A pony floated through the void. She did not know how she had arrived there, or where she had been before- -or even who she had been before. It seemed to her that she had only ever known the void- -the black, dimensionless space that surrounded her. That blackness was so peaceful, and so calm, as if inviting her to sleep- -but also so very cold.

The worst part was that she was alone. As much as she looked, she could not see anypony else, or hear anypony else- -and no matter how hard she tried to run or fly, she could never move. That terrified her more than anything, because she knew that the darkness was eternal.

Slowly, however, shapes began to resolve. There were two, both ponies, both resolving from the nothingness. They seemed far at first, but they grew closer, until the first pony could see them clearly. Though they were now visible, she recognized neither of them.

One of them was a mare, her coat sickly yellow and her eyes completely blood-red, grinning madly as she spread her massive, divine wings. The other seemed to be covered in dark-colored armor, and no part of its flesh was visible. The first pony could not tell if it was a mare or a stallion, but from its size, she assumed it was a stallion from its size. That pony seemed to be staring through its blank, expressionless mass, its head decorated with three horns.

The pony suddenly felt something reach out and grab her neck, and the two others vanished. She tried to scream, but there was no air in the void, and nothing came out. She tried to escape, but the five-fingered metal hand that grasped her neck was far too strong.

The creature holding her raised her to its eye level, and she was forced to stare into a face that should have belonged to no creature- -a distorted, alien face covered by ephemeral magic and hideous machinery, its eyes replaced with a pair of unnaturally glowing eyes that seemed to stare through her as much as they stared into her.

“Shelath don’korass al viatem,” it hissed, and seemed to draw her closer toward where it was assumed to have a mouth. The pony knew that what it was doing was wrong, that if it managed to take her, the place she would go would be far worse than the void- -even worse than being alone.

Before it could take her, however, she felt something across her chest. She looked down to see a pair of golden forelegs wrapped around her, and out of the corner of her eyes saw a pair of great metallic wings spread behind her. With one great push, the angel that grasped her pulled her away from the demon- -and it simply watched them leave. Its only response was a horrible, perverse sound- -the sound of its laughter.

Rainbow Dash screamed out in pain and bolted upright. She reached up toward her neck, but realized that she was still able to breathe, that there was no demonic alien hand trying to tear away her immortal soul. She gasped and breathed heavily, cold sweat soaking the sheets that covered her.

That gave her pause. She did not recall being in a bed. The last thing she recalled was the descent from the firmament, the unparalleled rush of speed- -and pulling out of the impossible dive, only to activate Twilight’s magical drive system and accelerate even faster.

“What the hay?” she said, looking around. Her voice sounded strange, as if she had not used it for a long time. Looking around, she was in some kind of hospital room. At least, that was what she assumed. There were white lights above her, and a sparse collection of medical equipment around her. The equipment itself all looked a bit odd, but most science-stuff did to her.

She flexed her wings, and winced at the pain. They were still both there, but very sore. If she was in a hospital, it probably meant that she had crashed, but she could not remember doing so. It would not have been the first time she hit hard enough to black out, but if her friends had brought her to the hospital, it must have been pretty messy.

For some reason, she suddenly felt nervous. It was in part because she could not recall this particular hospital- -it seemed ordinary, but it was not the one from Ponyville. She also wondered why none of her friends were at her side, and why she was alone.

She slowly laid back down into the bed and tried to remember. What had happened. The decent, the speed, the rush of unmatched pleasure through her body, the opening of her wings, activating the machines on her body, accelerating- -

- -the pain, the agonizing, horrible pain, worse than anything she had ever experienced. It had been raining, and so dark. She heard voices, and felt something lift her head, which hurt even more. She had heard one voice listing things she could not understand, and found herself staring into a pair of familiar blue eyes.

“No,” she cried out again, bolting up, putting her hooves to her face. Those were not memories she wanted, not things she should have had. If they had been true, then it meant she had come far closer to death than any pony should have been able to- -and still come back.

As she calmed down, she suddenly realized that one of her hooves felt oddly cold against her head. As she focused her eyes on it, she realized that it was also a different color. Confused, she pulled it away from her face- -and gaped at it.

