It has been one week since Discord started with Pinkamena, compared to the month with Blake, it was nothing. While it may not have been as painful as what Blake did, it was certainly different. To get her body to get to the state of balance he needed, she was exposed to multiple kinds of torture, some Blake didn’t even do to her. Waterboarding, oxygen deprivation, being exposed to extreme heat, electrocution, but nothing fatal. Other than a few burn marks, none of the torture left any scars on her, not like Blake did.

Unlike Blake, he wasn’t very serious when he did it. He made puns and jokes every now and again and tried to strike up a conversation either before he starts or in between. She didn’t have any problem with it, it was just different than what she was used to. After he was done with her for the day, she would be escorted to the room she used to stay in before. Except for this time, Blake never came to pick her up, it was Discord. She was fed and watered like normal, and she still had the habit of being naked. Discord didn’t seem to mind that much, but he preferred her with clothes, so he usually brought some.

“So, how do you feel?”

She was now strapped down to the same table, but with a calm look on her face. Over the week, they had developed a strange relationship. It wasn’t the master-slave relationship she had with Blake or pure hatred like the one she had with Igneous. Despite the torture, they had a very casual relationship. She wouldn’t go as far to say friends, more like friendly acquaintances.

“The same as I felt a week ago, am I supposed to feel different?”

She asked curiously, she’s only gotten the gist of everything so far. Supposedly, she’s already gone through mental and physical preparation for passing this test. Now, she’s going to be physically transformed into something more than human. Or maybe he’s just crazy and is torturing her? He could just be senile and nothing he’s said is true, there’s no real way to know.

“Hmm, sort of. The results can be different every time, it’s impossible to tell. To be honest, it doesn’t always take a week for your body to enter the state anyway. You could enter it after the first day, but I wanted to do it for a week, just to be sure. So, no, it’s not impossible for it to be done without it, it’s just a good sign.”

He wasn’t looking at her as he was talking, like every other time, he was writing something down in a journal. She was curious what was in it, but she probably wouldn’t get the chance to find out. After writing whatever it was he was writing, he closed the journal and put it in his pocket. He then pulled out a syringe from the same pocket, the first time she’s seen him pull something out of his pockets that wasn’t a journal. It was a fairly large syringe, filled with a strange dark green liquid. He flicked the end of it, making sure the needle was in good condition.

“This is what you’ve been waiting for, this is the thing that will change you. It took me years to successfully make this, and even longer to figure out the right conditions required for it to work. Now, in a few moments, I’m going to inject this into you. It won’t be immediate, but you will feel your body molding and changing. That’s the process that’ll probably kill you, not anything before. I won’t describe to you the exact details of what will happen if you survive, it would probably just be a waste.”

Discord walked over to her, putting his hand on her arm to find the vein. After finding it, he gently hovered the vaccine over the vein, but stopped, and looked at Pinkamena.

“Are you ready?”

For the first time, there was concern in his voice. Whether it was because he had genuinely cared about her, or her surviving the test because Igneous had more planned, or if it was just an act, who knows? But, she did think about it. While it was highly likely all this was just some ruse, there was a slight chance it was real. That she would be transformed into something beyond human, that she would be powerful, that she would have the strength for revenge. And that possibility was too much the pass up.

Pinkamena took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and spoke.

“I’m ready.”

Discord nodded and injected the syringe. Slowly, he pushed down the plunger, injecting whatever liquid was in the syringe into her bloodstream. It wasn’t particularly painful, just uncomfortable. The liquid had a very strange texture to it, making it to where she could feel it enter her system. But as soon as it did, she couldn’t feel anything. He withdrew the needle from her arm, putting the syringe back into his pocket.

He sighed and pulled a chair from behind her, one she didn’t know was there. He put it in the spot he usually stood in, sat down in it, and leaned back. He then pulled out his journal, but his gaze never left her. He was intently watching her as if expecting something. But, she felt indifferent. No pain, no changing feeling, nothing. She felt the same as she usually did.

“Is something supposed to-“

Pinkamena suddenly bucked forward, the sound of bones cracking and being broken coming from her. Her arms and legs snapping in half, bending in such a way that would dislocate her knees and shoulders. The reason was because they were expanding, they seemed to rapidly be growing, her muscles and fat doing the same. Something could be seen under her skin, almost like something was moving. Her arms and legs stopped growing after a point, and seemed to shrink, adjusting to the body’s size.

