Mid-Morning
October 28th, 74 BNM
Equestria, North Midland valley lake
Military Fortress, the Stone Citadel.

The progress on them all had come along greatly, as now 4 of Siral’s key beings he’d chosen had been enhanced by his magic vats he made them bathe in for days to transform to their perfected forms.
Now, 4 and a half months since Teal Quirt had emerged, transformed into her new form but able to shapeshift to her old Unicorn shape, they stood on the precipice of the 5th of them to be transformed.
Golmov had volunteered to go second, and now the dragon, like Teal Quirt, had a ‘true’ form, but also shapeshifting magic to boot. It made him shrinking his size of whatever shape he took much easier. The creature parts added had been a giant Spider, harvested from one living in a remote cavern dwelling spider Siral slayed for the task, a number of Unicorn horn extracts to balance the mixture, and lastly a number of Gryphon body parts, to enhance him with their endurance and possessive spirits.
The carving on the cauldron Golmov had emerged from had formed, by Siral’s magic, a carving of a long serpentine dragon, but with his 2 normal arms elongated and sharpened at the joints. But most intimidating on the carving was that it sported a set of 8 furry, spider-like legs that spread out far from his body, 4 of them acting as wings, and the carapace like armor on the carving’s body made it resemble a cross between a tarantula, a long necked dragon and a set of four Gryphon feathered wings the size of his old dragon wings.
Third had been Odi-Viscer, who had, unlike the others, actually emerged from the potion vat completely unchanged, to even Siral’s surprise. The carving had shown a changed visage, and nothing had gone wrong, yet Odi-Viscer emerged just the same Grey, bald skinned earth pony, with the only change being that his ‘cutie’ mark had vanished from view, and that his skin felt slightly harder.
The carving showed something different, vaguely shaped, but it stood upright on four limbs, jagged with some protruding spiked along the back, but resembling an ape almost in its slanted stature. The mixture had been experimental, combining parts of a juvenile Stone Giant that Siral had harvested parts from, along with a few loads of Ursa Major claw powder. But the ingredient that tied it all together is what Siral theorised why Odi-Viscer had yet to transform, as he had been loaded with condensed magical essence from a number of demon spirits Siral had harvested, and had also placed inside the labyrinth as one of many pitfalls.
For now, the Earth Pony youth remained unchanged, save for tougher skin for some reason, and a somewhat dulled sense of physical pain, meaning that he could at least endure hardship better. The only obvious change was his eyes, which now shone slightly with a blood red hue in their irises.
Those two responded well enough to their changes, though Odi-Viscer was rather annoyed at no enhancement compared to Golmov or Teal Quirt, he wanted the power. The boy frequently went to Siral for check overs, to see if something was interfering with what should be working.
But with the fourth, the procedure went well, as Iena had been transformed 2 weeks ago. Unlike the others though, she didn’t respond well to the changes.
While she had the ability to transform like the others, she had prided herself on her body, her beauty, and now when she took her ‘normal’ appearance, it was a lie.
The combination of a slain basilisk’s blood, a Siren’s tongue, a changeling’s horn as well as a Unicorn’s, and taking demon essence for another attempt after Odi-Viscer, had yielded results this time. The demon ingredients worked this time.
But the moment she emerged, Iena was horrified, distraught, and raged at Siral. Not even her eyes remained the same, now reptilian and an unnaturally sapphire-like blue.
Like her carving, which showed a snakelike body, pock marked with changeling black holed segments, which flowed up into a now scaly version of an elongated Unicorn skull, flanked with a Siren’s aquatic ear flaps, and a third eye atop her forehead, where the Unicorn and Changeling horn flowed back like two rear facing spikes from her skull.
For two weeks, Iena had barely socialised, and hadn’t even exercised her transforming magic very much, rending a divide between her and anyone else at the Citadel she ever socialised with.
But her transformation had been a success, and now came the day Satio would take his turn, the fat minotaur feeling apprehensive.
But Satio had demands, and insisted Siral listen close.