“What the hay?” she shouted, jumping away from what she had before somehow mistaken for her leg. It was not really a leg at all, she saw, but a framework delicate metal and machinery. Pale yellow bones were connected to numerous internal machines terminating in a hoof-like structure, but she could see through most of it, as if somepony had not bothered to put skin on a bizarre model of a leg.

As she tried to pull away, the leg followed her. Looking at where it led, past the complex motorized joints, she saw that it was connected to her, at her shoulder. Panicking, she pulled back the sheet over her- -and saw that there was another one on the same side, designed to look like a narrow mechanical copy of her remaining lower leg.

“My legs- -” she cried, “who- -who took my legs?” She waved her metal arm wildly, as if trying to throw it off- -but it remained attached to her. Panting heavily, Rainbow Dash closed her eyes and tried to focus.

“Okay,” she said. “Calm down, Dash. You’re losing it. What would the commander say if she saw you bugging out over something like this? When I open my eyes, my legs will be fine.”

She opened her eyes, and still saw that the metal devices were still connected to her. The momentary pause had helped, however, because her curiosity had started to overwhelm her initial surprise. She was not becoming aware that the machines connected to her moved and responded just like her normal legs and, even stranger, she could feel them like normal legs as well.

Carefully, she brought the metal fore-hoof to her face, and turned it over, looking at it carefully. Every motion she commanded it to do, it responded perfectly. It did not even feel heavy or unbalanced in any way- -something that an avid flyer like her was acutely attuned to.

She gently reached out with her good hoof and poked the metal one. She giggled, because she really did feel it. She poked it again, harder, and felt it again- -and then gave it a slam.

The metal hoof responded strangely, shifting internally. It adjusted mechanically, and Rainbow Dash squeaked and jumped back as a set of mechanical claws jumped out of its edges.

“Holy Luna,” she said, hiding behind a pillow. She stared at the claws- -and then realized she could move them. “Oh. My. Celestia. Just when I thought I could not possibly get any cooler.”

She looked down at her prosthetic lower leg, and moved it, finding it to respond quite well. She turned and moved to stand up, only to find herself tethered to the bed by a number of wires and tubes.

“Oh,” she said, leaning back. “That can’t be a good sign.”

As she laid back into the bed, finding herself unusually weak and sore but totally awake, a knock came at the door.

“Hel- -hello?” she said, somewhat confused.

“Why am I bothering to knock?” said a voice from the other side. The handle of the door twisted and it was pushed open. A pony stepped in.

Rainbow Dash was struck by how strangely familiar she seemed. The pony who had entered was a petite bat pony- -or “chiropteran” as they preferred to be called- - with a short-cut blue mane and bushy blue tail. She also had a pair of large but oddly blank blue eyes and a crystal cutie mark- -which was surrounded by an odd black stain-like pattern that covered her rump and ran up part of her side.

“Hey, I know you,” said Rainbow Dash. “You’re Cavern Melody’s daughter. Anhelios, right?”

The bat pony’s eyes narrowed. “Yes,” she said, carefully and not at all happily. “My name is Anhelios.” She closed the door gently behind her, and Rainbow Dash saw that she too had metal appendages- -although both of hers were only at the ends of her feet, and only on the front two.

“Anhelios, what happened?” said Rainbow Dash, pointing to her arms. Anhelios looked at the arm she was using to close the door, confused, and then seemed to realize what Rainbow Dash meant.

“Nothing,” she said, reaching down with one claw and removing the metal aspect from her arm, revealing a dark-gray colored hoof beneath. “They are only gloves.”

“Oh,” said Rainbow Dash, looking down at her own limbs with a sigh. “Is…is mine?”

“No,” said Anhelios, standing at Rainbow Dash’s side. “Those are full prosthetics. Quite good ones, actually. Unfortunately, I am only able to properly regenerate my own tissue- -or Gell’s. Those are better than flesh by far, though. Faster reaction time, precision balanced- -designed for professional flyers. You have no idea how many gems I had to vomit to pay for them.”

