Year 5 month 4 Day 13

"the operation was a success and to add onto it, I received my cutie mark. Guaranteed the method in which I earned it wasn't necessarily the most, civil. I lost control of myself, Something in me just caused me to snap at him. I can walk, thats what matters, and all I have to do is just think about walking instead of focusing my magic on each individual movement of my previous artificial limbs. These prosthetics are truly something to behold, and them being powered by magic really is a stroke of genius. I owe it all t…"

At that moment, Proto hears a knocking on her front door, she sets down her pen and parchment and walked over to it.

Proto, "Who's there?"

Jim, "its me, the dragon, er… Jim"

Proto, "Listen, yesterday, I-I wasn't myself."

Jim, "its okay, its completely understandable."

Proto, "No, something like this shouldn't be glossed over so suddenly, that was a serious issue."

Jim, "No, I mean your actions are literally understandable, the sheer excitement if you finally being able to walk made your adrenaline levels spike causing you to think irrationaly, then the sudden change of no magic with that spike made you perform as such. I'm an anatomist, I take situations like this quite literally, literally"

Proto, "Oh, okay then, well I'm still sorry"

Jim, "May I come in, I still need to do those checks."

Proto, "Oh, yeah, of course."

Proto opens the door and Jim walked in with a device of some kind in is claws.

Jim, "Well based off of yesterdays events its save to assume that the receptors are responding properly."

Proto, "Hhhh, I know this is more to ask of you, and after what happened yesterday I completely understand, but is there anyway to help with my magic?"

Jim looks at her and ignores her query for a moment.

Jim, "bend your fore right and hint left hooves"

Proto does so.

Jim, "A unicorn horn is much like a magnified glass, if you want to strengthen the beam you either increase the energy input, or you get a more powerful lens. Since your magic source is already being tapped into, the only way to increase your magic output is to get you a more powerful horn."

Proto, "huh, that sounds simple enough"

Jim, "the only problem being that ponies don't sell spare horns at the corner market. And that horns are internally wired directly into your prefrontal cortex. your horn is basically part of your brain, you can't separate a part of the brain from itself, it would kill you."

Proto hears this and is frightened by the thought, and she starts to come to terms with the fact that she will have to live with weak magic for the rest of her life.

Jim, "however…"

Proto, "however?" she responds with excitement.

Jim, "Thats insisting on removing the entirety of the horn, you can still focus a beam of light with a magnified glass, all you have to do is change the angle and find the focus point"

Proto, "So we change the lens, so to speak?"

Jim, "In theory, yes, in practice, not so much. What I can do is help you so you can use your magic as strong as it was, but only in a limited area, not changing the lens, moving the focus point"

Jim takes his claw and scratches on her hind leg.

Proto, "OW!"

Jim, "You wanted it hooked up to your nerves, being able to feel your legs definitely has its advantages, but you will also feel pain. feeling is feeling, theres no changing that."

Jim takes the device he brought with him and switches it on, he then pulls out a series of electrodes that were stored in the top and begins placing them across Proto's abdomen, he then takes out two rods with circles on each end and places them over her horn, one at the base and one at the tip.

Proto, "what is that?"

Jim, "Its a e-meter, it measures the electrical output of your nervous system, I've altered it to measure the frequencies of the magic system in unicorns. think of it as the setup I have back at my house, only I'm sacrificing ultimate precision for a compact design."

Jim flips it on and a wave meter begins to fluctuate on the front.

Jim, "You see that pen, to the best of your ability, try to levitate it."

Proto begins to try and use her magic, the aura surrounding her horn was weak, the aura surrounding the pen was weaker, the tip of the pen lifted ever-so slightly off the table. Jim looks at his altered e-meter and turns a knob near the base, a new wave appears on the display and he turns it until both waves lined up perfectly, he then pressed a button next to it and a shock of electricity went to her horn.

Proto, "OW!, Hey what the…"

Jim taps on her side then points to the pen. it was levitating perfectly off the table, Proto sees this and is able to wave it about to and fro. Jim then walked over to the the pen and grabs it out of her aura. he then places it a foot farther away from her.

Jim, "staying there, try lifting it now"

Proto's aura lights up around her horn, as strong as it was before her operation, but the pen stayed motionless.

Proto, "I don't get it, what happened?"

Jim, "I changed your focus point, take a step forward and try again."

Proto takes a step forward and sure enough the pen moved off the table, Proto was in full control of it, she then took a step backward and the pen dropped out of her magic onto the table.

