[FROM THE MIND OF STARNOTE]

It took me several seconds to regain my breath as another revealing thought made its way into my already scarred mind: Was she the one that brought me back? Or was this just an illusion? I slapped my own foreleg and felt pain, blasting that out of the equation. One question was still left unanswered: Why was I somepony else?

I had no answers. I didn't even know what to do at this point... Defeated, I continued watching Violet as a morbid procedure was performed on her. It was slow, long, and silent as she had wings and a horn surgically implanted. I admittedly gagged a couple times, but I didn't have it the worst. A couple of my fellow groupmates threw up, and one of them passed out entirely at the first sight of blood. And there was a lot of it, so I guess he was probably had it best.

I couldn't directly recall most of the details of the actual procedure because my eyes were closed half the time, but I could directly recall the aftermath. The operating table lifted and tilted towards us to reveal a perfectly crafted Alicorn strapped to the table, wings and horn seamlessly added to her body. Looked nothing like the Violet in the picture I saw...

Yet.

What happened next were some of the most horrifying moments of my life, not only because my life was in danger, but because I couldn't do anything about it.

Her eyes opened. It wasn't just a slow crawl into consciousness; it was right off the bat. She was awake. Right after, before I could tell what had already happened, her horn flashed on. It started glowing brighter and brighter with an eye-piercing brightness, and before we knew it, she had completely burned off the leather straps binding her to the table. She was free.

Quickly realizing where she was and the gravity of the situation, she jumped off of the table with a powerful leap, landing square on the chest of a nearby surgeon. He toppled to the ground in shock as Violet levitated a surgical tool over to her hoof, which then seized it hastily. She started mindlessly slashing at him, letting his own blood get all over the room... And Violet. In complete shock, one of the other surgeons raced over to a nearby alarm, only to find himself thrown backwards and into a wall by a powerful display of magic on Violet's part, smashing his ribs into the cold metal as he was killed instantly.

In one quick move on another's part, a flailing hoof grasped the alarm's handle and crammed it down, instantly turning the lights red and sounding a loud alarm throughout the metal room.

I had no time to see what else Rose did or where else she went; seconds later, the door behind me burst open, revealing a black-suited pony behind it. He was obviously trying to keep his straightest face, although I didn't know why.

"I'm sorry we had to do this, but we have to perform the procedure on you know. Don't worry, it's not this one. Gentlecolts? Take them away."

With these simple, short words, several others poured into the room as we were patted down and dragged out, leaving me with no gun. I was almost in too much shock to care.

"Wait! What procedure?" I tried calling out at the last second. There was no response.

Rather, I was dragged out into the hallway and a few doors down, where I was thrown into a small room, this one with a dentist-style chair.

I was brutally thrown down into the chair, then the black-suited pony left as another pony (this one blue) peered over me. Before I had a chance to retaliate, he had already strapped me into the chair with metal brackets. Struggling to dislodge myself, I found an evil grin slowly appear on his blue face.

"You know you won't be able to break free."

That was all he said before a screen dropped down from the ceiling, quickly generating random numbers and letters. Eventually, the screen slowed down as he spoke again.

"I'll try to answer some questions before I send you off. This random information generator is determining your new life after I erase your memory."

"What? NO!" I screamed back at him.

"Haha! Yes." He paused momentarily to savor the fearful look on my face. "Look at the screen now. This will be your new set of personal information."

I looked at the screen in awe as the motion on it slowed to a crawl, then stopped entirely.

It read:

Name: Starnote

Body color: Dark green

Mane color (1): Blue

Mane color (2): Red

Eye color: Light purple

Cutie mark: Bass guitar

Occupation: Musician

Wife: Yes

Children: 1 (0 male, 1 female)

I couldn't speak. I didn't know what to say. I was Ingot... "Holy shit."

With those final words of mine, everything went white.

My vision slowly regenerated as I found myself staring at a white wall, dimly lit by a single source: a gun. Fighting against overwhelming disorientation,I reached a hoof out and grabbed it, still on the ground as I observed my surroundings. In a dark hallway... The exact place where I collapsed. Shakily aiming the gun around as I stood up slowly, I noticed a note on the wall in front of me...

I walked up to it with countless questions spraying mindlessly around my head. To my surprise, it looked like it was just placed there...

Shakily, I reached up and pulled it off the wall, reading it as it was in my hand.

"Please understand why I did that, and why I did this.

-Violet Rose"

Sub-mindedly knowing exactly what she was talking about, I stroked my back with a hoof. The glass wasn't there. Instead, in the exact place that excruciating pain should have been, were a pair of soft, feathery wings.

Two thoughts instantly came to mind:

My life was a lie.

Pick wasn't dead.