“What happened to my old ones?” said Rainbow Dash. “I really liked my left legs…”

“They were…um…damaged beyond repair in the crash.”

“Crash?” said Rainbow Dash, looking down at her missing legs. She suddenly felt an overwhelming surge of sadness- -those legs had followed her through her whole life. They had been there when she had first earned her cutie mark with her first sonic rainboom, when she had met Twilight, when she had been inducted into the Wonderbolts just a month ago- -and now they were gone for good.

She still managed to smile, though. “Well. I guess that was a pretty epic crash, then.”

“Indeed,” said Anhelios.

“You know, you can sit down,” said Rainbow Dash, pointing toward a chair.

“I would rather stand,” said Anhelios emotionlessly, “in case in the course of this conversation you attempt to strangle me.”

“No way,” said Rainbow Dash. “Why would I do that? You were the one who saved me, weren’t you?”

“I stabilized you flew you here as fast as I could.”

Something about that explanation did not seem right, but Rainbow Dash was not sure why. Something was wrong. She knew Anhelios in passing- -she had met her at several events involving Princess Luna; Cavern Melody was essentially Luna’s best friend, and Anhelios would usually be at their side, training to one day take her mother’s place. When she was not, Rainbow Dash was distantly aware that she had been attending Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. That did not explain why she was in this hospital, though, and why her friends were not.

“I have to ask,” said Anhelios, her oddly cold eyes locked on Rainbow Dash’s. “Who exactly are you?”

“Ha! Nice one, An,” said Rainbow Dash. She moved to polish her hoof on her chest in a gesture of feigned arrogance- -only to realize that her real hoof was no longer attached to her. “You know me. We’ve met, like every Harmony Day party. I’m only the best flyer in Equestria!”

“You’re name,” snapped Anhelios.

“R- -Rainbow Dash,” said Rainbow Dash, feeling oddly hurt by Anhelios’s tone.

The bat pony smiled, and Rainbow Dash felt herself recoil. She had forgotten that they had fangs. “I know,” she said.

“Then why did you ask?” demanded Rainbow Dash, annoyed. Something was starting to frighten her more, but she still did not know what.

“Because they did not believe me. The doctors, the nurses. Even Gell. But I could tell. Your body is saturated with Order. I was not initially convinced, but I took bone samples.”

“Wait…what?”

“You’re elemental profile is consistent with a pony who was alive during the fall of Nil. There is no pony you could be beside the…the living Rainbow Dash.”

“Why…why are you saying it like that?” Rainbow Dash laughed hollowly. “You’re kind of freaking me out, An…”

Anhelios’s smile faded. “What is the last thing you remember?”

“I- -” Rainbow Dash searched her mind. “I was flying.” She put her hoof to her head, momentarily ignoring the fact that it was metal. “No. It was a test. Something I came up with. Twilight had invented a new machine, a magicy gizmo- -”

“A kinetic repulsion drive,” corrected Anhelios.

“Maciy gizmo, yeah. She said that if it was given enough of a boost, it could make a pony go fast. Not faster than sound…I can already do that…but faster than light.”

“You were attempting a quantum-celestial acceleration,” said Anhelios in disbelief.

“Yeah!” said Rainbow Dash, pointing at Anhelios with one of her mechanical fingers. “Twilight didn’t want me to, at first, but I convinced her, because I’m the only pony who could have pulled it off.”

“You actually failed.”

“What?” Rainbow Dash suddenly felt defensive; she never failed at anything.

“The theories did not exist back then,” said Anhelios, “but if you had succeeded, you would have produced a seventh-dimensional rainbow. It would have killed everypony within viewing distance.”

“Are they- -are they alright?”

Anhelios paused, and seemed to choose her words carefully. “They all survived that incident,” she said, slowly. “But you may have encountered something truly remarkable…”

“What? Because I am,” she gestured to her body, which was covered in a rump-less hospital gown, “quite remarkable.”

“Are you aware of relativity?”

“What, like brothers?”

“No. Not relatives. And you do not have any brothers. It is the theory that as objects approach the speed of light, they actually move slower.”