Jim, "This device will let you change the focus of your horn, this first wave is your current magic output, this second wave is the one you will change it to. All you have to do is focus on a single object, line up these waves, then press this button to apply the change, the shock will never change, you will always feel that."

Jim sets the device on the table, Proto walks over to it and looks at the monitor, she then looks over at Jim and back at the e-meter. She then closes her eyes and smiles

Proto, "Hhh, thank you Jim."

Jim, "You're welcome, If you ever need anything, come to me first."

Jim walked towards the door and exits back to his house. Proto looks at the device and then at the pen on the table. She uses her magic to levitate it but is out of 'range' so she steps closer and it begins to levitate. Proto lets out a sigh, She looks around her apartment and sees her journal and parchment on the table.

Proto, "You can change the lens in theory, but in practice its a bit more complicated. We'll see about that."

Jim is walking down the street towards his house. as he gets near it he sees a stallion standing directly in front of the door.

Jim, "Excuse me sir, could you please move away from the door?"

Mysterious stallion, "Have you been in contact with a disabled pony recently?"

Jim, "excuse me?"

Mysterious stallion, "Do I have to repeat myself?"

Jim, "No, but I don't believe I have to answer you either."

Jim walked to his door to open it. The stallion stands in front of him blocking his path, he takes out a badge and holds it in front of Jim with his magic.

Mysterious stallion, "sorry, but i'm afraid you do."

Jim, "I've never heard of the Royal Xeno intelligence"

Mysterious stallion, "and you never will, now answer the question."

The stallion gets in close and stares directly into Jim's eyes. Jim cowers slightly.

Jim, "Uhh, yes."

the stallion backs away from Jim

Mysterious stallion, "What was her disability?"

Jim pauses for a moment to review his possible answers

Jim, "She was a quadruple amputee."

Mysterious stallion, "Amputee?"

Jim, "Hhhh, she's a quadriplegic"

Mysterious stallion, "Better, go on."

The stallion takes out a pipe and uses his magic to spark it

Jim, "thats all, thats her disability"

Mysterious stallion, "you sure about that?" He then exhales a cloud of smoke.

Jim waves his hand to clear the smoke from his face.

Jim, "Yes"

Mysterious stallion, "what about her horn?"

Jim pauses and tries to keep his cool.

Jim, "What about it?"

Mysterious stallion, "Don't try this with me, it isn't going to work, tell me what I need to know and i'll let you off easily" He then takes another puff from his pipe

Jim, "Her magic, its, well…"

The stallion stops mid puff and looks over at Jim

Mysterious stallion, "thats enough, your going to have to come with me."

Jim, "What? but I didn't even finish, and everything I've told you is true."

Mysterious Stallion "Then you'll have no problem telling the princess exactly what you've told me."

Jim face goes flat and he begins to back up slowly as if to run away. He then turns and tries to bolt, but the Stallion grabs him with his magic and proceeds to carry him to the castle.

The inside of the castle is extremely bright, they pass through multiple doorways until they reach the gaping opening that is the Royal Throne Room. Princess Celestia is perched in her throne, a pile of scrolls lay next to her. There is a pony next to her as well, as the stallion enter with Jim, she asked the pony next to her to leave them.

Celestia, "Captain Seize, and who is this?"

Seize, "A dragon who aided subject #19, I believe she will soon discover, we must put her on a threat level 10."

Celestia, "Lets not be too rash yet, lets see just how much damage has been done."

Celestia looks at Jim with a very scornful look

Celestia, "State your name"

Jim, "Uhhh, …Jim"

Celestia, "Jim? really?"

Jim, "…Yeah."

Celestia chuckles slightly, she tries to keep it to herself but Jim can see it blatantly clear.

Celestia, "okay then, Jim Phh hehe. *cough* *sniff* Hhhh, What is your relation to Proto Byte?"

Jim, "She was offering a position for an assistant, I took it up and I noticed that she was a quadriplegic, we talked and the subject of my hobbies came up, to her interest, that hobby is being a magic analyst. so stuff led to things and… I made her a working pair of autonomous prosthetic limbs"

The room grew silent, Celestia just stared at Jim, as if in shock. after a short amount of time, she spoke.

Celestia, "well this won't do, Captain, take him out back and put a spear in his skull. were done here"

Captain Seize grabbed Jim with his magic and started to walk out of the throne room.

Jim, "WAIT, WHAT? NO, PRINCESS YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND, I DON'T UNDERSTAND, WHAT DID I DO WRONG?!"

