Chapter 4: Realization and Rebirth.

Darkness. Why did it feel so familiar? So comforting... So inviting... Starlight was lost, his spirit and mind lost to reality. The pegasus was standing at a bright crossroads. A sign simply pointed in two directions. As the broken Pegasus stepped to the sign on his broken hooves, he was enveloped, half in a soothing darkness, and half in a warm, comforting light. Starlight looked to his sides... his pain was gone... The half of his body that was standing in the darkness was covered in a weird metallic gloss, as if it was made of steel, and it shone brightly, his feathered wings reflecting the sun. In the light, his body was normal, his old, blue feathered wings greeting him like a lost friend. He had to choose, and he started walking toward the side of light, his body slowly repairing itself, turning normal. As he reached the end of the road, he stopped. He could hear a voice calling to him... but it was faint... who.. who was calling him. The darkness sprang forth, and enveloped his body, covering it in a stifling metallic gloss, and he struggled, unable to breath, dragged down... down...

Starlight gasped, coughing, his eyes shooting open, his lungs filling with sweet, warm air. 'Am... am I alive? But... how..?' He was suspended in the center of a room, and his body was tingling, like it was filled with electricity, but it didn't hurt, not like the rest of his body. He watched out of his right eye as a figure came into view, but it was too blurry to make anything out. It simply spoke. "Starlight Rave." He tried to focus, but he couldn't speak, or move. "You are dead." Starlight tried to speak, but still couldn't. How was he dead... was he really alive? "Your body is broken. Your organs, your life-giving functions, have been cut and torn. Your wings are a bloodied mess of feathers. You are a soul, in a dead body."

The figure seemed to move... It was tall, and seemed to move on two legs... "Your purpose in this life is no longer relevant. It vanished with your wings, and with the soul of whom you loved. You, however, remain here. Your mother was right when she first found you. You have a stubborn streak." The figure laughed. "Your soul needs reason to go on. Your purpose needs form."

The figure made a snapping sound, the lights in the room dimmed, and loud, blaring music began to play. Electronica... Techno... Dubstep... He listened to these all the time... He played them at Pinkie's parties. "You never realized it, but your soul... your purpose... was within the music you shared with your friends. To many, it sounds like screeching, like a hoof grinding down a chalkboard. They call it filth. You called it music. Your friends called it music, because you played it for them. You made it into what you wished it to be." Starlight's eyes widened slowly. He struggled, and his lips moved, uttering two words. "My...Purpose..." It all made sense... Throttle had been wrong. It wasn't him, that Pinkie was after... it was his music... the same kind of heart he put into each chord was the same kind of heart that the pink-maned pony put into each moment of her parties. Starlight began to cry softly as he felt a warmth on his flanks, a deep black biohazard symbol appearing on them, his purpose revealed. The figure spoke. "There's a reason you're called 'Rave'. Your body may be destroyed.. but I will make you into the living embodiment of Rave itself..." Starlight's eyes began to fade again, before sinking back into unconsciousness.

"My...Purpose..."

Starlight was asleep for what seemed like forever. His mind was blank, empty, nothing but the warm embrace of darkness keeping him alive. He felt like he was changing, but he was unsure how... All he knew was that he was nothing but the ghost of a pegasus, whose only hope was in a figure who seemed to know more about him than he did about himself. Time continued to pass, and through the silent, warm darkness, a small light began to shine. It was time for him to wake up again, he guessed. In his mind, his broken figure moved toward the small beam of light, fading back into reality, unsure what awaited him.

"Starlight. Starlight Rave. Wake up. It's finished."

Starlight's eyes began to stir. His eyes slowly opened, and immediately, his mind went into overdrive. He was looking at a dim blue screen in front of his eyes, and he still couldn't move. He was laying in the center of a white room, a tall, 2-legged figure standing away from him. His left eye seemed to able to see again, at least for the most part... He watched the screen intently as text began to appear, and a low, electronic voice filled his mind.

Subject: Starlight Rave.
Beginning System Boot.
Authorizing Protocol 18-01-22-05.
Encoding DNA Profile...
DNA Encoding Completed.
Beginning Life Support and Mobility Functions...
Systems Activated.
Memory Back-up Activated.
Enabling Data Scan...
Data Scan Ready.
User Controls Activated.
Protocol 18-1-22-5 Authorized.
Automatic Override Disabled.
Manual Override Engaged.

As the last line of text scrolled across the screen, there was a soft hissing sound, like air being released, and he felt a weight get lifted from his body. He could move again. Starlight was confused... He wasn't in pain. How was this possible? As he got to his hooves, he felt surprisingly light, soft metal clanking echoing through the room as he moved, stretching a bit, as he would any other morning when he woke up, his wings stretching as well.

Wait. WINGS?!