“That’s stupid,” said Rainbow Dash.

“Not slower physically, of course. Slower through time. But that is not what you did. You came so close- -in fact, you may have actually exceeded it, if just for an infinitesimal- -you actually jumped forward in time itself. Perfectly preserved, even after all these years. Well, you were. Then you landed, and cost me several pounds of vomit to pay to get you reassembled.”

“Um, in words,” said Rainbow Dash.

“Those are words!” snapped Anhelios. “I knew that you were a bit dense, but even foals understand the mathematics behind that sort of thing.”

“They do?”

“No, of course not. Don’t be dense. If you can help it.” She calmed herself. “Do you understand the gist of what I am saying?”

“Not a lick.”

“You traveled so fast, time around you slowed down, and you…jumped. I guess an analogy would be like skipping a rock on a pond.”

“So…I went forward in time?”

“Yes. Without even realizing it.”

“Cool,” said Rainbow Dash, smiling, sitting up and pumping her remaining foreleg in a silent cheer. “So cool! Nopony’s ever gone that fast! Oh, wow, when Twilight hears about this, she’ll freak. An the Wonderbolts- -I’m sure to get promoted for this! I might even get a statue!”

“This is the part where you try to strangle me.”

“Why? I could not possibly be happier. I mean, this is completely epic!”

“Do you know how far forward you jumped?”

Rainbow Dash paused. She had not considered that. “Well…a few minutes? An hour?” She grinned widely. “No, don’t tell me it was a whole day.”

“Four hundred forty seven years, three months, eighteen days, five hours thirty seven minutes and…” she projected a magical image from one of her gauntlets and checked a readout in a language that Rainbow Dash could not read. “Twenty seven seconds.”

The smile faded from Rainbow Dash’s face. Then, it came back as she laughed. “Oh, An! Come on, my ribs are sore like crazy! But you did get me on that one!”

“You’re reaction is…amusing,” said Anhelios. She was not laughing, nor was she smiling at all.

“Come on, how long was it? And where are Twilight and the others? I bet I really gave them such a scare!” she laughed again, thinking of the looks that must have been on their faces when she “jumped time”.

Anhelios adjusted her projection, and pressed a claw against it. “Nurse,” she said. “Could you come in here for a moment?”

“Right away,” said a voice from somepony that Rainbow Dash could not see.

Anhelios paused for a moment, and then there was another knock on the door.

“Nurse?” said Rainbow Dash, confused but still smiling. “What, is she a fan? I think I can sign one autograph, especially if…”

Her voice trailed off as the door opened. Her mind could momentarily not comprehend what had stepped through the door, and had consequently frozen.

It looked like a pony, at least in shape. It was the same size and shape, at least- -but it was not a pony. Rainbow Dash’s mind at first saw it as wearing some kind of armor, made of white and red plastic- -but then she saw that there was no flesh beneath the joints, just shiny metal machinery.

It did not even have a real face- -instead, it had been assembled into something skeletal that could not possibly be a mask, complete with modeled teeth. It had no real eyes, but rather a white visor that crossed where eyes should have been.

“Nurse,” said Anhelios. “My associate would like to know the full specifications of her new components.”

“Of course,” said the nurse, nodding. She passed close to Rainbow Dash, who only stared in awe at something that, if it was a pony, was extremely out of place.

The nurse picked up an object on Rainbow Dash’s end table using a set of claws that protruded from her hoof- -even though it was not really a hoof, but rather a set of long, dexterous claws joined tighter only as high as her elbow. Watching it pull apart to grasp the object made Rainbow Dash ill.

The nurse handed Rainbow Dash something that resembled a small, thin book. Rainbow Dash hesitated, and then understood that she was meant to take it. As she did, one of the magical projections appeared over it.

“These are detailed specifications,” said the nurse. She sounded so cheerful, but also so very empty. “In summary, you have been equipped with a front and rear leg from Rarity Corp. prosthetics division. This is the ThunderRend precision model, intended for heavy use by professional flyers. It is complete with dynamic balancing and full manual nervous reaction for orthotropic functions. It is also equipped with several manipulator features, all of lightweight alloy. Plating will be applied on departure.

