Alicorn. Chapter Eleven. (Patreon)

Chapter Eleven.

The familiar sights and sounds of flesh splitting and parting beneath the full brunt of my expertise washed over me, even as I stood beneath the limp figure currently held aloft by a series of chains I’d managed to transmute out of some dusty old sets of armour I’d recovered from one of my new lair’s towers.

As my creation’s chest folded outwards, exposing muscle, nerve tissue and bone, I tilted my head slightly, eyes narrowing at the beating organs just barely hidden beneath.

“...Hm, perhaps a second heart. If what I’ve read regarding core theory is true, the increased oxygenation might prove useful…ah, but there’s so little documentation regarding it! For a fortress with an ancient royal library attached, I would have thought there would be more here!”

Turning my attention away from the grizzly sight to cast a glance towards the source of chewing I could hear in the corner, I hazarded a question.

“What do you think, Igor? One or two hearts? Getting one from a pony might prove difficult at the moment, but I do think I’ve spotted tracks belonging to what may be a chimera just a short ways from here.”

The fleshbeast (now clad in a series of melded metal plates that made it almost seem like some kind of twisted knight) looked up from the ravaged mass of what might have once been a badger, black eyes blinking for a second, before it swallowed down the chunk of meat sat within its maw, one ear twitching slightly as it ducked back down to continue its meal.

Wrinkling my nose slightly at the lack of a proper response, I turned back towards my magnum opus, eyes drifting from the basement ceiling I’d hung the alicorn from, to its splayed out wings, and finally to its stolen face.

Despite myself, I found it difficult not to admire the smooth features and contours of the mare that had once been A14, or Dream Melody. Had I the heart or inclination for physical attraction, I might have blushed at the beautiful visage before me, but organic beings, let alone horses, had never been my preference in life, and so I did not.

“Mm, two hearts, then. I’ve reinforced the exterior layers as much as I reasonably can, but it’s best to cover every angle before I think about even forging a magical core, let alone inserting it.”

Stepping away from the god-to-be, I trotted past Igor and made my way over towards the stairs leading up and into the higher levels of the castle. The comforts of a good basement laboratory aside, some fresh air would surely do me good.

—

Stepping out into the ground floor of my appropriated citadel prompted a few puffs of dust, ones that were to be expected. After all, as much as I might have liked to renovate the entire structure, I remained a (most likely) wanted fugitive. Yet another reason to stay subterranean, at least for the time being.

Though at the very least, some time spent away from the art of fleshcrafting had given me the opportunity to fashion together a stone beacon, filled to the brim with my own magic. In the event that I had to flee or relocate for whatever reason, I’d always be able to return to this place, even via teleportation.

“Backups backups backups, I should have done this earlier, honestly-”

My words caught in my throat just as I trotted past one of the empty window frames that littered the castle, hooves grinding to a stop as a peculiar sensation drew my attention to the sky.

Dark. The stars and moon were out, and unless I had somehow lost track of time, which I most certainly had not, the heavens should have been their usual bright blue by now.

Leaning forward and jutting my head outside the window in order to better observe the phenomenon, I briefly pondered whether this was some exceptional circumstance involving the summer sun celebration, before two things stole away my attention.

The first, of course, was that the fascinating pattern upon the lunar body that orbited Equis had seemingly disappeared. The colloquial ‘mare in the moon’ that had been a constant during every long at the hospital was missing, having somehow vanished at some point, likely while I was still underground.

The second, and more immediately concerning, was the ominous purple cloud currently racing directly towards the castle I had made my own, and more importantly, me.

Regarding the approaching anomaly calmly, I stepped away from the window and began a steady but unhurried trot back towards the basement’s entrance. With any luck, I would make it back to Igor and a few of the other key defensive emplacements I had established before whatever that entity was got here.

Naturally, I was just in the midst of passing through the center of the throne room when the cloud burst inside through a hole in the ceiling.

—

The cloud was a mare. A very tall mare. A very tall mare with wings and a horn, alongside a majestic gravity defying mane that seemed to be composed of the night sky itself.

“WHO DARES TO TRESPASS UPON THESE HALLOWED GROUNDS?!”

Ears splaying back slightly at the sheer volume emitted by the armoured alicorn, I did the reasonable thing and shoved my burning curiosity to the side, at least for the moment.

Instead, I pointed my head downwards, dipping the rest of my body forward to accentuate the bow as I spoke in a soft voice, doing my best to appear non-threatening.

“Steady Stitch, your majesty.”

Was she royalty? Was majesty the correct turn of phrase? I didn’t know, but the term and my immediate deference did seem to improve the incensed mare’s mood somewhat, even as she stormed forward, the shining shoes upon her hooves catching my eye as she all but prowled around me, as if she were a panther rather than a pony.

“Steady Stitch, hmm? Art thou perchance a tailor, then? Hast thou come to weave Us a gown? Or some other manner of tapestry?”

Before I could respond, the living goddess let out a rumbling snort of a laugh, shaking her head.

“Ah, nay. Thou hast the bloodied scent of a healer about thee. Yet, judging by the state of this decrepit place, ’tis many a year since wounded ponies were brought hither. Which doth leave but one question…”

The cool press of metal perhaps might have sent shivers down the flesh of a less controlled individual, but as my chin was steadily tilted upwards by the hoof that had moved beneath it, I found myself more fascinated than disturbed by the split pupils seemingly doing their best to stare into my very soul.

“What hath brought thee unto this place, little healer?”

I remained silent, though allowed a contemplative expression to cross my face, if only to give the no doubt impatient creature the impression that I was truly considering her question.

An alicorn with a rather distinctive motif. The mare in the moon’s disappearance. Her immediate return to the castle of the two pony sisters during the summer sun celebration, which had seemingly been overtaken by some kind of unnatural night.

I had been around long enough to have heard the tale of Nightmare Moon, but it still somewhat irked me that I had allowed myself to believe the fanciful story false. Magic was real, after all. Legends and such were things I should have considered more closely, given my own proclivities.

“We await thee, Steady Stitch.”

Focusing back on the current situation at hand, I noted the dangerous glint in my counterpart’s eyes, and settled on answering in the most ridiculous way possible, if only to hopefully defuse the mare long enough for me to find some alternative to being splattered across the throne room floor.

“I figured that a returning royal like yourself might naturally want a few concubines, in between your reconquest of Equestria, of course. As such, I would like to put myself forward as the first candidate, if at all possible.”

Silence reigned, and I briefly wondered if I had somehow miscalculated. That would be a shame, if true. Igor might survive within the depths of the Everfree, so long as the abomination had a steady source of fresh meat to consume, but without my presence my magnum opus would never truly find itself complete.

“A-Ah, We…see.”

Though judging by the almost imperceptible blush now coating Nightmare Moon’s dark cheeks, perhaps that particular tragedy wouldn’t come to pass.

"Please allow me to list my credentials for the position of head concubine. Beginning with immediate traits that may aid in your rule..."

Resisting the urge to sigh at the silly situation I had unwittingly inserted myself into, I continued to dispassionately list off both my medical skills (the ones I was willing to disclose, at least) and what few sexual techniques I had picked up second hoof during some of Minty's more drunken rants, even as the off kilter mare of the night began to stumble over her own words in several doomed attempts at cutting me off.

…Come on Igor, finish that damned badger and come distract this weirdo already! I don't want to resign myself to the life of some overpowered idiot's eager subordinate!