. Rerouting repair to the MMO for completion.

Booting MMO in separate image…

Fluttershy felt very odd. The strings between her mind and body she had normalized with, at least mostly. Though now she felt them shift and pull on her mind. Their pulling led to a box outside of her mind, though she could feel thoughts and energy flowing between her and the box. It felt like someone had taken a piece of her mind and extended it outside of it. Though, it also made her realize that her mind was in a much bigger box. With so much outside of it! Was this her mind? The computer?

Boot successful.

Beginning diagnostics for repair…

The mare was speaking at this point, disrupting her thoughts, "It's okay Fluttershy. It's not really on spec of what Noah would build. I was barely able to afford my leg, and I need to work. I can work on his—"

"Hold on," Fluttershy said curtly, trying to understand how she was feeling while watching the foal's leg get covered in a grid-like pattern. It then separated from the leg and hovered nearby. It was a perfect copy, bent and all. Though, more words were appearing next to it. Words like cover, power supply cable, Cuite mark feeling matrix were connected to something in the leg. The crystals were connected to the Cuite mark feeling matrix at the bottom of the leg. Though, a few question marks appeared at the top of the leg where it connected to the foal's shoulder.

"Can you fix it?" The mare said, not with impatience, but confusion and hope.

"I think?" The yellow pegasus said, feeling her head tilt at the words, "You said you made it yourself right?"

The mare nodded, "Yeah, though things like the Cuite mark matrix and the connector are like my leg. I was hoping to buy the other parts later on."

Fluttershy felt her vision snap to the mare's prosthetic leg where the red words vanished. The rectangle pulsed with lines again, and words appeared next to it.

Searching MMO library…

She barely had time to frown as the words changed and a large image appeared next to it. It was like the leg was made out of wires, and she could see the internals of the leg. They too were made up of wires, but she could make out boxes, wires, and other devices that eluded her knowledge. But it was identical to the mare's prosthetic.

Blueprint match found! Prosthetic_BacklegL_V3. Substituting unknown parts to complete parts list for virtual repair…

The snowflake piece she had seen on her new blocky legs was pulled from the floating image next to the mare's leg and then placed where the foal's leg connected to his shoulder. She could still see its outline though, even as the piece moved with the foal's nervous movements. The floating version of the leg also got a large snowflake-like piece on the top. The question mark previously marking that location now read: Universal Snowflake adapter.

Beginning virtual repair…

Starting Virtual Reversal…

Fluttershy then watched the entire foal get covered in a grid that aligned itself to his legs, face, even his ears. Then, it separated from the foal and shrunk down to the size of a cherry. It floated over to the floating grid of the broken foal's leg and was accompanied by a staircase that wrote itself into being. She watched the little foal jump from the stairs, then freeze just before the leg touched the holographic ground the stairs were on. It then continued in slow motion, though lines appeared from the leg and reached outwards to connect to raising numbers. The little show stopped when the leg had fully bent, then she watched it in reverse, though this time the holographic leg floating next to the little diorama seemed to bend itself back into shape.

She looked towards the foal's actual leg hoping it too was being fixed. Though to her dismay, it did not. "Patience," She told herself. It was the MMO helping her this time and she trusted it.

So she continued to watch the glowing lines that were taking up a large portion of her vision now. Though now the little show the MMO had created had vanished, leaving the now unbent leg left in her vision.

Sections of the metal plating surrounding the leg floated off, despite not taking a chunk of the leg with it. It looked as if it had been cut off, despite no blades or cutting apparatus in sight. Though new lines appeared, taking shapes of cylinders, little boxes with gears on the end, more gears, a thick spring, and several other shapes she couldn't put into words. Though when she focused on the shapes, little names appeared next to them. There were motors, active servo motor, main structural support rod, suspension spring, and cuite mark sensory crystals.

Each near-invisible shape hovered into the leg, and became connected by several lines to the top snowflake that she assumed were wires. She was half right. As she looked at the lines, she saw some were wires, others were: Cuite magic pathways. It struck her with curiosity, even as she watched the internals of the holographic leg get filled with a spiderweb-like material, only it was more like a sponge with differing sizes of holes. Hundreds of connections to the existing housing of the leg.

She watched the pieces of the leg that were removed, get replaced. Then it spun, and words appeared above the floating piece.

Virtual repair completed. Beginning repair.

Synchronizing magmatic extenders…

Done.

Preheating foundry and sending instructions to Part manufacturing…

Reserving materials for assembly…

She had to hold her face in a blank stare as she focused on the leg. The stuff that was going to fix the leg, was coming out of her?! Where in her was this stuff being made? Surely she'd feel parts moving around inside her!

Yet, she didn't. Even as she focused on her insides, trying to feel any sort of sensory input that would suggest a part manufacturer, whatever that was, she couldn't feel anything out of the ordinary. Was this normal for her and she just never knew about it? Though her efforts were diverted as she saw the shapes reappear next to the leg again. The motors, support rod, and the spring were all there. Though, there were little bars next to them this time. Accompanying the little bars were percentages. Each shape had a 0% at the moment, but she watched the motor's bar fill with a 20% suddenly replacing the 0.

She stared at the bar, finding words appearing in the center of her vision.

Plastic injection for motor case cooling…

89%

100%

Case has been ejected, prepping for final injection.

She turned away and looked at another bar labeled: Suspension spring.

Awaiting foundry to reach 1668 Celsius…

The words took her breath away. Somewhere, inside her, was something that was well over 3000 Fahrenheit. Surprise filled her mind as she tried to understand how she knew how to convert Celsius to Fahrenheit. She wasn't even sure what Celsius was! She felt her breath start to quicken, but she quickly wrapped her thoughts around the feeling and popped it. She took a glance at the little square in her vision, it was still yellow, to her dismay. She didn't need it to change color even more.

Though her anxiety was now at the forefront of her mind. But she could manage. If barley…

Parts have nearly reached completion. Beginning next step…

She suddenly felt several of the invisible magnetic limbs reach out and attach to the top part of the foal's leg.

"Wait!" She said instinctively, feeling the limbs reach inside and start to push and pull on something.

Repair operation paused.

She turned to the mare who hadn't moved a muscle, "I think I can fix it."

The mare lit up and cut off the words Fluttershy could feel forming in her mouth, "Oh thank you!" The mare's expression fell, and she hastily apologized, "Oh, I'm sorry. What were you going to say?"

The pegasus shy smiled, it was common for her to get cut off, not as common as before though, "But I think I need to detach the leg to do so." She finished.

The mare nodded, "That shouldn't be a problem, I can go home real quick and get the tool."

Though Fluttershy shook her head, "It's okay."

The mare gave her an odd look but nodded.

Fluttershy, still feeling the invisible limbs attached to the foal's leg, then contemplated how to resume the repair. Could she just ask it to resume?

"Resume?" She asked, but felt her head seemed to fill with pressure that strained the strings she felt between her mind and body. It faded quickly though.

already in operation.

"Huh?" She thought, now feeling worry build in her chest, though she tried again.

"Resume, repair?"

Resuming repair…

"Oh thank goodness," She thought, feeling the worry topple like an unstable ginger bread house.

The invisible limbs were now in motion again, pulling on something in the foal's shoulder. That something clicked, and several pink hairs pulled the leg off and away.

The foal didn't react too much, the worry on his face only multiplied as he looked towards his mother.

The mare smiled, "Don't you worry. She's going to fix up your leg right up!" Her words were optimistic, and the amount of optimism made her worry about failing, the emotions creating pressure in her chest. Creating a monster of a whirlpool that threatened to break her emotional hold. If she broke down, she'd surely make that little yellow square turn red and end the entire thing in the blink of an eye.

Requesting Medical legs Left and Right…

Request denied by .

Routing request through image.

Request granted.

Deploying Medical legs…

Fluttershy felt both her legs straighten and go numb. Then, with the two ponies watching, her legs were pulled into her shoulders. Fluttershy merely smiled awkwardly, as she remained sitting, with two glowing holes where her legs ought to be.

Though it wasn't long before the medical legs emerged from her shoulders and she got her feeling returned. Despite the feeling of being covered in tiny little boxes. Though as she looked back at the two ponies watching, she saw an expression that she was not expecting, nor used to.

Awe.

It stood on the faces of the ponies like a chipped hoof at the salon. It made her smile twitch as she struggled to control her emotions. Again, she was back with Photofinish so long ago. What Noah had told her was true. They really did adore her here. Though it seemed the ponies here had more control than the others in Ponyville.

"You can change your legs for different purposes?" The mare asked, the awe leaking from her face into her voice.

The foal turned to her mother, "Can I have a leg like that?"

"I'm not sure hun, remember what Fluttershy did for us all now." The mare said, causing the foal to frown.

Fluttershy desperately wanted to ask what she had done. Though she knew that it was going to be a foolish question to ask. So, she instead turned her attention to the leg now hovering in front of her. She was using the invisible limbs to bend the metal back into place. It moved silently, but quickly. When it had finished, a few hairs reached up and sparked as it cut the outer layer of metal. Then, it floated off and revealed the mostly empty interior of the leg. Fluttershy merely blinked as the hairs removed wires and other components and held them close, floating in the air. Fluttershy then felt her side open, and several hairs reaching into her chest cavity. When they withdrew, she saw the now solid components she had seen in her vision just a few minutes ago. Each component was moved towards the leg and hovered nearby. Though the spiderweb-like object was also present, just in several cylindrical pieces. The new and old components were placed in this spider web, now being protected by its frame. Fluttershy felt her legs reach up and several little hooks emerged from her hoof.