“Your bone structure has also been largely replaced with ultralight synthetic alloy, and you have been equipped with a semi-cybronic heart from CellFresh Industries. Pumping volume and response will be improved marginally to moderately.”

“That is fine,” said Anhelios as Rainbow dash clutched her chest, for the first time noticing one of many almost imperceptible surgical scars that ran through her coat. “Thank you, nurse.”

“Not a problem,” she said. “The doctor will be returning in a few minutes to assess the patient, and prepare her for discharge.”

She nodded- -or possibly bowed, and departed the room, the machines within her body making minute whines as she moved. Anhelios waved, and then turned back to Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow Dash watched her leave, and watched the door close. She waited for several seconds, hoping that her brain would catch up and produce a nice, logical solution. It did not. “What…was that?” she said, slowly turning to Anhelios.

“She was an equidroid.”

“Which is…?”

“An artificial pony. Made out of metal and plastic, with a mind programmed by…well, I actually don’t know. Probably another program.”

“You mean a robot? Like in a comic book?”

“Yes…but avoid calling them that, you will get punched.”

“Robot…”

“This entire facility is staffed by them,” said Anhelios. “The doctor that rebuilt you- -I believe his name is Iron Lung- -is one. Now, if I recall history, the first of these were not born until…three hundred years ago? One hundred fifty years after you…departed?”

Rainbow Dash remembered what she had been laughing about before- -and the feelings of humor and disbelief started to crack. Behind them was a wall of panic and desperation, one she had been feeling distantly since she had arrived, as if she had always understood that something was profoundly wrong with her location.

“But…but…no, you’re lying!”

“I do lie a lot. But not now.”

“But you look the same! You would be, like, old! Really old!”

“Firstly, we do not age. Second, I am the Fifth of my line. The Anhelios you knew was my great great grandmother. Also, tangentially, I hate being called Anhelios. It is the name I was given, but not mine. You will call me Five.”

“But- -but- -” Rainbow Dash’s mind was reeling, trying to understand the implications of what she was being told. She rose and struggled against the probes on her body, pulling one out. To her horror, a long metal needle connected to the end extended several inches into her side and left a bloody circular hole on withdrawal. She ignored it, though. “My friends- -I have to get to my friends- -”

“They are dead,” said Anhelios, causing Rainbow Dash to stop pulling. Rainbow Dash looked into the bat pony’s eyes, and saw that somehow, Anhelios was enjoying this.

“Dead? They can’t be dead. They just can’t!”

“Rainbow Dash. It has been four hundred fifty years. Ponies just don’t live that long.”

In her heart, Rainbow Dash knew it to be true. It only made sense- -even the oldest of ponies only lived to one hundred or so, unless they were alicorns.

“Wait!” she said, smiling. “Twilight!” she turned to Anhelios, a fragment of her hope renewed. “Twilight! She’s an alicorn- -they live forever! She could still be…” Rainbow Dash trailed off. She saw the expression on Anhelios’s face, and already knew the answer.

“Twilight Sparkle is dead.”

“But, she’s an alicorn- -how could she die? How could she…” Leave me, were the next words she wanted to say, but could not bring herself too. They had all left her, and her mind was still unable to grasp it.

Anhelios shook her head. “Not yet,” she said.

“What do you mean ‘not yet’?” shouted Rainbow Dash angrily. She reached out to grab Anhelios, to force her to talk, but the bat pony simply stepped backward.

“Rainbow Dash, I have just informed you that any friends and family you had are long dead. Do you really desire to know how each of them died?”

“Yes,” she said, stubbornly.

“Well, I will tell you, but not now. I cannot have you lapsing into intractable depression.”

“Why the hay not?” she screamed. “If what you’re telling me is true, I- -” She screamed in rage and threw the reader device in her hoof onto the ground. “Everything was going so good. I was a Wonderbolt- -I had just become a Wonderbolt! My friends were there with me, and we were happy! And now…” Something linked in her mind, a consideration that she had not considered before. Her eye widened as her self-pity evaporated. “My friends,” she said, turning to Anhelios. “If I’m here, then…then I wasn’t there.”