Underground forging chambers
Brewing vat hall

Stood inside a small alcove, as they had nothing better to do, 3 of them listened in as the only 2 occupants in the hall below, at ground level with the massive vat, echoed up.
Leaning around the corner to hear better, Golmov turned to them, shrunken in his black and gold dragon form with his newfound magic as he spread this intrigue to the other 2, though one of them was rather disapproving of eavesdropping. His not too altered, but now brighter yellow eyes glowed with curiosity.
“Strange, Satio’s usually more reserved. Didn’t know he had a backbone beneath his blubber.”
At Golmov’s remark, Odi-Viscer peered around the corner too, blood red eyes alight with vague interest, aimed down towards the floor far below the stone walkway. Further back though, as she maintained her ‘true’ form out of pride for it, Teal Quirt shook her head. Her ape like face with the 4 horned ‘headdress’ did little to hide her hissing whisper, as she once again remarked to them both, emerald green eyes squinting in disapproval, though also alight with curiosity she wished to not say aloud:
“We shouldn’t be spying on the master like this.”
“Have a sense of humor Teal. I’m sure little Odi here wants to see what he’ll get that he didn’t.” Golmov jabbed. A sharp hoof into his gut nearly made Golmov choke aloud, but he kept quiet.
Catching his breath, Gomov whispered back to Teal while Odi continued to eavesdrop quietly:
“Besides, I worked my tail off before I was changed to get all those body parts Siral’s using. You cannot blame my curiosity.”
“Don’t let Ave-Dol hear that, we don’t need her realising the nature of some of our resource acquirements while she is not as committed as we are.”
“She will come around.” Golmov remarked, as Odi growled to them:
“Quiet, they’re talking louder now.”

“You expect me to jeopardize my work towards what will be imbued into you best for a trivial request like that?”
Satio stood his ground before his scarred Unicorn ‘master’, or boss as he thought. Compared to the others, he was more of a mild everyman, not special in many ways. But he had to do this, for the sake of a friend, even if she sometimes teased him a little too often.
“You have powerhouses already. Can’t you offer a bit of leniency with me as long as what you wish me to do is still possible in what form I take?”
“You wish to change what your true form only looks like, but that entails changing your makeup, which could risk how well you do your role.” Siral sternly remarked, not having this insubordination. But Satio was adamant, as he asked:
“I may not know potions, but I know cookery, similar principles.”
Siral scoffed at the analogy, but he had somewhat of a point. Satio gestured to the vat beside him, asking:
“She was distraught because of how she looked, she prided herself on her beauty. I just want to show her she can still do so, by, by changing myself so she’s more beautiful than I am, as she was before.”
“Beauty is skin deep, nothing more.” Siral remarked, to which Satio remarked with a regret later:
“You wouldn’t know that looking at you-.”
Whipping around, Siral’s horn glowed a shining grey at Satio, with flecks of black swirling around it as he spoke quietly:
“Do you dare finish that sentence?”
Satio gulped, as he saw Siral relax his magic, still giving him an expectant look, but now Satio had to be more careful.
“Just, I’ve seen your parts you laid out to pick from while I’m in there. Will any of them interfere with my assigned role?”
“At minimum, you will fulfil your role. But I carefully select from them to maximise your potential.”
“But I’ll already be powerful, and like I said, you already have powerhouses. And if I do this, you lose my full potential, but I will still be loyal and strong enough, and you’ll have morale in Iena back, who does have her full potential.”
Siral weighed this offer, as he had been thinking indeed that if Iena didn’t snap from her depression, she would become a wasted servant, a liability. Satio could see clearly in this regard, but Siral knew full well that this clear thinking was secondary to more trivial reasons.
Siral gave Satio an odd tone as he turned away, as the black Wizard offered this very quiet, somewhat surrendering tone: “Fine. Do what you will, what parts you could use are waiting up there. On this occasion only, I shall let one of you dictate your additions to what will enhance you.”
“Really? I, don’t know what to say.” Satio was stunned, but became quiet as Siral turned to him suddenly, a cold tone in the black Unicorn’s voice:
“Heed this then. I do this because it will ensure the greatest unity in wake of Iena’s forlorn wake. But do not presume I will be as lenient in future if it is anything less than beneficial to the greater plans I have envisioned with all of us involved. Cross me, and keep in mind that I know the processes that made you, and how to unmake in turn.”
Satio breathed calmly as Siral’s grey eyes bore into his own, the scarred Black Unicorn’s ghostly white mane what he looked at to avoid Siral’s gaze. Satio replied with some hesitant thanks:
“Okay. I’ll be in with what I select by this evening. Just, I wanted to help my friend is all. You understand right?”
Siral paused as he began to walk off, as he recalled very long ago how he too wanted to simply help a friend, as well as feed his simple curiosity, when he was much more open minded, simply learning for its own sake, and not scarred by the world, life or Alicorn powers.
“Acutely, Satio. Very acutely.”
Before Satio, Siral then vanished in a small swirl of grey and black hued magic.
Calming himself, Satio gazed towards the stairwell leading up, to the walkway level next to the vat of readied potion brew he had been charged with adding to. His own enhancements.