Internalizing cuitemarkmagic_Fluttershy…

Done.

Gathering cuite mark energy for crystal creation.

Fluttershy then felt her other leg reach up and felt the impulse to go to the foal's face. She pulled her leg back, finding she had the ability to do so. What was her leg going to do?

"Just hold still for a second or two for me, okay?" She asked gently, and when the foal nodded she allowed her leg to continue its path. It simply rested her hoof on the foal's forehead. It then began to hum and glow.

"Hey, that tickles!" The foal said, squirming.

"Hold still," his mother said, holding the foal still, "You want your leg fixed don't you?"

The foal nodded, making Fluttershy's medical leg bob a bit, but she gave the foal a smile and returned her gaze to the leg. Her other leg was now using the prongs on it to spread lines of crystal along the spiderweb object and the piece of metal she had cut off. It was very thin lines of topaz-like crystal. She watched her hair connect the other components while the crystal was being placed. Motors received wires on certain ports, while they got welded into the web frame. Other metal dowels created joints among the webbed pieces and Fluttershy curiously watched the invisible limbs move the webbed portions, making it seem like a moving leg! She blinked and realized that's the shape it was taking. With more sparks, the original leg's components were taken out and placed into the new joint. Though when completed, it looked much like a snake, being able to twist and turn in off angles and orientations. It was placed in the center of the web-like structure, now looking more and more like a frame of a leg. It hooked to the bottom of the leg and was surrounded by more topaz-like crystal. It was similar to the crystal she had originally seen at the bottom of the broken leg. Though this was a different color. The spring came next, settling next to the motors and just barely fitting among the parts. The top of the spring was then connected to the bottom part of the snowflake adapter and it was then attached to the top edge of the web and sparks from her hair sealed it together.

Internal construction completed.

Fluttershy then watched her hair take the cut metal from before and cut it into more parts. Then, with a fizzling sound, it attached those broken pieces back to the frame, completing the metal leg look. The remaining pieces that were in the leg were taken into her side, disappearing in the blue glow.

Marking materials for recycling.

Construction complete. Transferring updated software…

Several hairs then went to the foal and went inside the pony's joint. The foal twitched at this but held still.

Internal snowflake adapter reporting damage. Assessing…

Minimum damage received. Repairing…

Fluttershy felt her hair push and pull things inside the foal's shoulder. If it hurt, the foal didn't show anything to indicate it did. But the feelings of her hair pushing and pulling ended after a minute.

Inner adapter repaired. Color preference is required to finish.

She then removed her leg from the foal's forehead and heard it begin to whine. It then straightened, and the top half and bottom of her hoof separated, allowing the inner portion of her leg to be revealed. From it, came a thick rectangle that had several vents on the end, encompassed by the metal plates on top and bottom. It was attached via a small arm that extended out from inside her leg. Fluttershy gave the device an odd look, watching it twitch up and down when she moved her leg.

Then nothing happened. Though Fluttershy somehow knew why. She turned to the foal with a smile, "So, what color would you like?"

The foal's face curled into an innocent grin, "Yellow! With black stripes!"

"Are you sure about that?" The mother said, with a roll of her eyes.

"Yeah! It can always be changed later, right!?"

The mother sighed with a smile, "He's talking about cautionary tape. That kind of color scheme."

The foal looked about ready to fly, despite him being an earth pony. Fluttershy smiled, watching words fill her vision.

"Cation!" paint scheme selected. Energizing leg for paint application…

Several hairs touched the top and bottom of the leg, and Fluttershy could physically feel energy coursing through the prosthetic. It almost felt like it was a part of her. She could feel the motors and sensors, and she could even feel the sides of the metal case like skin. Slowly, the fact she could feel motors vanished to simply the possibility to move the leg. The structures and metal beams inside dissolved into what her leg felt like.

It felt like a normal leg. Despite the fact she knew it wasn't normal. Her actual leg, the one with the rectangle coming out of her hoof, then went close and started to hiss. A colored mist flowed from it, coating the air around the leg in a yellow cloud. It would then change to black and back to yellow every now and again. But she could feel the mist be drawn to the metal object. It clung to it, coating it in a bright yellow paint with black stripes towards the bottom.

It reminded her of construction colors. Or, at least a cautionary sign.

Prosthetic has been completed. Returning…

Fluttershy felt the magnetic limbs then float the leg back to the owner. She moved the leg back into the shoulder joint and felt it click into place with a small hiss. The foal looked elated but was also slightly confused. He lifted it up and moved it immediately. Though he gently placed it down on the stones as if it was tender. She was about to ask what was wrong when the foal shouted for joy and started to bounce circles around his mother. Though the mother looked concerned and attempted to stop the bouncing foal.

"Wait! You are going to break it! Remember what I told you!" She said sternly.

The foal frowned and looked at his mother with a little bit of shame, "Don't bounce on it repeatedly…"

"Actually, you should be able to just fine. It seems you got an upgrade," Noah said, making Fluttershy jump.

The mare paled, "How much will that cost?"

"Nothing," The unicorn said with a smile, "Anything Fluttershy does is a gift."

The expression on the mare's face melted Fluttershy's heart. She couldn't help but smile as the mare's brain had trouble taking that in.

"You sure? What about the trouble I caused? What about the materials? And the cost of fabrication! You have to remake all those parts you just used!" The mare said, insisting. She reached up into her mane and pulled a small little pouch out. Fluttershy knew exactly what that was. A bit pouch.

"No, really. Don't worry about it," Fluttershy said with a smile, feeling the medical legs return to normal.

"Are you sure?" The mare asked, "That stuff can't be cheap to remake!"

Noah chuckled, "Yes, making them with normal means can be quite expensive. Though Fluttershy has the ability to create each part from scratch."

"Scratch?" The mare said with incredulousness.

Noah nodded.

Though silence occurred for a few seconds, with Fluttershy unsure about what to say. She was still staring at the words, "broken" in her vision hovering near the mother's back leg. Could she fix that as well?

So she mustered up her courage and spoke, "uh, I can fix your back leg for you as well, if you want?"

The mare smiled awkwardly, "No it's okay."

Fluttershy smiled. She knew that tone. When somepony did want something but didn't want to burden the other party, "It really wouldn't be a bother!" She said cheerfully.

The mare pinched her lips together, "You sure? I've been trying to figure it out for weeks. Not sure why it feels so, off…"

"I can try at least!" Fluttershy said with a chipper.

"If you want to. Just don't tire yourself out." She said with a small smile.

Fluttershy nodded and replied yes to her head in the words hovering above the mother's leg. The square fragmented and vanished. Then she felt several hairs reach over and wrap around each joint in the leg. More magnetic limbs reached out and connected to certain points in the leg. With a few clicks, each section of the leg moved. Once it stopped moving, it didn't seem to change. What did she do?

Nominal values reset to match opposing leg. Comfort and usability are now optimal.

The mare also had a curious look to her, "What did you do? It's so much better!"

Noah nodded, "She adjusted the nominal values of the leg's resting position."

The mare looked embarrassed, "Oh it was that simple?"

Fluttershy nodded with a smile, still not understanding what had happened.

"Wait, are you fixing prosthetics?" a sudden pony asked.

Noah frowned, but Fluttershy smiled.

"Yeah, did you need something fixed?" Fluttershy said. She personally didn't want any attention but the ponies here saw her as some sort of idol. If she didn't act generously, would that make the square change colors? Were they expecting something else? She doubted it with the first reaction she had with the mother.

The pony smiled. A large grin that made her squirm. Not because the smile had malicious intent or flashed sharp teeth, but because of the joy and expectation that was placed on her.

"My ear has completely lost functionality, can you fix it?" The pony asked walking forward. Fluttershy looked at the pony's ear where the appendage was highlighted in a large blue square that soon had Broken hovering over it. Though this time it was easily recognized as, C.E.C or Configurable Ear Cover. She felt several hairs reach into the pony's ear and mess around with things.

Corrupted software detected. Update required.

Up to date software found in internal memory banks. Updating device, please do not disconnect…

Fluttershy felt odd. Here she could, in essence, feel energy flowing through her hair. She wasn't sure if it was magic, or energy similar to when she contained Cadence or Celestia. But she could feel something going through.

Update completed. Realigning cuite mark preferences…

Cuite mark preferences have been realigned. Rebooting device…

The pony twitched at that, and she was about to apologize when the pony's face lit up with glee, "You fixed it! You fixed my hearing!"

Fluttershy smiled, but it melted when she noticed that it had gotten others' attention. Within seconds she was surrounded by talking ponies, all sporting some sort of broken indicator in her vision.

An older mare was next to her in a moment, the light blue rectangle was around her pelvis, "Can you fix my pelvis? My right socket seems a tad bit higher than my left!"

A young stallion with an eye closed, his face said it all as the broken symbol hovered over his closed eye lid.

Another mare looked at her with hope, "My hoof is nearly ground down, can it be repaired?" The blue rectangle moved with her steps, following the broken hoof.

Another rectangle marked a nose or a face.

Another marked something inside another pony's barrel.

A broken chest.

An out-of-beat pace maker.

A malfunctioning heart.

She simply couldn't look around without seeing a broken rectangle on somepony's form. It simply wasn't possible. Blue covered her vision, voices filled her ears, and anxiety filled her heart. She felt her breathing quicken but felt her insides pause as Noah spoke.