Anhelios nodded, understanding. “History records…well….”

“Tell me,” demanded Rainbow Dash.

“You were assumed to die that day. Engineering analysis suggested that one of the magical shields protecting you degraded on atmospheric reentry. The assumption- -which now seems to be incorrect- -was that the sudden air resistance vaporized you. There was an explosion, but no body was ever recovered.”

“They thought…Oh Celestia…” She put her face in her hooves and tried to hold back the tears. “Twilight…she was watching. So were the others…they thought they saw me die.”

“That is correct. If I recall, they buried you- -well, a coffin full of bricks representing you- -with full military honors. You were also awarded the posthumous rank of Lieutenant Commander.”

Rainbow Dash sunk into her bed, staring at the ceiling. She now noticed that the lights were not the normal light-bulbs that ponies used, but tubes filled with hundreds of tiny, star-like pinpricks. Her mind turned to her friends. Their smiling faces were so fresh in her memory- -from her perspective, she had just seen them hours ago, waving to her as she took off toward the sky, Fluttershy “shouting” her characteristic weak cheer. The memory was so clear and so crisp- -but that was all gone. Everything was gone.

It was hard to know which feeling was worse, however. The sudden knowledge that everypony she had ever cared about was long-dead, or the fact that she had been the one who left them behind. They had not left her; she had left them. She had not meant to- -but she had.

“Why?” she asked.

“Excuse me?” said Anhelios, leaning forward- -but not close enough to be within grasping distance.

“Why didn’t you just leave me there? Why didn’t you let me die?”

“Because I did not want to,” said Anhelios, as if it were obvious.

“You should have just left me…”

“I would have if I knew you would be this whiny.”

“Hey,” said Rainbow Dash, hurt. “I learned that everything I ever loved is gone!”

“So what? You’re Rainbow Dash. You are the tough one. Or, perhaps, your legend is overblown.”

“Legend?” said Rainbow Dash, looking up, wiping away the tears from her eyes.

“Yes, legend. To this day, you are the only full-organic pony to have ever achieved a sonic rainboom unassisted. You fought Discord, Chrysallis, Sombra, Tirac, Nil, the Paragon Cult, Sevelon, and probably a great number of which I am unaware. But if I knew that Wonderbolts were such wimps- -”

“Okay, now that’s over the line!” cried Rainbow Dash, pulling herself the rest of the way out of the machines that supported her. She got as far as the end of the bed and collapsed. “My legs,” she said, shaking and losing balance as she tried to stand. “What’s wrong with my legs?”

“You’ve been unconscious for nearly two weeks. It seems you have temporarily forgotten how to walk.”

“When I get you, I am going to…”

Anhelios smiled. “Now that is the Rainbow Dash I expected.”

“Huh?” said Rainbow Dash, confused.

“One month. That was all it took. Perhaps your image took on a life of its own- -but you became the symbol of the Wonderbolts. Well, until they disbanded when…no. Later. First, an offer.”

“Offer?”

“Yes. For the time being, I think you should join me.”

“Join you? Wait, are you hitting on me?”

“I am not into mares, so no. Or stallions. Slightly equidroids. Still no. I mean, until you are adapted to modern life.”

“I can adapt myself plenty- -whoa!” she tilted, falling against her nightstand.

“Clearly.”

Rainbow Dash did not agree to Five’s offer. Not explicitly, at least. She was even more stubborn than history had recorded- -but reasonably malleable. Although she refused to say “yes” to Five’s offer of support, she had also refused to deny it. Instead, she simply seemed to hang around Five, always finding an excuse for Five to stay when she tried to leave.

She was eventually discharged, rather quickly, and not a moment too soon. Five could easily produce gems, but it was not easy. It required a significant quantity of magic as well as matter, which she needed to eat. Paying for Rainbow Dash’s stay had consumed virtually all of her nutrient cubes, as well as a significant amount of food that she had managed to steal from the hospital cafeteria- -white rice and potatoes, mostly, the overpowering flavors of which assisted with summoning the inevitable vomit.