Gazing at the pile of ‘ingredients’, though body parts was a more accurate term, Satio realized his cooking analogy hadn’t been quite right.
Let alone the fact that he was the last part to be added, that what he put in would be on his head, so to speak.
Gazing over what looked like half the animal kingdom’s worth of body parts, along with a few jars of strange liquids, and even vapours even. One of the jars of smoke seemed to give off an air of sinister vibes, as if not wanting to be in there.
Gazing back at the vat of base potion, which looked just like slightly grimy water right now, the Minotaur brushed his chin in thought with a forehoof before he began to walk towards the first pile of animal parts, small limbs from rat sized animals it seemed.
He needed to make Iena see she would always be beautiful to him, inside and out, even if he had to make himself ugly to prove he believed she should be no matter what she looked like.

Later that Evening

Unlike earlier today, there were no eavesdroppers to see Satio go under.
The murky grey liquid sometimes glowed an odd orange colour from time to time, as Satio held his breath while he submitted to Siral’s magic lowering him down into the centre. The liquid alost felt like air, humid air, yet it supported and enveloped him as if many velvet drapes were wrapping around him.
“On your head, be what you become.” Siral remarked, as Satio vanished into the grey liquid, a last widened expression of trepidation on the portly Minotaur’s face as he vanished.
Staring over at where the body parts had been, Siral still couldn’t help but shake his head, be it through disappointment, or exasperation. He’d said any of the body part combinations from that pile would do.
Satio had used everything but the jar of condensed demons it seemed, even the beetle extract paste had gone in.
Siral shook his head, as he hovered down from the walkway towards the carving tablet, to see as he tapped into the potion beginning its work what was to emerge. By now, Satio was unconscious, adrift as the potion began its two to three day setting period.
“More ingredients does not mean more power.” Siral mumbled, as he began to sense with his magic into the mixture, his horn also beginning to carve a small image onto the tablet, to see what was to come out.
He sensed such a wide variety of things in the mixture with the Minotaur that it all clouded together, and at a point Siral nearly gave up on carving this label for the sake of trying to figure out what it would be. Even so, amidst the mixture parts somewhat cancelling each other out, there was the overwhelming sense that whatever emerged, he would have an insatiable appetite, and power to feed it.
And yet two creatures stood out, ones Siral had not had many samples of. An Ursa Major, and oddly, a Parasprite, both creatures of immense hunger, and yet wildly different. If it had been only those 2, he’d have more of an idea of what to expect.
As Siral regained his full consciousness however, he stared with utter bewilderment at the carving his magic had done on the tablet before the vat.
A very vague, almost round shaped being with stubby limbs and a pair of long horns stretching down from its head like a set of dual ponytails, but changing halfway across to what looked like a swarm of spots too small to make out immediately. If he had to guess, a swarm of something perhaps.
But Siral cared not for aesthetic looks, as Satio would fulfil his role and have his powers. Besides, if it got Iena back to full performance, he could do well with it being the more ‘gentle natured’ of his servants being the one who suffers never reaching his full potential power.
It would be the first, and last time, he let anyone mess with his experiments and work. There were other magicians across Equestria who had experiments of their own, whatever they were, though likely weapons, not living beings. Siral intended on outperforming them by as far a margin as possible.
If he had to give leniency to promote unity amidst his eventual seven, he would do it as long as it didn’t jeopardise their overall power.
Again, to contrast the Alicorns and Equestria Siral had a vision to undo and remake each, unity was paramount to success.