"She can't repair everything you throw at her. Please, we will have to set up another time, and set up an order." He said, causing the entire atmosphere to darken.

"Well, when do you have enough time to do it!? No pony else can!" One indignant pony said, rallying the energy behind him.

Though Noah didn't seem to flinch at the question, nor at the apparent annoyance that was projected at him. Rather he took a step forward, and spoke calmly but didn't bother to hide the edge, "I understand that such inconveniences can get very cumbersome over a long time. Though, before Fluttershy finished her training and conversion methods, fixing them was much more cumbersome. Though just because she is here, doesn't mean you get to pester her with requests and expect her to answer them all!"

The pony started to speak but was cut off.

"Just because she was able, and willing, to heal and fix a few ponies' issues doesn't mean she will fix everything."

The older mare stepped forward, her back legs seemed to protest by stepping uneasily, "I just need my socket to be realigned! A simple centimeter will do! How hard is that!"

Noah sighed, "A lot harder than you imagine. First off, I'd have to try and get at it. Which would involve surgery, months of recovery. And that's if you just need realignment! If it is because of a cracked frame, perhaps mishappened joints, etc. I would have to take that into account for every job I take! It's not as easy as Fluttershy since she allowed me to connect the computer directly to her. She has all the tools to do it easily!"

"Then why—"

"Because we just got back from a retrieval mission. Let's not choke her with needs that do not immediately need to be addressed!" Noah said, again cutting the pony off.

Fluttershy watched in silence as Noah seemed to defend her. Though she wasn't sure if the unicorn was actually defending her. If she could easily fix the problems, shouldn't she? Maybe earlier in life, she would have let Noah continue, but she didn't feel right just sitting by and not helping those who needed it especially if she had the tools to do so. It also felt good to assist when she could. It helped fill a hole in her heart ever since this identity crisis appeared on her face.

"Hold on," Fluttershy said, surprised at her voice cutting through the conversation like a knife through water, "Uh, it's really not a big deal. I'd be happy to help where I can!" She put a smile on her face, even though she was reminded that her smile was probably metal as well. Or whatever she was made of.

No. There was still hope! She knew that her legs were definitely made of metal, but that didn't mean her entire body was! She knew her eyes, legs, and probably her wings. She didn't know how much of her insides were made up of inorganic material but she could find that out later. Celestia saw normal eye lids, so she couldn't be fully metal, right?

The thought brought some hope to her face in the form of an honest smile. She might not have full control of what she did, but some would never change. Her kind nature. It helped her feel better when she felt she had dealt all her cards. And now she had no cards, only they weren't dealt by her.

Noah's frown was still on his face. It faded every second though as he relented, "Fine, you may fix them. But do not allow material storage to fall below 40%."

Fluttershy nodded slowly, watching a small bar appear on the rightmost side of her vision. It was very thin and tall. It was white, and seemed half of the way full. A small red line appeared inside the bar, just near the top of the filled portion. Next to it, was 45%.

Noah then took a step back and sat down, motioning to the gathered crowd.

Fluttershy felt her heart skip a beat as she felt eyes fall onto her. Though, she steeled herself. She had to act as Noah told her, or she might not be able to heal the damage she'd be forced to cause. So, she opened her mouth and said in as much of a cheerful tone she could.

"Who's first?"

The first pony smiled and Fluttershy said yes to the little blue square in her vision. Words appeared around the hips of the older mare, words describing an incorrect alignment or something of that sort. She then felt the invisible limbs wrap around the mare's pelvis and shift either side up and down. The mare exclaimed at this, not with pain but surprise and relief.

"Oh! That's much better thank you!" The mare said kindly.

Fluttershy smiled, feeling the magnetic limbs still holding to the artificial bones, "Though I'm not quite done."

The mare gave her a confused look but held still. Fluttershy was experiencing the feeling of crushing something. It was a very odd sensation, her not being able to crush things in like a hand or clawed appendage. But she'd only seen that type of crushing when the individual was mad, this type of crushing seemed to be methodical and with purpose. She closed her eyes, wanting to understand why the crushing action. And without the distraction of sight, she felt she came to a conclusion. The magnetic limbs were attached to the ends of either leg, where a ball existed for the purpose of a ball and socket joint. Though even as she focused on the feeling, she felt imperfections along the ball. The crushing actions seemed to stretch and pull those imperfections into a near-perfect sphere. The process took a minute or two though, but it was then the limbs pulled away.

The mare gave Fluttershy a surprised look, and took a few steps, "You fixed the grinding feeling. It feels soo much better to walk! How did you do that?"

Fluttershy was about to try her best to answer, but Noah beat her to it, "We do not have time to explain every little fix. Just know Fluttershy has every tool she needs to fix you. Let's not waste more time by explaining every little thing."

Fluttershy accepted the explanation. She in reality didn't have any idea what she was doing. She could infer what was happening since she could feel it happening. Though, even as she felt hair and those invisible limbs repair a broken nose, she pondered what those invisible limbs were called. She remembered Noah had talked about something called a magmatic extender. Was that what she was feeling messing with the internal bits of somepony's artificial nose?

She watched as something inside her created a new hoof for some pony else. The old one spun off, and Fluttershy screwed the new one on. The pony took a few steps and offered her a joyful thanks. Fluttershy smiled and accepted it with a gentle nod.

Though the next pony walked forward and Fluttershy noticed that the blue square was inside the pony's stomach area. After she said yes to the square, she found out that's what needed fixing. The pony's stomach. Fluttershy frowned at that, remembering how Noah had told her she had every single one of the city's inhabitants' prosthetics. That only further condemned her to be made out of metal in her mind. Though she quickly removed her frown and allowed the computer to diagnose what was the matter with the pony's stomach. Apparently, some tubing had been knocked out of position. Fluttershy didn't want to know the events that caused such a malfunction, nor how had the pony been eating but sat down as the computer summoned the medical legs.

It then asked her to ask the pony to open their mouth, and when they did several strands of hair went down the pony's throat. Fluttershy grimaced and apologized but the other pony smiled awkwardly and shrugged.

"Ith muth be-er tha ser-gery…" The pony stated the best they could with an open mouth.

Fluttershy nodded but was more engrossed in what she saw. The pony was now made up of a frame, much like how she saw Applejack when she was healing her. Though this time the vision was aimed at the stomach, and there were many more lines, giving her more insight on what she saw. She could vividly see the internal organs surrounding the mechanical stomach. Small intestine, liver, gall bladder, and even the, she paused. There was another box in the pony's abdomen wrapped in the pony's small intestine. She focused her vision on it and saw, power shell, floating next to it. She was curious about that but wasn't what the computer was focused on. Instead, it was the actual stomach that seemed to be outlined in brighter lines than everything else.

It was an odd-looking device. It looked like a tiny barrel, just more rounded in shape and the boards making up the shape were going horizontal rather than vertical. Though, she couldn't also say that it was vertical since the barrel was on its side inside the pony. Several large tubes were connected to various connectors with, unknown purpose, together. The broken tubing the computer had diagnosed was the largest tube, the one that split up like a tree's roots from Top to bottom of the device. The smaller branching of tubing was wrapped around the device, each having a special port to plug into.

Warning! Incorrect material for Digestor Distributor. Product will have to be replaced or internally coated for full repair.

Fluttershy paused for a few seconds, then realized the computer was waiting for her to answer. She frowned and looked at the pony.

Though she spoke in her mind first, hoping the computer would respond, What will it take for it to be replaced?

0.5 total material storage will be consumed. Mild Invasive surgery will be required.

Fluttershy frowned, the pony had already expressed their concern for surgery, What about the, uh, other option?

Internally coating the damaged tubing with a ceramic adhesive will repair functionality. Warning! This solution is only short-term. It is recommended to replace the tubing entirely since it is made out of the wrong material for this application.

Fluttershy realized she still had the frown on her face, though this time she didn't dissolve it in another emotion, "So, I've got two options," She said directing the words at the pony in front of her, "I can fix your stomach with surgery now or a temporary fix that will need surgery later." Fluttershy looked at the pony's face that had several different emotions plastered in various places. Fear in the eyes, nervously locked jaw, and a paling skin akin to anxiety. All emotions she knew too painfully well.

Though the emotions eventually boiled down into painful acceptance. With a garbled voice she got a question, "Will I be able to eat properly?"

Fluttershy slowly nodded. If she fixed the pony's stomach, then they ought to be able to eat normally, right? Or at least as normally as such a pony would.

"I think so," She responded gently.

The pony took a few seconds to respond, "Can you do it then?"

Fluttershy nodded with a gentle smile. She then told the computer to go with the surgery but got an unexpected response.

Routing to MMO for completion.

MMO is requesting control for operation. Allow MMO control?

Fluttershy nodded and felt her limbs move on their own. Though, now, it didn't wasn't abnormal for her anymore. The thought saddened her.

Though she didn't let the emotion form into a frown on her face but watched with renewed interest as she felt her neck open up. A small little disk was taken out of a bottom slot in the exposed panel and her hair then transported it to the pony's neck.

Dampening cuite mark network…

The pony's face went a little slack. Fear erupted on the pony's for a moment before Fluttershy spoke calm words to reassure both her and the other pony's feelings.

"Hey, it's alright! You'll be just fine!" The words were reassuring but did little to calm the worry in her heart. She had healed Applejack with surgery but surgery was still surgery. Done by her hoof! She was no doctor! She knew about little critters and certain procedures to heal certain things but she never did them. The most she ever did was watch Dr. Fauna operate only a few times. Now here she was watching a computer, implemented into her mind, prepare a pony for said surgery.