Celestia picked up a scroll from the pile next to her and began reading it

Celestia, "burn the body, this dragon never existed."

The path behind the castle stank of death and rotten cake, bones of ponies lay in piles against the high castle walls, then at the end of one corridor there lay a stained red spot against the wall, a bucket of spears, and a lit torch. Seize set down Jim in front of the stained spot and used his magic to grab a spear, he then pointed the head directly at Jim's temple and looked directly down the shaft at Jim's forehead.

Seize, "Any last words?"

Jim, "Yeah a few, like, oh I dunno, HOW COME MAKING A PAIR OF MAGIC POWERED LIMBS FOR A QUADRIPLEGIC GETS ME THE DEATH PENALTY?!"

Seize, "Eh, their your words, whatever floats your boat man."

Seize used his magic and drew back the spear. Jim bared down and slammed his eyes shut, Seize threw the spear dead center at Jim's forehead.

Seize, "Did you say 'magic powered limbs'?"

Jim, scared out of his mind opened his eye and peeks at Seize, a very sharp pointed spear head was not but a centimeter from his eyeball. in his fear, Jim attempted to answer

Jim, "Uhhhh, y-yeah"

Seize backed the spear away from Jim and stood it on its back next to himself.

Seize, "explain."

Jim, "Oh, uhh, well, the limbs draw power from her internal magic producing organ and transfers it into electrical energy for use. the whole process really puts a damper on her magic, she could barely lift a tissue."

Seize stared at him, his face flat, then over a few seconds, a grin starts to form and he bursts out laughing.

Seize, "AHAHAHAHAHAHA" he falls on his back in sheer amusement. "HAHAHAH OH MAN BRO, YOU DUDE, AHAHAHAHAHA!"

Jim confused tries to go along with it

Jim, "Hehe, yeah, me bro"

Seize, "AHAHAHA, *sniff* Oh oh, okay, I'm chill, haaaaaa, okay. So she can't even use her magic? well she can but like she might as well not be able to?"

Jim, "yeah, pretty much."

Seize, "oh, man dude, I am sorry, listen were cool right?"

Jim, "Uhh, yeah I guess so, your not gonna, kill me, right?"

Seize, "what? Nah, nah were good"

Jim, "okay, whoooo, that scared me."

Seize, "your face man, hehe. WAIT!"

Jim, "what?"

Seize, "what do you mean 'could'?"

Jim, "oh well she was kind've sad that she couldn't use her standard magic so I helped her out and gave her a device that let her focus her magic."

Seize, "Oooo, t, not good."

Seize picked up the spear and aimed it at Jim's head again

Jim, "WAIT WAIT WAIT!"

Seize, "Hmm?"

Jim, "The device only lets her use it in a very limited range and she has to basically electrocute herself if she wants to change the range."

Seize loweres the spear a little but still looks at Jim as if he's still hiding something.

Jim, "And it doesn't strengthen her beam, it just focuses it, she can only use one thing at a time inside her aura."

Seize, "Hmmm"

Seize ponders this for a bit then nods his head

Seize, "Aight, your good"

Jim, "Phew, oh man"

Seize gets in extremely close to Jim and points the spear at his head.

Seize, "Right?"

Jim, "Right."

Seize backs up.

Seize, "Good."

The two walk back into the castle. As they enter the main throne room, Celestia looks over at the two.

Celestia, "I thought I ordered him to be turned into a dragon roast, what changed?"

Seize, "its okay princess, the limbs he made draws power from Subject #19's magic, she's weaker now than she ever was."

Celeste's eyes grow large in shock.

Celestia, "well than, good job Dr. J"

Jim, "thanks!" He stated with pride. He then realized what she called him. He then spoke sarcastically "it was no trouble."

Celestia, "well that takes her off the list, lets see here, how about subject #57?"

Seize, "Cadence's baby might be a naturally born alicorn, but we are monitoring her closely, we'll inform you if she grows any more powerful."

Celestia, "good good" She pauses and looks at Jim, "what about him?"

Seize looks over at Jim, "Oh, I don't think he poses any threat, RIGHT?"

Jim, "R-right."

Seize, "See?"

Celestia, "Eh, whatever."

Jim, "Sooo, can I go or, what?"

Celestia, "yeah you can go, OH, Seize, go with him, make sure his claims are true, If anything is off, kill him"

Jim takes a nervous gulp.

Seize, "You got it Princess, c'mon buddy"

Jim, "hooray."