4 days later
Mid Morning
November 1st, 74 BNM
Equestria, North Midland valley lake
Military Fortress, the Stone Citadel.
Underground chambers.
‘Vat’ hall.

Something wasn’t right, Satio should have been out a day ago. For this reason, Siral had asked, out of necessity, for Lady Ave-Dol and Teal Quirt to join him. Nearby though, Golmov and Odi-Viscer had come along as well, hearing that Satio was taking longer than normal.
Not surprising though, given how many different things he’d put in with himself.
Looking at the vat, lady Ave-Dol understood the relieving news at least:
“At least he is still alive in there. How might we awaken him though?”
“He should have woken up by now.” Teal remarked, as she had changed from her scorpion/ape centaur like body to her old grey and blue/grey maned Unicorn form, to not take up as much room on the walkway.
Staring down, Siral ordered them: “He will awaken if more presences are felt on the surface. A short magic burst, or touch the potion, it is safe unless you drink it.”
Hearing this, Golmov remarked aloud as Odi-Viscer decided to get this over with, the bald earth pony striding over to bend off the walkway, a hoof extended to quickly splash the murky grey potion with mild disgust:
“No chance of that, not if he’s been in it for days now.”
Striding over, the dragon was still in his old form, shrunken and yellow eyed. Golmov restrained his ‘true form’ for shock value when the time came to make more moves, though he only told this to Siral, and Odi obviously had some sort of block by his makeup for now. The dragon trapsed past the Earth pony to focus some of his newfound magic into a small yellow burst onto the surface, like a coin splashing into it.
Gesturing to Teal Quirt, lady Ave-Dol watched as the blue/grey Unicorn fired another small burst into the potion, leaving only her. But as she walked up, she knew why Satio had altered his mixture, as she mentally thought aloud into her own small shot:
Come out, be with the friend you wished to help feel like herself again.
Her pale blue magic fired into the mixture, and yet still nothing.
With an aggravated growl, Teal Quirt turned to Siral, while the others merely watched the grey pool in disappointment.
“So, what went wrong this time, that’s 2 if you count Odi not coming out yet.”
The red eyed earth pony growled loudly, his muscles tensing at the mild jape, before he felt a clawed hand tap him on the back quickly, Golmov pointing to the grey pool suddenly,
Lady Ave-Dol saw this, and also noticed something off. As Siral thought to himself, Teal turned to see their distractions, while Siral then murmured aloud:
“He’s awake.”
Turning to the mixture, as they waited with bated breath, their anticipation built. Aside from Iena, who was still isolating herself in her quarters out of shame for her visage, this would be the first time they witnessed one of their own ‘rebirths’, and on the 5th of 7 to come at that.
The grey liquid was actually lowering in volume in the vat, as if draining. But the strange part was these vats had no holes unless Siral vanished the potion himself.
Further and further it drained, until now the 30-foot-deep vat was half empty. Looking now in confusion, the others saw Siral too was somewhat puzzled by this.
But as the orange hued form emerged with the quickly draining grey potion, what was happening became apparent.
Satio, in his new form, was drinking the entire 30 by 30 foot vat of potion he’d been transformed in.
A bloated orange form, like that of a leathery, shining orange ball of skin, was writhing in the lower part of the vat as the last of the potion was sucked up into it. Writhing slightly, the orange form shifted in shape, as it began to slowly shrink to reveal a pair of stubby arms, more like a set of many long tentacles of a cuttlefish almost, forming from the seemingly alive hulk of orange skinned, writhing, even pulsating coloured flesh.