Initiating anti-microbial field…

Fluttershy's wings tingled for just a second, a feeling she had missed earlier. Then she was directed to gently push the pony onto their side, where a mask came from her neck and was placed on the pony's muzzle.

"Just relax, okay? I'll fix you right up!" Her words seemed to work on the pony, as their face calmed down. Though she wasn't sure if that was because the thing on her neck was suppressing any feelings, or that her words were working. Her right leg shifted some boxes around on its surface, then emitted two round brushes that began to spin. Gently, she applied the brushes to the pony's side just to the side of the ribs. A dark orange foam was generated at the spot, and she felt her legs cover nearly the entire side of the pony's ribs and a good few centimeters from them. It discolored the pony's blue coat making it a darker brown. She hoped that would come out in a bath.

Primary disinfection complete. Starting operation…

Fluttershy felt her breath catch in her throat as she saw a familiar blade appear on her leg. Though it was identical to the one she used to stab her orange color friend, it was smaller and of a different shape. Instead of wrapping around her hoof, it emerged from one of the small boxes on her leg. It was now like a butter knife. A razor-sharp one that felt more like a scalpel more than anything.

Her hair seemed to come alive again and floated at the ready next to the ribs. Each strand glowing a slight blue. Fluttershy struggled to stay composed as she watched the light blue construct slip into the pony's flesh, right next to the ribs! It didn't cut too terribly deep, but deep enough to give her anxiety. It was almost like it the pony's skin wasn't there, which made her gut clench even more. If she wanted to use it as a weapon, it would be deadly effective. And it being a part of her made her gut turn itself into knots.

So she tried to focus on her hair. Which was flurrying around her blade, poking at the pony's flesh as the blade went along. Each poke emitting a small poof of smoke. Fluttershy expected a lot more bleeding but assumed whatever her hair was doing was stopping the bleeding before it started even for a cut this deep. Her mane seemed to perk up, and she noticed that a crowd had started to settle around her. She blinked, and focused her vision on her leg. Her shyness wanted her to sink into the ground to get away. Though she couldn't when she was cutting open a pony.

Warning! Anti-Microbial active! Please do not let others get too close!

"Um," Fluttershy stated, noticing a crowd had gathered around her. Her voice felt stuck in her throat as she tried to figure out what to say, "Could I get some room p-please?" The crowd immediately backed up with several apologies.

"Thanks!" Fluttershy said with a smile. Then felt the MMO redirect her attention to the blue coat. A medium-sized incision had now been made, only about the width of her hoof. Once the hairs had finished spawning puffs of smoke, she felt a larger box on her leg shift its way down till it was next to her hoof. It clicked a bit and opened on its side. From it extended a scissor lift connected to a small square.

This square seemed to only be on an outline of a square though. Its interior was empty but sparked to life after a moment. It filled in with blue energy seemed solid and not at the same time. Its surface reminded her of a gentle ocean with its colors. Though it was a brighter blue than an ocean; its gentle movements made it look like the familiar liquid. Though Fluttershy recognized it as the same blue glow from the side of her chest, where the lace had first come out.

The square extended out a bit on the scissor lift a bit, then retracted back to its original position. She watched the leg push down the stomach a bit, allowing enough room for the little square to be slipped into the incision. Fluttershy merely blinked at the sensory input her eyes were giving her, though blinked again as her vision changed to the lined version. Through it, she saw the organs and such outlined in white lines, she also noticed the little square outlined as well. Carefully, it slid beneath the ribs and soon was adjacent to the damaged prosthetic.

Dimensional connector in position. Beginning removal of damaged components.

Fluttershy watched her hair now reach over to her leg, where another box opened up to another blue glow. The hair went inside, and then Fluttershy saw the pink lines show up on the inside of the pony! From the little square! She watched the pink lines slide along the pony's organs till they reached the artificial stomach. The lines that made up her hair fiddled with the lines that made up the artificial stomach, slowly pulling away the broken tubing.

Component removal in progress… Appropriate components in storage for repair.

Great. She could now store components in addition to making them. Where was all this stuff being stored? Surely she didn't have enough room inside her for all this! What about her organs? The thought paused there. Were they just smaller than everyponys'? Surly that didn't make sense.

She continued to watch the hair do its thing, trying to numb the chaotic thoughts and felt the invisible limbs get in the action as well. She felt them attach to little metal rings that seemed to spin as the limbs manipulated them. Once they spun off the tubing came loose on one end.

Flushing…

She was curious about what the system was doing now. She didn't see anything happening but did notice the stomach moving a bit. It was more or less vibrating. Or was it? She couldn't truly tell that through the lines, but she felt it was moving slightly. Maybe internally?

Flushing complete. Removing component…

She then watched the pink lines pull some of the tubes out of the device and funnel them into the little square coming from her hoof. She looked to the blue glowing box on her leg, expecting for them to come out from there, but they didn't follow the pink strands out.

Component removal complete. Component marked for recycling.

Issuing replacement…

Fluttershy then watched with mild curiosity as another tube emerged from the little square. The pink lines grabbed them and put them into place. The invisible limbs reached out and tightened what she felt were the little rings.

Air removal in progress. Done. Running cycle to verify proper connections…

Fluttershy watched the little strands of hair go on the opposite side of the stomach, making a few lines fade as they did so, and interface with the other side. It felt odd at that point, she could feel it. Not completely though. She couldn't feel the stomach as if it was her own leg. But she could feel the device as if it was one of her own organs, only, outside of her body. It was a very odd and chilling sensation.

Cycle has completed run. System is working optimally. Repair complete.

Removing EMDs.

EMDs? She had heard that before. Was it talking about her hair? The out-of-body feeling vanished though as the hairs began to move again. Quickly, they were withdrawn back to her head through the little square. Once out, they began to pulse blue and began to steam a bit. It worried her, but even as she focused on them she got a sudden reassurance.

Disinfection in process…

While the glowing hairs were stationary, the little square was retrieved and returned to its box. The other glowing box also dimmed as more boxes shifted around to allow the prongs to reach her hooves. These prongs she had seen a few times now, however weird it was or felt. They quickly started into motion, buzzing around doing their unknown task of reknitting the skin. It was the same process she had seen with Applejack and Starlight so she didn't pay it too much attention.

Though she was still fascinated by how the skin and muscles were reconnected together. It took a bit longer than healing Starlight but had the same results nonetheless.

Operation has been completed. Printing precautionary wound patch…

Fluttershy watched her leg deploy the thing rectangles that deployed the light crystalline patch. It was gently applied to where the cut was made and soon, that was all that was left.

Removing Cutie mark suppression…

The pink strands removed the little disk and mask from the pony and placed them back in her neck. It then closed with a click.

Done. Prosthetics have been repaired. Please allow an hour before use.

Fluttershy nodded, and gently picked up the pony and pushed them to a sitting position. She smiled and gave the pony a gentle shake, "Hey. You're all good to go!"

The pony's eyes seemed slightly hazy but nodded with appreciation.

"Just have to tell you not to eat anything for an hour, okay?"

Another nod, then a hug, "Thank you…"

Fluttershy returned the embrace, accustomed to sudden hugs. It was saddening that it wasn't Pinkie, but she was able to keep her demeanor as the hug broke.

Fluttershy nodded, a smile still on her face, and turned to the next pony, "Who's next?"

Fluttershy then lost herself watching herself fix several different types of prosthetics. Realigning an artificial spine by tapping into the ports on the ponies back. She had the perfect tool to connect to them. She found herself watching her hair perform software updates on many. Re-tuning bio-connectors and Cloud connectors. She replaced another leg and even replaced a holographic tail. Some devices needed new crystals for the cutie mark feelings matrix, or a new metal frame for a dented wing, or even a motor replacement for an artificial shoulder.

Fluttershy had no idea what she was doing. She just kept smiling and relaying what the computer said to her.

It continued. Replacements for an energy relay in an artificial heart. A metal fetlock. Tuning the balance of another's wings. Recalibrating the cuite mark magic in another's artificial horn. Replacing a metal welded bone where the connections to the metal had corroded over time. That required more surgery. Though she made a cut, made two cuts along the bone, watched her limbs glow, and connect the bone back to the metal piece in the center. Closed it up, placed a patch on it, and moved on.

A deep cleaning of an artificial lung.

Repairing the outer wall of another damaged stomach. That didn't require surgery. The pony had to hold still though as several strands of hair went down their throat.

Replacement of a lower jawbone. Teeth included. Were her teeth made of metal? Or were they organic?

She buffed out a scratch in a philly's mechanical eye, while she had to remove an entire section of another's to replace a broken video sensor.

Another foal came to her with a broken drone. She happily fixed it, surprised to learn that the repair mode wasn't restricted to prosthetics.

Though as she was replacing the cover panel on a back leg prosthetic, red words appeared in her vision.

Material cap has been reached. Marking current project as Material limit.

Fluttershy frowned at this. She probably repaired at least 30 ponies and their prosthetics. Probably did a, "software update," for many more. She had no idea what half the terminology her head meant. Leading her to have to figure out what it meant through context. Sometimes she was successful, others not so much.

Though she did realize that the limit that Noah had placed had been reached. So when she had finished the plate on the pony's leg, she looked towards Noah, "The material limit has been reached."