So, several hours after her awakening, Rainbow Dash left the recovery room with Five and her a large brass and steel onboard-server equidroid- -her doctor, Iron Lung. She was still shaking slightly, but seemed to be using her inorganic elements completely naturally.

Interestingly, when she was given the choice to select the shield plating for her new legs, Rainbow Dash had chosen a matte gold finish. To Five, it looked absurd and gaudy- -but somehow seemed to fit Rainbow Dash perfectly. With the plating, she looked almost as though she were simply wearing armor over the legs on her left side- -although anypony who saw her would definitely know that the true identity of her limbs.

“You were badly damaged when you arrived,” said Iron Lung as he led the pair through the sterile, white, and oddly industrial hallways of the hospital.

“Well, I feel great now,” lied Rainbow Dash. Five could tell that while physically she was the same- -if not better- -than she had been, she was mentally crushed.

“Yes, you should. You are some of my best work. We do not get too many patients here…well, that I can fix, anyway. Ah, the amount of time I spent with my hooves in your chest cavity…”

“Um…yeah,” said Rainbow Dash, faking a smile. “Good times.”

“Indeed they were.” He paused at a large door and typed in a code onto the access panel. A light shifted from red to violet, and then the door released with a hiss of negative pressure. “Enjoy your life as a cyborg, my child.”

“Um…yeah…thanks, um…doc?”

Rainbow Dash stepped out into the waiting room, pausing almost as soon as she got past the door, staring at Gell, who was sitting in a corner reading a magazine that was perhaps older than even she was. Their eyes momentarily met.

“Of course,” said Iron Lung, “we are not a private hospital…”

Five reached into her bag and removed an extremely large dravite crystal and handed it to Iron Lung. She tried as hard as she could to suppress her smile- -of all the gems she had produced, that was the only one that had not come from her mouth.

“Destroy her medical records,” ordered Five as Iron Lung put his hoof on the gem. “No pony can know she was here.”

“Of course. I will wipe the nurses myself.”

Five released the gem, and Iron Lung waved as she passed into the waiting room. Rainbow Dash and Gell were still staring at each other- -Rainbow Dash looking up, halfway between confusion and awe, and Gell looking down over her magazine, Philomena perched on the tip of one of her horns.

“Response?” said Five, looking around to confirm that nopony was present. None were, save for the nurse equidroid overseeing the empty waiting room. Oddly, only three other patients had come in- -and none of them had left.

“Are you sure this is really her?” said Gell, folding the magazine neatly and putting it on the table near her. “I mean, she looks a little small…”

“Excuse me?” said Rainbow Dash, frowning.

“I have shown you the data,” said Five. “This is the genuine Rainbow Dash.”

Gell leaned close to her, and Rainbow Dash recoiled- -but only slightly. Staring into the blood-red eyes of a demon was no small task, but Rainbow Dash defiantly held her ground.

“Satinbless,” said Gell, mostly to herself. “You are stunning.”

Rainbow Dash blinked. “Um…thank you?”

Gell locked her eyes onto Rainbow Dash’s. “I am attracted to you,” she said, slowly and clearly. “I want to have sex with you. Please mate with me.”

That seemed to break Rainbow Dash’s defiance. She immediately moved backward, backpedaling with such force that she knocked her rump into a chair and nearly fell over. She was blushing heavily, but for some reason she was not able to retract her wings against her body properly. Five only smiled.

“Is that- -is that a joke?”

“No,” said Five. “She actually wants to. As an objective observer, you are physically fit, have well-developed wings, an unusual mane color, and are a cyborg. Plus, history records you as…well…”

Rainbow Dash blushed far more deeply. “I was drunk!” she cried. “It happened once! And Rarity promised not to tell anypony! I’m not a lespony!”

“I’ll take you either way,” said Gell, smiling. “But, if not, well. The offer is standing. And believe me, when I’m done with you, you won’t be.” She walked past Rainbow Dash, nearly pushing her over. “An, come on. I’ve been sitting on my glorious demonic rump for almost a week now. Time to move on. I hate hospitals.”