A set of long ‘dreadlocks’ of the squishy looking flesh, like that of a jam spread or a mollusc’s pudgy skin, extended as a head formed, wrinkled, hairless, a translucent orange colour as the grey potion dissolved into the form that took shape.
Pudgy legs formed, as a recognizable shape of a somehow even fatter minotaur formed, though it now was formed of translucent orange, membrane like skin, with tendrils extending like a snail’s eyestalks from many parts of his body, the 2 most obvious ones the sort of head tails coming from his skull.
Settling into his now even pudgier, tendril laced, hairless orange and mollusc skinned minotaur shaped body, Satio looked around, before he noticed he was at the bottom of the vat, 30 feet down, with the other 4 and Siral looking down at him with mixed levels of bewilderment, and in some cases disgust.
“Ah. Little help, I have no magic experience whatsoever.”
Satio’s words carried from the bottom of the vat, while Teal couldn’t help but wince slightly in disgust as she called down:
“You were in that vat for 4 days.”
“And you drank the whole damn lot just now, pretty much your own filth!” Golmov shouted down, not sure whether to be amused or disgusted. Odi-Viscer stared down, but any jealousy he had was short lived, as Satio had indeed come out very, bizarre.
Trying to be the helpful one, Lady Ave-Dol began to work her magic on Satio, but she found herself unable to move him up to the walkway. Striding over, Siral lightly commanded the Alicorn knowingly:
“Do not bother. What he gained means he absorbs more than just what he bathes in. That is what gives him powers like he showed. He can absorb things, make himself stronger, or others weaker. Anything, once he learns to control it.”
Satio had felt the magic, as he called up meekly from the bottom of the vat: “So, you can’t lift me out of here?”
Lady Ave-Dol turned to Golmov, the only one physically capable of lifting Satio out. But the dragon raised a hand in denial, as he said:
“Oh no, he has magic, he can learn on the spot while he’s down there. Besides, I wash my hands of this weirdness for today.”
“Seconded.” Odi-Viscer suddenly quipped, as the Grey earth pony turned to follow the dragon out. Down in the vat’s bottom, Satio meekly moved a hand, but said nothing as he saw the two leaving him down there.
Lady Ave-Dol turned to Teal Quirt and Siral, asking either of them: “Surely you’ll stay?”
Giving Siral a coy, knowing look, to which he remained impassive and commanding, Teal saw her master’s eyes flicker, a coded signal for her to make sure he and Satio were alone.
Teal gestured for Ave-Dol to follow, as she remarked: “Master Siral will be enough for him to learn from.”
“Hey, come on you can’t leave me down here! I was hungry, I didn’t mean to disgust you all!”
“Not disgust. You hurled yourself into the deep, literally. Learn fast!” Teal retorted loudly, as Lady Ave-Dol gave a helpful smile down to Satio, remarking aloud: “Don’t keep us all waiting, Iena too.”
At this, Satio went quiet, as he knew she had been the only one among their close knit group not to come, she was still rather introverted right now.
Standing above the vat, Siral came to hover down to come beside Satio’s orange, almost gelatinous form. The Black Unicorn examined him, as he gave a small sigh:
“Try and focus your mind, your magic should be an extension of yourself.”
Satio submitted to this quick learning, wishing he hadn’t drunk what he’d been in. He could float otherwise.
As Siral began to try and get Satio to tap into his newfound magic with his strange body, he saw this as an overall success. He had wanted a being who could feast off Alicorn magic, and use it back at them. But now, he had a being who could feast off virtually anything he wished, and by the looks of it, was the most shapeshifting happy among them by his form alone.