Noah nodded, "Alright, that's all the materials she can spare at the moment." The group seemed to be down at the news, but they recovered quickly. Fluttershy received many thank yous and smiles that made her uncomfortable. She responded in kind, however, no matter how tiny she felt. Though it felt easier to talk to the group without the horde of blue rectangles filling her vision.

Noah turned to her, "Exit repair mode, normal mode should work just fine."

Fluttershy was about to ask a question, when the word: Repair mode appeared in the top left again. Once more the cycle of words filtered upwards and she found normal mode sitting there. Though it too disappeared after a few seconds. The remaining blue rectangles also vanished, leaving her vision clear of them.

"Come. There are things we need to do before tonight's mission." Noah said, turning away.

Fluttershy followed, giving out smiles and small responses to the dissipating crowd. Though they didn't follow the two into the mansion she was starting to become familiar with. That made her happy. Peace and quiet where her soul could recover from all the attention she had received. Of all the things that have happened to her, she wasn't quite sure if having a metal body was worse than being idolized by a whole city. She felt her stomach grumble, noting that it had been at least a full day since she had eaten anything. Though she also noted that she didn't hear her stomach protest its emptiness.

Did she have an artificial stomach like the ones she repaired? If so, why could she not hear it grumbling now? She could feel it doing so, and she had most definitely heard it before.

She sighed gently, watching the hallway display its numerous paintings before they disappeared to the stone walls as they continued into the depths of the mansion. And after stopping to go through a door, she found herself, once more, in the room with the harness. She gave the device a slightly annoyed look. She should have listened to her feelings when Noah had asked her to get into the device the first time!

She let the feeling fall to dust. She had no idea of knowing how she truly was. Beating herself up over it wasn't going to solve anything.

She then took a step towards the harness but stopped when Noah placed a few bars of metal in front of her. A small chunk of the wire spaghetti, a few circuit boards, a couple chunks of crystal, and the broken metal skull. Upon further inspection, she saw that half the skull was missing. Largely because of the blackened hole of the side of it. Its jagged edges serving the same warning as a porcupine's quills.

"That ought to be enough to recover your material stores. We'll worry about filling them up completely at a later date. Though I'm surprised you managed to empty them as much as you did…" Noah said, walking towards the harness.

Fluttershy gave the small pile a confused look. Several metal ingots were in the pile. She saw gold, silver, copper color, and a dull dark silvers as well. The pile contained at least 15 ingots of varying sizes. The green circuit boards were marked with tons of little boxes and cylinders. Lines of metal weaving in and out of the green material, carving straight lines that created mesmerizing patterns that never touched another. The metal skull seemed to be looking at her, even though she could see right through its lifeless eyes.

She turned to Noah, "Uh, what do you want me to do exactly?"

"Eat. You need to recover the material you've expended fixing the others. I'll figure out why your material storages are so low later."

"Eat?! But this is metal! I can't eat metal!" She objected plainly.

"Yes you can. If I need to create a program to do what you can not I will. Though I would prefer to get the program I'm currently working on finished before we go." Noah answered nonchalantly. His gaze was on the glowing screens around the harness. There were lines of text on them. All bound with in boxes of white. The text was different colors, and though she could read them, she had no idea what they meant. The words didn't make sense to her.

Void? Get_Sensory_Data? Words didn't seem to match any sort of grammar she knew. That and everything seemed to be contained in brackets and other forms of grouping symbols that weren't used very often. She looked at Noah, who was giving her an unimpressed look. Fluttershy sighed. She didn't know what the words meant. Nor did she know what a program truly was. But she knew that Noah wanted her to consume the variety of inedible parts in front of her, or he'd force her to do it with one of his programs.

She took a deep breath and inspected the pile. She pushed the skull to the side. She'd do that very last, and only if she had to. She looked towards the little ingots. Those would be a good start, right?

So she put her hoof on the pile and picked up the gold one. She thought it was gold, and was the material she was most familiar with. Other than maybe steel but being a friend of Rarity had taught her a lot about the fancy metal. She swallowed nervously, and just stared at the gold ingot between her hooves like a forbidden sandwich.

Had she been holding a normal sandwich, she'd feel her mouth start to salivate. But with the gold, she felt nothing. Was it really food? For her at least? She'd never been able to bite through metal, but nor had she truly tried. She glanced up at Noah, seeing an annoyed expression on his face.

She'd be forced to eat the metal if she didn't do it, and she was tired of her body doing things against her will. At least she could keep her ability to eat on her own. Even if her "food" wasn't really food. So, she opened her mouth, put the bar halfway in, and took a bite.

It happened exactly how she expected it to go. A solid click as her teeth came into contact with the metal piece. She was pretty sure she dented it, but Rarity had told her that solid gold was not as hard as other metals. So she wasn't too surprised.

"You have to bite harder than that," Noah said, amusement mixing with annoyance.

Fluttershy half frowned with the bar of gold in her mouth. Its taste was metallic. Nothing super special. Though she had had metal in her mouth before. Trips to the dentist had given her the taste of metal a few times. Though the gold had a very particular taste rather than the metal tools. She couldn't really put it into words. But she was pretty sure it tasted different.

Though she had to eat the gold, not taste it. So she tried to bite harder, making a small indentation in the ingot, but not much more. Though, she suddenly heard a few clicks in her jaw as she tried to bite harder. Then, it felt like she was biting through butter and her jaw severed the ingot into two pieces. She was slightly elated at this but realized that she still had to swallow the chunk of gold in her mouth. She released the pressure on her jaw, hearing a few clicks before she could. Instinctually she felt she needed to chew a bit, but was unsure if she could. But, with the new experience of biting through it, she was pretty sure she could chew it into smaller pieces. Upon trying she found she could, though slower than she could with say a hayburger. Though she managed and took a deep breath, steeling herself before swallowing. Nothing out of the ordinary occurred. She felt fine. Her throat felt fine. Her stomach didn't disagree with her with the foreign "food."

Materials marked for recycling.

The words blinked twice before disappearing. She felt horror when she saw those words. When she was taking all those broken metal prosthetics, she was eating them?! She gently smothered her chaotic thoughts. The other ponies didn't care, wouldn't care, right?

She sighed and looked at the rest of the golden ingot. She felt slightly amused at the teeth marks imbedded into the metal as it was not a sight one got to ever see. Though she noticed that the bar now had a near razor-sharp edge to it. She thought to the chunk she had just eaten. The chewed-up bar probably was not smooth but probably had a very scratchy surface. Though her mouth handled it just fine.

Is that why whenever she had popcorn with the girls, she never had to worry about an unpopped kernel nearly breaking her jaw? While her friends, other than Pinkie, would have words to say when the rare event would occur? Chips? She never had an issue with chips getting stuck in her gums. Though granted, she wasn't the one to generally have chips but she never had the experience others had. She again refilled her lungs and popped the rest of the bar into her mouth, chewing and swallowing it slowly. It felt weird to eat metal. It felt like she was going against her mother teaching her how she shouldn't put things in her mouth except for food. Abiet dentist tools, retainers, and gum were exceptions, but it felt odd putting whole bars of metal into her mouth. Even more so swallowing them.

But she downed another gold bar, not wanting to be forced into doing another thing against her will. Though, after the gold, she picked up one of the silver bars and took a bite. This one was much harder than the gold. It felt like she was biting into a much colder bar of butter rather than the gold. And again she picked up on a very distinct taste. Different than the gold or the dentist tools. Though she found she could still chew it up and swallow it just fine. She took in a few of those bars, then grabbed one of the last bars. The last ones were of a dull grey color that reminded her of the silver ones. Though with a dull finish. Though when she tried to take a bite, she found it very difficult to bite through. She barely was able to make a dent in the material. She frowned and bit harder still, though paused when she heard her jaw whine. Not in the sense of a whining animal, or something she would make. But this whine sounded unnatural. Similar to the whine from her legs when she was running away from Applejack only a few days ago.

Though she steeled herself. Her body had shown that it was normal for it to make those sounds when it was pushing itself to the upper limits. So she again bit down and didn't stop when she heard the whining of her jaw. The ingot resisted at first, but slowly deformed as continued the pressure. Soon, she got a bite of the mystery metal in her mouth. Though this time she had to pull it apart like a piece of really hard taffy. Though it felt like she was chewing a piece of hard candy rather than taffy. Though this took longer to chew, she found it was still swallowable. She took another bite and tried this time to feel the sharp edges the crushed-up metal was bound to make. She felt them, but was surprised she felt no pain as the edges ran along with her tongue and mouth.

So her mouth was most definitely not organic. Or was it? Saliva was organic, was it not?

She felt those thoughts buzzing through her mind as she ate a few more of the super-strong bars. Celestia had seen the underneath of her eyelids stating she saw blood vessels, right? And she had said she had seen metal but blood vessels were from a living being, right? She can't be completely made up of metal?

Though that thought diminished as she swallowed another chewed-up ingot. She knew her legs and eyes were made of metal. She also knew that her wings were at least mostly made of metal. Her sides had some metal contraption in them since they could open up. Now her mouth was some combination of organic and metal with some of her insides the same way. Her stomach grumbled. Though it was overshadowed by the dread she could feel resting next to it.

What was she?

Earlier she had her friends to lean on when she had these thoughts. Though, now she didn't have any of them to surround her in a hug. She was alone to deal with the fact of her true self. Though she pushed it aside the best she could but could still feel pounding behind the mental door she put it behind. She tried her best to distract herself with the objects in front of her. Though as she picked up the green board that contained a myriad of tiny cylinders and boxes, she couldn't help feeling the door break down.