“Not a fan myself. At least there was no maternity ward.”

“You don’t like foals?” asked Rainbow Dash, confused.

“They are my worst fear,” said Five.

“I can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic,” admitted Rainbow Dash.

“Nopony can,” sighed Gell.

Rainbow Dash looked up at the mountainlike armored demon, and Five watched as her eyes shifted toward the red and orange birds on Gell’s horn, which had been watching her in disbelief since she entered.

“That bird…” said Rainbow Dash, narrowing her eyes. “That’s a phoenix…” she suddenly gasped. “Philomena?”

If birds could smile, Philomena would have. She immediately took off from Gell’s horn and flew down to Rainbow Dash, landing on her outstretched foreleg.

“Philomena!” she said, overjoyed at meeting at least an animal who was her contemporary. “But- -but how?”

“Barring accidents, phoenix are functionally immortal,” explained Five, absentmindedly stepping past Rainbow Dash and joining Gell.

Rainbow Dash scratched Philomena underneath the beak, and the bird purred in response. “But how did you get Celestia’s bird?”

“She is not Celestia’s anymore,” said Five.

“You mean you stole her?”

“No. I will explain later.” Or, Five imagined, as soon as Rainbow Dash got outside and saw the massive hole in the firmament where the sun had once sat.

“Phoenixes are awesome,” said Rainbow Dash. “But not as cool as Tank. He’s my tort- -” her smile faded and tears welled in her eyes as she realized that her beloved pet had been dead for centuries. “Tank…” she said, releasing Philomena, who returned to her station on Gell’s head.

Five looked back at Rainbow Dash. She could not claim to understand what the blue mare was feeling- -perhaps no pony could.

“Hey,” said a voice. It was not physical, but inside her own head. Five did not turn to betray that she was hearing it, but she knew- -even though it sounded nothing like her real voice- -that it came from Gell. “I know you can hear me you twit.”

“I can,” responded Five, projecting her own mind into Gell’s. The sensation was odd- -not just because it was difficult, but because Gell so rarely allowed Five to communicate with her mentally, in part because it virtually guaranteed that she was listening.

“You are absolutely sure that it is her?”

“Yes, I am.”

“Then why didn’t you just strip out her skull?”

“Do you understand the implications of this at all? She is the living Element of Loyalty.”

“So what?”

“So: there is no guarantee the device will work, even with all six. They may have been dead too long, and I don’t even know if I can get all of them. Her power is much greater alive- -and she can prove useful in manifold ways.”

“You’re an idiot. But…she is really hot. So I’m going to go with this, for now.”

“Trust me on this. I have a plan…”

The equidroid nurse overseeing the waiting room watched as three ponies left the room. She was just one of several bodies linked to a central AI server kept in the largest and most elaborate of her bodies, so she did not normally bother to dedicate much resources to whatever body was at the front desk unless a large number of miners came in at once, usually oozing their disgusting organic fluids all over the concrete floor. At the moment, however, she was downloading a firmware update, as well as using the body in the waiting room as a wireless antenna to pick up a ponynet music station.

More processing power was directed to that form, however, to watch those three leave. A large pure-blood demon with ornate armor and a strange bird, a chiropteran with unusually wide eyes, and a rainbow-maned pony cyborg. It was just too unusual to pass up.

“Thank you for your patronage!” she said with sickening, preprogrammed happiness in her voice, waving. The chiropteran turned her and waved lacadasically, then turned back to the hallway to the main exit.

Neither the nurse nor the three exiting ponies noticed that the nurse equidroid’s head suddenly cocked several degrees to the left, her eyes momentarily commandeered by the botnet lurking inside her base program files suddenly activated, focusing suddenly on the cutie mark of the rainbow-maned mare.

Then, as quickly as it came, the presence vanished. It had moved so fast that the nurse had not even noticed, and simply went about doing her chores- -finding that Iron Lung must already have deleted the mare’s medical record, as it had already vanished from her internal database.