Proto spent hours analyzing the various possibilities for a new horn design. She now was on route to Jim's house to build a possible prototype. Upon arriving, she knocked on the door and noticed there was no one home, she went inside regardless.

Proto, "Hello? Jim?, I have a design for you to look at."

Proto looked over to the table and saw multiple layouts of the pony anatomy, she walked closer to be in range for her focus magic, she cleared the others out of the way to reveal the one showing the nervous systems of unicorns. She walked up to the table and looked at the layout of the nerves surrounding the horn. There was text pointing to the inside of the horn.

Proto read the text allowed to herself, "'the horn grows much like a tooth, its metabolism far slower and it seizes growth around the age of 16. it is composed of organic crystals which form a prism to focus and contract pure magic into the spells the subject wishes to use.' So its a crystal prism, and much like any prism, in order to increase the the beam when a light is shown through it, you simply make it longer."

Proto walked over to the series of computers near the back of the main room and finds a series of spare electrode cords. She also finds a bottle of sedative and a needle. Proto pulls the e-reader from her saddlebag and hooks it up to her horn. She looked at the waves on the display then pressed the button shocking her and locking the focus for her magic, which was directly on her head. She then walked over to the table and laid out her blueprint right next to the nerve layout of unicorns.

Proto, "Time to Change the lens."

Luna had lowered the sun and rose the moon, night began to fall over Canterlot, Jim and Seize were walking down the street towards Proto's house.

Seize, "you are telling the truth right? this isn't some massive setup, and when we get there your gonna turn on me and its gonna cause some major disturbance"

Jim replies as if this is the 50th time he's answered the question. For perspective, he had to answer that question or a question that was 99% similar to it exactly 47 times since they left the castle.

Jim, "No."

Seize, "Okay cool."

They reach Proto's apartment, Jim goes ahead and knocks on the door.

Jim, "Proto, its me, Jim."

Silence. Jim knocks again

Jim, "Proto? hellooooo. she must not be home."

Seize, "a likely alibi."

Jim rolls his eyes, "c'mon, I think I know where she is."

Jim leads the way towards his house.

Seize, "this is your house."

Jim, "Yeah I know, I literally live here, do you think I wouldn't know that?"

Seize, "Geez man, i'm just, y'know"

Jim gets slightly hostile, "Y'know what? no no go ahead"

Seize, "Nah, its- its nothing"

Jim, "awe c'mon, you were so sure of yourself just a moment ago."

Seize, "Geez bro, your really harshing my vibe, could you just calm down a tad man"

Jim, "Wh, BRO? MAN? VIBE?! What are you a secret agent or a Lacrosse player?"

A crash is heard inside of Jim's house, they stop their little peeing contest and look towards the door.

Jim, "Told ya she was in there."

Jim goes over to open the door.

Seize, "wait, hold up, something doesn't seem right."

Jim, "oh c'mon I already told you, she's harmless"

Jim opens the door and the two look inside, their faces go flat and their eyes shrink to the size of pebbles, inside was Proto, her horn in a vice, she was backing up, her hooves grinding into the floor, then like a baby tooth, her horn pops out of her skull, the veins exposed and still soaked in blood. Proto uses her limited magic to cast a cut spell at the base of her exposed horn, her nerves sag and her horn lay gripped and torn in a vice. Proto takes a prosthetic hub and places it over her nerves, little mechanisms extent and grab individual nerve endings. A large needle extends out of the hub and she lowers her nerves back into her skull and sat the hub above the hole where her horn once sat. she then rammed her head against the wall of Jim's house smashing the hub into place inside Her skull. she then walked over to the table and using her hooves, picked up a white rod of some kind, it extended nearly a foot and 1/2 out, nearly 3x as long as the average unicorn horn. going up from the base was a series clear rods which looked like crystal along with a series of magnified glasses surrounding the crystal segments, in a simple click, she placed the rod into the hub, locking it in place. At that moment she noticed the two staring directly at her, Proto's face and prosthetic limbs stained with her own blood. A single stream rolled down Proto's face as she stared directly at Jim and Seize. Then a very bright white aura surrounded the rod on her head, it shined so bright that it temporarily blinded both Jim and Seize. Then in an instant the light dissipated and nothing but a burn mark and a blood stain remained of where Proto stood, she had teleported away.

Seize and Jim lay dumbfounded, in complete shock as to what they just witnessed. Seize then spoke.

Seize, "Yeah, sorry buddy but you're gonna have to come with me."

END PART 2