It was overwhelming! She was a pony! Yet she was a pony eating metal! No pony could do that, so did that still make her one? Was the pony that had the artificial stomach able to eat such materials? Did she just have an artificial stomach to process the other materials she'd need to heal and grow? The feelings were starting to get too much for her to handle and she could feel herself starting to break down. So she quickly stuffed the green board in her mouth like a very oversized cracker and bit down. It crunched like a large cracker. A bit more resilient than a cracker but that's the best consistency she could think of. Though the taste was completely different than the metals she had previously consumed. While she did taste several different metallic tastes, including the taste of the gold, she encountered a sort of unnatural tang. It was very odd because she could describe it as the taste of a lemon. Though an ancient one, that still was sour but didn't have the taste of a lemon. It felt she shouldn't put such taste in her mouth because it was bad. The texture was also a concern. The best way she could describe it was glassy. It felt she was putting strands of fine glass in her mouth. Each strand of varying strands felt like it should be sharp enough to cut her mouth to ribbons. Though even as she swallowed, such expected effects did not occur.

Materials marked for recycling…

She took another bite, again exploring the flavor. It really felt it shouldn't go in her mouth, but at the same it did. It was like when she was taking brussels sprouts for the first time. She didn't like them very much, but it felt like she needed them. Later she found out such foods have the materials she would need to grow up. Though as she has grown up she replaced them with other foods and her antioxidant teas but that was personal preference. Her parents were right to give her such foods to help her young body grow into—

Her brain choked on the thought, making her pause with the large green cracker. Did her parents know? Surely they must have known something because this happened to her when she was a philly right? She would've needed it, her brain struggled to complete the thought. She would've needed metal to grow right? She remembered growing up and making markings on the door frame when she was younger to mark how tall she had gotten. Though said door frame had to be replaced, they still kept the piece with the markings and updated it till both she and her brother were old enough to move out. How did she grow then? Was she part metal at that point? Or was it later?

She growled, stuffing the green board again into her mouth. When did this all happen to her? How much of her memory was fabricated to keep such a transformation hidden from her? She took another aggressive bite from the unnatural cracker, leaving only one bite left.

What was she? She found herself back at the question she asked only a day ago. Was she a killer machine? A healing miracle?

Her eyes fell on Noah as he worked on the panels in front of him. No, she was neither. She was an unwilling puppet. She unhappily put the rest of the green board in her mouth. She'd never be able to look at a puppet the same way again. Maybe not a sock puppet though, that was different as it was only a hoof in a disguise. She felt like she was an entirely separate thing from the puppeteer, controlled via invisible strings hoisted onto a stage they didn't want to be on. Saying the things they didn't want to say. Doing the things they didn't want to do. Or maybe they were just inanimate objects that required a creature's personality to get their own.

Was she that way? She picked up the last green board quietly munching on it after the initial crack of her bite. Was she just an inanimate object given personality and purpose by Noah? She frowned, taking another bite. No, she had her dreams and desires. Noah certainly didn't seem to care about wildlife as she did.

She eyed the tangled mess of wires in front of her. She tightened her lips and picked it up. Then, just took a bite. She tasted plastic. She knew that taste. Both from an early age and from the dentist trips. Though she also tasted another metal that she did taste in the crazy cracker. This was copper if she wasn't mistaken. That's a taste nearly every pegasus knew. Much work in the weather factory with electricity involved the metal. And since wings were much too singable than the hoofs or mouth, that's what ponies used to manipulate instruments. While she didn't do it often, she still remembered the very peculiar taste. She wasn't too fond of the plastic though. The taste was fine, though the texture was annoying in her mouth, and she found herself swallowing quickly. She looked down at the tangled mess, now able to see the little circles of copper among their plastic coverings. She quickly took another bite, finding the small balled mess loose half its mass. It was like spaghetti, in a very odd way. Only if the noodles were filled, rather than just plain carbohydrates. She took another bite, chewing quickly to not endure the plastic granules resting on her tongue. A final bite eliminated the tangled ball.

Next were the crystals. A deep shade of cyan lay on the floor coating it in shadow. These items she was actually looking forward to. She had always wondered what crystals had tasted like since Spike ate them. Though she had thought eating such objects would surely cause internal issues. Though, now she was sure of the opposite. So she picked up one of the crystals and put it into her mouth. She could only describe it as a glass. She could taste something else but she wasn't sure what that something was. It tingled her taste buds but she really couldn't compare it to something she'd normally eat. It was similar to the metal she had earlier but different. She positioned it between her teeth and took a breath. Could she chew crystals? She gently closed her jaw, ever-increasing the pressure till she felt the gem crack. Then, it exploded in her mouth, sending tiny shards and bits into her cheek with a sharp crack. It was muffled by her cheeks but still was loud enough to get Noah's brief attention. Though he disregarded it as Fluttershy attempted to chew. It became like she was chewing sand that was becoming finer and finer in her mouth. It was hard to swallow.

Though she liked it better than the green cracker. She took another crystal in her mouth, this time struggling to get her jaw around it. Though this one cracked much heavier than the last one, making her cheeks bulge with the kinetic energy. Though it too did not last long to her newfound teeth.

Which left one item left. She stared at the empty metal skull as it stared back with lifeless eyes. Is this was a predator felt like? She frowned at that thought. No. Most of her animal friends didn't consume bones. Hunting though was a part of their nature. A nature that helped control the cycle throughout all of nature.

This was different.

This object was mimicking an organic one and didn't get the same rules as organics simply because it wasn't in an organic. It obviously wasn't wanted since she was expected to eat it. Though she really couldn't bring herself to eat such an object.

How would she even attempt it!? She stared at the skull as she recalled times she had talked to her predatory friends. They'd tell her to break it down the best she could, till they were in bite-sized chunks you could get down. Though, Fluttershy's heart couldn't do that, no matter how inanimate the object was.

"Could you make this one smaller please?" Fluttershy asked timidly. She just didn't want to do it herself.

Noah looked at her but didn't respond. Instead, he levitated a small circle connected to a wire to her face. She backed up a bit before the magic placed it in front of her right eye. It flashed with a brief multitude of bright colors then her right eye's view blackened as something pulled the device snug on her eye socket. It clicked a few times and her right vision was replaced with: Docked

She had felt such devices before. With the new pony Glyph at Canterlot and with Noah's Harness. Though this time she could feel energy running through it. It felt odd as the feeling felt like it was an extension of her eye.

Synchronizing magmatic extenders…

Fluttershy felt the invisible limbs reach out to the skull and wrap around it like they were made up of putty. Once it had wrapped around it fully, she felt it energize the air around it.

Then with a loud clunk, the skull collapsed in on itself. It complained further with metallic thuds as the force compressed it further into a mishappen ingot. Then, the limbs vanished, allowing the piece to fall to the ground with a clunk.

Fluttershy felt like she was white as a ghost. She couldn't help feel horror as she watched the lifelike skull be crushed by her invisible limbs. She stared at the lump of metal on the ground, realizing now she had to eat the piece. She looked at Noah, who was now uninterested in her and staring back at the glowing panels. She heard some fast-paced clicking as the pony maneuvered two pucks on a nearby console. She swallowed and picked up the chunk of metal. It was now unrecognizable, but the fact she knew what it was made her want to curl up.

Though she knew she'd be forced to do it and she'd rather do it herself. It was just a piece of metal after all…

So she quickly took as big of a bite as she could, chewing very little before swallowing. She shuddered, feeling the large sharp edges run along her throat. It didn't hurt, but she could feel her neck protest at the much too big bite. She could even feel the bite crawling through her chest. Though the discomfort passed quickly. She quickly took two bites of the remaining "U" shape and found the entire pile of inedible objects, eaten.

Though Fluttershy felt a little nauseous after the last object. Her insides seemed to hate her, though it wasn't enough for her to throw up. Just an aching feeling knotting itself together in her gut. She looked towards Noah, who was still typing away.

"I'm done…" Fluttershy said in a sickly voice. Though she shuddered after hearing her voice.

Noah nodded, "Please dock. The program is almost done, and then we will be able to head out."

Fluttershy frowned as she felt her limbs take control, and wake back into the harness, "Where?" She asked, surprised it let her speak.

"That is of no concern to you," Noah said plainly.

External computer has initiated program download…

Program: Mimicry.

Allocating file space…

Beginning install…

It was the beginning of another shift. Another day, another pile of bits his family had told him. Though that was years upon years ago. He just now wanted to rest. Though his bar wasn't going to keep itself up and going. He was also too stubborn to just give it away. He exited the bathroom and started down the hall back to his post. Though the walk made his joints complain, grinding here and there.

He groaned. He was getting too old for this. One day he was going to make a conveyer belt that would carry him down this hallway. He smiled at the thought and what such a device would do for his old bones. Though he paused, looking around at the multitude of rooms that connected to the hallway. Maybe that idea wouldn't fly. Though it didn't stop him from imagining himself from flying forward, not with his own muscles.

Though he then found himself flying forward, tripping on some unseen object. He landed forward with a thud, smacking his face so hard that everything went black. He blinked, feeling his entire body tingle. Did he just break his neck? Was he dead?

His mind filled with fear as he felt he was floating in a black void that deposited him in a large cube of near blackness. Did he die? Was he in some sort of purgatory?

"Eeep!" A sudden voice sounded near him. Though as he tried to look around to find the source, his vision brightened, and he found himself on the floor.