November 1st, 74 BNM
Late Evening
Equestria, North Midland valley lake
Military Fortress, the Stone Citadel.
Upper living quarters

15 hours, and Satio had learned enough to shapeshift to climb from the vat, and do basic magic. He was proving a fast learner, but like the others had been when they first transformed had much to experiment with. Still, by the time Siral intended to use them full force, they would have had plenty to time to get used to their bodies.
But now, as he stood in a disguise of his old body, Satio gently raised his foreleg fist to the wooden door, hesitating briefly before he rapped on the door.
“Go away.” A feminine voice came from the other side. This wasn’t the first time Iena had turned away someone at her door trying to get in. She had magic to make food for herself, all the more reason she hadn’t emerged. But Satio knew she’d been told he hadn’t come out yet, and thought she might at last let him in.
“It is me.”
A silence came from the door, before Iena replied unseen through it:
“You’ve awakened.”
“Can I come in? I want to show you something.”
“I don’t want anyone to see me like this.”
Trying to make sure he kept the situation calm, Satio firmly remarked through the door:
“I could say the same about how I look as normal now. I just wanted you to feel you could be proud of your beauty, even if only compared to me.”
Iena was quiet through the door, as Satio finished: “I convinced Siral to let me choose what I looked like, as best I could manage. I know we all can change at will, but I wanted you to see, you’re not ugly to everyone, or compared to everyone. I made sure of that.”
A bit of dark blue magic suddenly engulfed the door handle, as the wooden door swung open to reveal a purposefully darkened room, clearly done on purpose by Iena as she lay in her room in solitude. She was hidden from view, as Satio slowly entered in his normal form.
“Show me.”
The door shut behind him, as the room went darker all of a sudden. Relaxing his form, keeping what control he’d learned in check, he felt his body alter to ‘normal’ now.
As his mass bloated outwards, glowing slightly orange as his now blob-like body with stubby tendrils ready to extend to grab, Satio heard a slithering among the darkness, as a pair of dark sapphire eyes ventured up to him in her room, staring at him, a slightly smaller third blue eye above them on her forehead.
Her siren ear flaps flickered, as her twin changeling and Unicorn horn lay facing down the back of her neck while her slithering basilisk snake body, with changing carapace parts along it, blended in with the darkened room.
Iena stared at Satio’s new form with an unreadable expression, before she softly spoke:
“Why did you do this to yourself?”
“To make you feel better. Your beauty wasn’t just skin deep, to me at least.”
“This is what we look like, truly, now. It’s not...”
“What matters, is if you are the same on the inside. Even as beautiful as you were, are, it pales compared to what you are like below the skin.” Satio mumbled shyly, as his orange, gelatinous body sagged slightly at his utterance to her. Iena blinked a few times, as her basilisk snake body coiled up slightly at his remark.
Outstretching her forearm, her ‘hoof’ now able to split into claws by a lesser part of her creature makeup, Iena gently stretched up to touch Satio’s cheek flesh, noting how odd, soft and smooth his entire orange body now seemed. Almost like a less slimy slug, though able to absorb anything he wished as consumption for energy at will.
With a small, thankful smile, Iena gently wrapped her arms around Satio’s large girth, mumbling or him to hear:
“You didn’t have to do this, and yet you did.”
As he heard her thankful remark, Satio moved to hug her, but noticed he felt a strange sensation on his stomach, as he then tensed his body reflexsively. Iena recoiled, as Satio’s shock at her thankfulness had begun absorbing her subconsciously, but rejecting her as Satio regained his composure.
“Sorry, I’m new to this, not sure it can be called a body.”
“You wear it well.” Iena remarked, as Satio gave a small ghost of a smile. He had her back, as they would at least be sympathetic to any insecurities about their true body together now.
Still, she hadn’t met anyone as kind or open as Satio had been, now or before when he hadn’t been changed. If only she’d known somepony like him earlier in life. The saying was right then, beauty was in the eye of the beholder.
And despite what they, the other 3 and later 2 to come, Lady Ave-Dol among them, could do with magic to alter their appearances, their true forms were their real shapes to wear as their own.

Author's Notes:

Breezing past the enhancements of the others among 5 of Siral’s beings, except or the 5th, as an alteration is made which showcases how they are not all just servants of a cunning, scheming wizard, but people with lives and feelings.
One last companion building chapter for the ‘sin beings’, as the 2 afterwards, Lady Ave-Dol included, are altered under less desirable circumstances.