Her eyes seemed to be flashing in color, both the pupil and sclera, seeming to be going through every color there was. Blood was flowing from her eyes, she tried to blink, but because of what was happening, she was temporarily blind. Her mouth was also bleeding, her teeth were growing in size and sharpness, especially her incisors. They were growing and sharpening more than the others, beginning to look more like snake teeth. Both her jaws had dislocated due to her teeth growing in size, they were not able to contain them.

Her ears were bleeding too, her eardrums were changing size, her ears growing along with them. She couldn’t hear anything, not even her own screams. The chest was convulsing rapidly, the sounds of her ribs breaking evident more than most sounds. Organs were being moved around and thrashed insider her body, the bones that weren’t broken were taking a beating from this. The skin on her body seemed to be morphing, changing in colors and texture. Some parts were a dark green color, seeming more like scales than skin. While others were a darker brown, making it look like some kind of fur was growing on her.

Her face was morphing into a more animal-like look, her cheeks stretching and expanding, the rest of her face following. Pinkamena was in more pain than she could ever imagine, and she couldn’t even see or hear. Discord watched intently, worry on his face. This transformation was a bad one, usually, only certain parts of the body would begin to change first. When those parts were done, they would move on to different parts. But this time, the entire body was changing, which meant the process must have been extremely painful for her.

But, he said nothing, there was nothing to say, she wouldn’t hear him anyway. For thirty minutes, the room was filled with the sounds of bones breaking and snapping, muscles, fat, ligaments and tendons being torn reattached and torn again, and screams. In that time, her body morphed and changed multiple times. Her body going from a scaly texture to one similar to fur, then to leather, and many others. Eventually, it stopped. The sound of bones breaking and screaming was now gone, Pinkamena had passed out. Her arms and legs were noticeably bigger than before, but not to the point of abnormality.

Her skin seemed to be a darker shade, and while it felt tougher, it had the normal texture of skin again. Her teeth had gone back to normal size and sharpness, except for her incisors, they were somewhat bigger and sharper. Her ears were also bigger, but not immensely like her arms. Her eyes were no longer flashing in color, they were now the dark blue they were before. Blood was still on her face from before, but now it had begun to dry.

“Finally, the metamorphosis is over. That was surprisingly short, it’s usually longer than that, hours, actually. But, I suppose her spending so much time in the woods made her more…. adjusted to nature. Which, considering what it does, makes sense. Now, for the moment of truth.”

Discord lifted her arm, and put two fingers on her wrist. He waited patiently, holding his breath, feeling desperate for a pulse. And, after what felt like hours, he felt it. A smile stretched across his face, it was a success. But, somehow, he wasn’t surprised. He was sure what it was, but something in their genes made them strong-willed people. Everyone he’s met in their family so far has been like that, it really was quite amazing.

After writing something in his journal and putting it in his pocket, Discord stood up and began to walk out towards the door, but suddenly something grabbed his arm. He quickly turned around, surprise and astonishment on his face, it was Pinkamena.

“Going to…leave…already? C’mon, I thought you were going to give me answers? I’d sure like to know what the hell you just did to me.”

Her eyes weren’t open, she probably still couldn’t see yet. But hearing wouldn’t be surprising, that didn’t usually take that long. She was breathing rapidly, her body seemed to barely be functioning.

“Amazing, it usually takes hours, sometimes even days before waking up. But you only woke up in a few minutes! Do you have any idea how remarkable that is!”

But Pinkamena didn’t respond, she seemed to have fallen asleep. Which wasn’t surprising, her body just went through one of the worst things possible. Discord’s look of wonder left him, a smile replacing it.

“Of course, it was just a moment of consciousness, there’s no way anyone could be awake after that, not even Igneous. Speaking of, I know I said I was going to give you answers, but you’re not really conscious of them. Igneous would want me to report the success, which I will do.”

Discord turned around and walked toward the door again, this time opening it before stopping. He looked at Pinkamena again, half expecting her to wake up. But, she didn’t. She was going to need that sleep, while she had successfully survived the transformation, she was still going to need to learn how to control it and how it works. Especially considering how Igneous would want to test her, she was going to need to learn.

“Pinkamena, you impress me. Igneous was the only one who has done what you have, you deserve your answers. I hope you have sweet dreams, because after you wake up and I explain everything, you will have your final test, and I can’t wait to see how you do.”