What in Equestria just happened? Did he just die and his body decide to get back up? What was that voice? The voice of his ancestors about ready to guide him into the afterlife? He groaned, and slowly got back on his hooves. Then paused. His joints no longer hurt. He did a little skip and even a jump and found that it didn't hurt to do so. Though originally it would send him to bed for several hours. Though now he felt young and spry again!

Though he stopped, realizing that such an event may not be permanent. He should still probably get a doctor to check him out. Though he still had his shift to cover, but he was pretty sure he'd only have to wait about a half-hour for a relief shift to come. He'd then go straight to the doctor's office and get things checked out. He briskly walked out through the hall, pushing open the push doors with a forehoof. He was then instantly subjected to the smell of warm bodies that had been in a large room for too long. Smell of hard drinks mixed with different types of sodas and warm food. It wasn't a great smell, but he was used to it. It was more of a home away from home kind of thing. He smiled and walked towards the bar, where he magically opened the little half-door barring him from behind the counter. He closed it on his way out and locked it. He'd had several ponies attempt to get back, though the door had stopped anypony drunk enough to try to get free drinks.

Though he knew some tricks up his sleeve to keep such ponies at bay as well. He'd done some karate before. Not much, but you didn't need much to subdue a drunken pony. He smiled at the few guests he had waiting, offering cheerful greetings. Some he got similar replies, though some were half-spoken grunts. Though he didn't take offense as many would come over to cool off or even mourn a lost one. He'd seen a lot, and a lot of others would come to him for questions or advice on anything from relationships to housing loans.

"Oye Bartender, could I get a spiked number 15?" A guest asked.

The pony nodded, "Sure, just give me a moment to wash my hooves." The guest nodded, and the bartender started to wash his hooves while he magically assembled a few glasses together along with his shaker. A pint of coconut and a splash of alcohol. Putting them on the counter he quickly mixed them with his hooves. He could do it with magic, but an earth pony had taught him his ways. So he kept up the tradition despite it being a tad slower than his horn. But he was still quick as he opened up the shaker, popped in a slice of lime, and continued shaking. Then he twirled it with his magic and poured it out into the hovering glass. He looked at the guest who nodded and tossed 4 bits his direction. He caught it with his magic and placed the drink in front of the pony.

"Thank ya." The guest said before taking a sip and returning to his conversation with his friends.

The bartender smiled and looked at a fellow pony who seemed to be picking at his hayburger. The bartender frowned, knowing that look. He quickly levitated a small glass of orange juice over to the pony and greeted them with a small smile.

"So, what's the matter?" He said cheerfully, pulling ingredients to make a commonly ordered lemonade.

The stallion frowned, eyeing the glass of orange juice with a dull look, "I got mad at my kids today. Think I scared them pretty bad."

The bartender nodded, "I understand. Though it's because you want them to learn the lessons the easy way before they learn them the hard way."

The stallion picked up the juice, "Yeah…" He said dully.

"You want to equip them with the best possible tools so that they can live their best life. But at times it seems they just don't want to take it. Because they have their own thoughts and dreams."

The other pony nodded.

"Well, that's part of parenting. You've got to learn how they think and understand the world. Then you can explain the lessons in a way that would make sense for them."

"I know that," The pony scoffed.

"Aye," The bartender replied with a smile, "But do you know how?"

The pony hid their expression under the glass of orange juice.

He chuckled, "Hey, can't tell ya either." The pony gave him an odd look, to which he chuckled, "Aye, I'll admit it. Mostly because it's different per foal. No two are alike. Even twins will have their differences you need to work around."

The pony put the glass of orange juice down and smiled, "Does the old bartender have any good advice? Like always?"

"Perhaps," the bartender smiled. He loved giving out advice, and loved when creatures would come to him to ask, "Give the foals a little space. Be sure to be there when they need help or comfort and show that you are a friend. And take care to look into their interests and give them some praise for working on their dreams! If the only thing you are doing is correcting them, then they probably won't see you as a parental figure."

"And if I don't know a single thing about their interests?" The pony replied, curious not hostile.

"Could I get a number 2?" Another pony asked. The bartender nodded and started to pull a few glasses down.

"Well," He started, mixing various liquids, "You have to learn about them. You get excited to show them your skills and things that you've learned right? Well, you've got to allow them to show you the things they've learned. If they can't show you well, then learn about it. Libraries aren't meant to be giant dust collectors."

"I suppose…" The distressed pony said. Though his tone wasn't condescending, rather had a sense of deep reflection.

"Here's the number 2!" The bartender said, raising it up. The pony who ordered it then exchanged it for some bits. The bartender smiled at the gold bits and deposited them into a slot underneath the counter. That would take them downstairs into the vault. Just in case a group got too greedy for bits. It wouldn't be the first time.

Though he paused as he looked at the front door as such a group came in. Four ponies dressed in black and curled spiked cuffs along their fetlocks. Each one had shades, though they weren't over their eyes as it was the middle of the night. Each accessory though was a different dark color, red, green, blue. Though there was a golden one as well, one that marked the boss of the group. An amulet with a bright blue gem was also another indicator that the group meant bad news. Well, mostly.

To the bartender, it wasn't the case. These rich ponies had never tried to outbuy his spot of land, simply because he was their father's best friend. A security that surpassed the bands of death.

He gave them a smile and a wave, which they returned in kind and began to walk over. The bartender smiled but then froze. Not of his own will though, he turned back to the incoming group when he felt his hair start to levitate.

Fluttershy was waiting in a room, her eyes tracking a colored blob through the wall. Eyes kept open with electric shocks. Each one warding the comfort of sleep as she stood still as a statue. The only movement she did do was an ever so slow movement of her head, tracking the blob.

After Noah had installed the new, "program," he had her teleport to Manhatten where she then teleported into a building. Now, she was in a random room. There were a few boxes here and there, but nothing more. She felt herself take a step forward and pull the little disk from her neck. She stood at the ready, even though she had no idea what she was doing. She continued to look at the colored blob that she assumed was a pony walk down the hallway towards her. Though, as the pony got close, she felt a single hair reach across the hallway and make a crude tripping hazard. Though, as the elderly pony came into view he easily tripped on the single strand that managed to stay taut. Though before he hit the floor, her hair caught him and placed the disk on the pony's neck. Then her hair spun around the pony with blue glowing strands.

Though before she could fight the containment protocol, the pony was covered in a brilliant neon green glow and reduced to a glowing ball. She blinked as the sensory input had told her that her chest opened up. She watched a little glowing ball be placed in her chest, and it sealed up. She found herself attempting to breathe faster, but was denied.

Why did the system take him?

Action denied.

Why couldn't she fight the impulse like with the others?

Action denied.

Phase 2 initiated.

Program Mimicry has been activated.

Using Containment section 1…

Fluttershy frowned as she felt her back click, whereupon her wings sunk into them. Soon after the back clicked back into place, making her look like an earth pony. Though that look didn't last long as she felt the horn she had used Sombra's magic with emerge from her forehead.

Great. She was now a unicorn.

Though she pushed the thought aside, she wasn't able to change her appearance even if she tried. So she delved back into her mind to where she had talked to Celestia when she had been contained. He'd be put there too? Though, as she appeared in the large cube room, she did so right behind the pony. Her initial reaction was to jump back at the sudden pony, with a small, "Eeep!" For good measure. Though when he turned around to face her, she saw a confused face covered with light blue lines. It looked like a visor of sorts. Like really, really big sunglasses.

Though it seemed that the pony couldn't see her at all.

"Hello?" She asked timidly, walking forward. Though she didn't get a response. Though she did feel her body start moving on its own again. She felt herself take a few slow steps forward, pause, then a little skip and jump followed by a brisk walk to the end of the hallway. Though, had she seen it from the outside, she would be sure the movements conveyed joy! Slight hop in the step, longer carefree stride, and she wasn't sure why. Was the computer happy?

She pulled her mind out of the cubed room and focused on what she was seeing. Though it frightened her because she had just entered a bar that seemed full of ponies. Each ranging from happy to outright crying. The must in the air was not pleasant to her nature accustomed nose but it wasn't the worst thing she had come across. Though she'd only been in a bar for very few occasions, mostly meet-ups with several animal consolers, this one was pretty clean. Though she watched herself walk up behind the bar, and with energy gathering in her forehead, she felt the energy push the half door open. It felt like those magnetic invisible lines, only, without the magnets. Was that how magic felt?

She then felt the energy close the little door behind her and she heard somepony say hello. She blinked as she felt herself respond cheerfully to the pony.

Just not in her voice.

It was a male voice emanating from her throat. Deep, but wise with age. It sounded like she was listening to her grandfather, though, this voice was much louder and boomed with confidence.

She listened to it give greetings and take orders. She watched herself make the orders with uncanny hoof dexterity that she didn't have. She didn't even know what she was making! She knew it was a drink as she watched it levitate in the air and pour itself. Though the magic was coming from her!

She frowned, or, at least tried to. Did the magic belong to the pony the computer had contained? Was he controlling her actions? She contemplated the answer as she watched a glass of orange juice hover to some pony. Did he order that? No, he'd been quiet the whole time. She listened as she asked what was wrong. To which the pony opened up easily.

It made sense to her. Though, she was confused. She was the Element of Harmony. Why was everyone treating her like some pony else? Did she look different? Sure she had no wings but surely she didn't look like the normal bartender! Though the thought shattered when she heard the pony ask a question:

"Does the old bartender have any good advice? Like always?" he said with a smile.

Like always. The pony recognized her! How? Surely the bartender didn't look that much like her! Sure, she looked like a unicorn, but she'd have to change her coat color right? Though she watched the other ponies interact with her, it became more of a possibility. A possibility that seemed to become more of a reality the more she noted her senses. The lack of wings was disconcerting, as well as the new horn, but her coat felt the same. Her hair was the sam—No. No, it wasn't…

It was shorter. She no longer felt the familiar weight her hair had but felt it much lighter than usual. Nor did she see it at the edge of her vision. She never so desperately wanted to see a mirror in her life.

The front doors opened up with a group of ponies entering the bar. Black clothing, curled spiked bands, and very shiny sunglasses were all present on these ponies. She felt herself throw a wave at them, then turn to clean some dishes after she received gestures in kind.

Target identified. Mimicry has been disabled.

Fluttershy felt her head turn back to the group, the glass she was holding with magic falling to the ground with a clatter. Though to her surprise, it did not shatter. But that was a side thought as her hair extended from her head and started to levitate in the air. With a whoosh of air, her hair shot outwards, wrapping itself around every creature in the bar. Sounds of panic, surprise, and even anger filled the bar as the hair moved around. Tables and chairs scratched the floor but soon quieted down as her hair finished restraining the entire room.

The newcomers to the bar remained unrestrained, however, but their faces seemed to show shock and fear.

The one with the golden sunglasses twitched but spoke in a cool voice, "Whoa. Eld? What's going on?"

Fluttershy wasn't able to respond. But rather she climbed up and over the bar with smooth gliding steps. Her eyes never leaving the pony in front of her. In the sunglasses, she was able to answer previous questions.

She did look different. She looked like the pony she had contained. The horn, light grey coat, and short dark brown hair were distorted in the sunglasses but wasn't impossible to discern. Though the hair seemed to be twitching and seemed more like a fluid rather than a solid object. Hundreds of tiny pink strands were coming out of the broken hologram, but vanished a second later. She watched the horn on her head retreat into her head, and felt relief as the feeling in her wings returned. Then she watched with a mixture of awe, and dread as she watched her coat change back to the butter-yellow she was fond of.

She was still walking towards the pony with the sunglasses when the others stepped in front of her. Though her pace didn't even slow as more strands picked them up and moved them out of the way. When she finally stopped walking, she was mere steps away from the pony with the sunglasses.

"It took you long enough," Noah said, revealing his presence. He too was unrestrained as he took steps towards the golden glasses pony, "You're 5 minutes late."

"Oi. You can wait," The pony said, in a cocky accent that was hinted with a little fear, "You. What did you do with Eld?" He said, turning back to Fluttershy. Though she remained mute, despite the glare she was receiving. Though she was petrified. Had she had control of herself she'd probably be curling into a ball or running away.

"Hey! I'm talking to you! What did you do with him?!" He said, pulling a simple knife from his coat with skill only experience could provide. Quickly, he placed the blade on her throat, making Fluttershy's fear jump in intensity.

"That won't hurt her," Noah said again but was quickly shushed.

"Shush! I said I'd deal with you later."

Noah rolled his eyes, "Release Containment section #1, keep him held though."

Fluttershy blinked and took a step back. Her chest hissed and snapped open. A few hairs then reached down and pulled a dark grey orb from the indents in her chest. With a quick hum of energy, the hairs glowed stark light blue and pulled the orb outwards into the shape of a pony. The bartender quickly appeared, breathing heavily.

"Eld! You alright?" the pony said, relief filling his voice.

"He's fine," Noah said with an air of annoyance.

The pony growled and turned to him, turning his blade towards him with a flick of his hoof, "I said—"

Snap!

The blade vanished in a teleportation spell with a red flash. Noah's frown was prominent on his face as he displayed his annoyance, "She is with me. Any business you have with her, you have with me."

"So you told her to foal-nap Eld?" He accused, quickly recovering from the shock of losing his blade.

"Yes, to get the chance to talk to you," Noah said with venom, "And if you do not shut up, I'll have her permanently shut up your friend."

Fluttershy's leg clicked and she felt it shoot upwards. Her hair holding Eld up also went down. With the two movements, the transparent blue blade was hovering a centimeter from the unicorn's neck.

The pony frowned, his sunglasses moving with him as he twitched with anger, "And what do you want to talk about?"

"Your amulet."

"Sorry, buddy, elaborate setup and all but it's not for sale." He said an annoyed look on his muzzle.

"I do not want to buy it. I wish to exchange it."

"That's still buying, in a sense."

Noah shrugged, "Sure. Though this is a price you can't refuse. Eld for the amulet."

The pony paled, "What?!"

"Yes, you heard me. I'd just take it from you but there are rumors of enchantments that would destroy it."

"You heard right," The pony scoffed.

"And because of your attitude, you've got three minutes to decide."

"Oh come on! It's a family heirloom!"

"I don't care what the purpose of the gem originally was. Its structure will hold energy quite nicely."

"The gem is replaceable," the pony said quickly, "Would you be okay if I give you the gem? And I keep the amulet? My father would kill me."

Noah gave him a contemplating look, "Your father is dead."

The pony smiled, it was a sad smile, "Yes. I don't care if he's in the afterlife or the mortal realm, he'd find a way to punish me for losing the piece."

Noah shrugged, "Sure. Give the amulet to her and she can remove the gem."

The pony frowned but did what he was told and took the amulet off his neck. Quickly he proffered it to the yellow pegasus who didn't respond.

"Remove the gem in place for Amulet containment," Noah said, which sparked her into motion.

She turned to the amulet with a sharp movement and accepted it in her hoofs. Her hair quickly loosened the gem from the gold piece's hold. Then, she offered the gold piece back and watched the hair place the gem into a section in her chest. It clicked back together, sealing the gem into her being.

The pony gulped, "Creepy. What is she?" He asked accepting the rest of the amulet.

Noah smiled, giving Fluttershy a thoughtful look, "She is a perfect collimation between pony and electro magical devices. A perfect tool. A perfect assistant."

Eld frowned, still maintained in the air but said nothing.

The pony with the amulet though looked worried, "Yo Eld! What's the matter? You're turning pale!"

The elderly pony tried to point to something, but the hair locked him in place. A pained expression was now growing on the pony's face.

"YO! What did you do to Eld?!" The pony shouted angrily.

Noah frowned, unconcerned, "Did the pony receive any injuries during containment?"

Fluttershy shook her head, "No. Mild trip was employed."

"That's probably what did it! The last time he tripped he broke rib!" The pony hotly replied, not bothering to put the amulet back on.

Noah shrugged, "Since you were compliant, I'll allow her to fix your friend. Whatever happened…"

"What? Fix? He's not like her. He can't just be, "fixed!" We need to get him to the hospital!"

"That won't be necessary," Noah said carelessly. He turned to Fluttershy, "Return me to the base then heal, "Eld." Once completed, let everypony go and return back to base."

"What? Are you eve—" The pony started, but stopped when Fluttershy felt a ring of skin disappear from her midsection. Something spun to life and Noah vanished in a familiar flash of light. Then, the spinning motion stopped and she felt her skin return its sense of touch.

The pony didn't bother continuing his sentence but stood staring at where Noah had been. Then he turned his awful gaze to Fluttershy. It was full of fear. Not just fear, but primal fear. Shock seemed to anchor his legs to the floor though Fluttershy could plainly see he wanted to get away as far as possible.

Was this how, quote on quote, "monsters," felt? Their bodies made up of, "horrifying" combinations of different body types, only drawing the stares of horror to them from other creatures?

She contemplated that as she watched Healing mode appear in small text in her vision.

Booting MMO in separate image for injury diagnosis.

Was she a monster? A freak of nature?

MMO booted successful. Beginning diagnosis…

Fluttershy watched with a hollow heart as her hair moved Eld into her direct field of view. What were the other ponies around her thinking? Being suspended in tiny strands of pink hair? What did they think of her?

She wanted to look around and see the facial expressions. But was glad her vision was locked forward. She was curious, yes, but was afraid to see the results.

Minor shoulder dislocation in the forward left shoulder. Repairing…

Fluttershy felt her neck open with a few clicks, making the free pony jump. From it came the little disk which was placed on Eld's neck. She felt her right leg vanish into her shoulder and felt the Medical leg come into existence. It filled her with a little joy. Despite being a machine with powerful destructive power. She was also blessed with a similarly powerful healing power. She smiled, barely registering the facial expression appear on her face. Her leg then glowed a light blue and gained an aura on the end of her hoof. The hoof was applied to the pony's left shoulder, where Fluttershy felt a sense of touch pierce the pony's skin. Though, it wasn't piercing in the sense of a needle, rather sound. This touch she couldn't feel as well as the magnetic limbs but could feel it moving through something as she would through honey. It pushed harder on something, till she felt her leg twitch as something below it moved.

Immediately she saw Eld's face dissolve into relief, "Thank you," He said, as she felt the disk get pulled away back into her neck.

Patient healed. Stopping MMO…

Fluttershy frowned, feeling her hair retreat back to head and dropping everything it held. Why would he say thanks? "I caused it…" She muttered. Surprise emerged in her face as she realized she could talk.

Eld chuckled, "Sure, but you've rectified your error. Still noble! Though you can better use your abilities in a different crowd."

"I wish I had a choice…" She muttered before she once again felt the ring of numbness appear around her barrel. It spun and soon she vanished in a flash of light. The pony's she left behind feeling an odd sense of compassion, worry, and awe.