Starlight gasped, looking to his sides, the dim blue visor having faded clear. Large metallic appendages were spread from his body as his wings would be, small, shimmering lights along the breadth of them, intricately ornate with runic and metallic symbols along them. His mind began to race, wondering what was going on, his tail lightly swishing behind him. ...Wait. His tail. He could move it again! He turned back, looking to his tail, the blue and black streaked cluster of hair swinging slowly back a forth, a couple small rings binding parts of it, and a large, ornate ring at the base of his tail, where he had been burnt. He noticed the same kind of intricate metal and runic symbols and plating on all 4 of his legs, and he just stood there, not sure what to make of everything.

"Good. You're moving, and you seem coherent. Everything is going well so far."

The voice came from the 2 legged figure who was now walking toward him. Starlight looked up as it approached. He hadn't seen anything like this before... The creature was walking on two legs, and had oddly shaped hooves... they seemed to have little appendages on them. It seemed to be male, and he didn't have a tail, either... just a head of short, brown hair. He was wearing a long, white coat, and.. something to cover his legs. "Um..." Starlight spoke, finding his voice. "Y-yeah... I guess. What is all of this...? And who are you..? What are you?"

The man laughed. "Don't be afraid, Starlight Rave." He stepped closer, kneeling down. "My name is not important. I'm a human. It's best that I don't tell you too much. We have been watching your world for a long time now, just watching, mind you, more intrigued than anything by your wonderful lifestyle. We're not from your world of Equestria." He smirked. "Then again, neither are you." Starlight's face went blank, and he looked up. "W-wait... you mean... I wasn't forgetting anything, way back then! What do you know about my past?!" The human seemed unimpressed, and leaned forward, pressing a small button on the visor, causing Starlight to instantly lay down. "Calm yourself, please. I'm not here to be your enemy. I've spent these last 3 months bringing you back, because it wasn't your time."

Starlight's face fell as he was forced to lay down, listening to this... human. "T-three months...?" He looked away a little. He had nothing to lose. "Alright... you've got my attention. I'm sorry. I'm just so confused right now... What is all of this?" The human shook his head, releasing the button, allowing the pegasus up. "It is as I told you 3 months ago, when I first brought you here. You were meant for more than you had experienced, and after the unfortunate events leading to your death, I was forced to step in, and bring you here." He took a slow breath. "You never gained your Cutie Mark, because you never listened to your friends. Your friends had such praise for you, for your style, for your music, for the way you made them smile, just by putting sounds together. You always took it as a friendly gesture, and not as what it actually was." He pointed to the biohazard cutie mark on Starlight's flank.

Starlight nodded slowly. "...I... I obviously understand that now. Pinkie Pie was trying to show me, and I never listened..." He lowered his head. "Do not fret, Starlight Rave. Your existence has not been forgotten. Even now, your friends wonder and worry about what happened to you. However, you have a new place." The human stood up, walking slowly toward the wall. A mirror raised up from the floor, and a low, booming tone of bass began to play as dubstep flooded the room. Starlight walked forward, stepping up to the mirror, his eyes transfixed upon what he saw.

His wings were large and metallic, ornately carved with runic symbols beyond his comprehension, and they moved at his will, just as his old wings did. His legs had large metallic bracers in the same style as his wings, covering the majority of his front legs, and part of his back ones. A thin metallic plate covered his chest and stomach, small lines of the metal trailing up and ending at his sides. His tail had the same kind of ornate ring, with smaller ones on the hair of his tail. Each of his ears had a couple small glowing piercings, and he was wearing a small collar, the same kind of biohazard symbol engraved on it as his cutie mark. The visor covered his eyes in a clear substance... it wasn't plastic, or glass... but it was cool to the touch. Two large buds adorned the sides of the visor like headphones, that were connected around his ears, small winglike-appendages branching off of it to match his wings.

As the music played, the bass dropping harshly, he felt a chill run down his spine, and he lowered his form, growling at the metallic pegasus he was seeing, as if issuing a challenge. He stood up after a moment, satisfied, looking to the human. "I think you'll find your new form gives you a bit more control over things than your old one did. Your legs will be stronger, you will fly faster, and your visor will tell you everything you need to know about anything. If you can see it, you can get information. And information, my cybernetic equine friend, is your key to survival." He nodded gently. "So, do you like it?"

Starlight lowered his head, the music fading away. "...It looks like I'm ready for a party, but it's not bad... Better than being dead..." The human smiled. "No. you're not ready for just any party. You're ready for a Rave." He leaned down and pressed a button on the visor, a long, extensive list dropping down. Songs. Lists upong lists of songs, and artists, and more music and beats than he'd ever thought possible. The human turned it off after a moment, and nodded. "You have the world's thoughts, feelings, and hearts in musical form, all in that visor." Starlight blinked a moment. "I... I'm a DJ. After all of this... I'm a DJ. For a Rave." The human nodded. "Yes. But, whether you choose to use the tools I have given you is up to you, my equine friend. I merely gave you the tools to survive, and the means to do it. It is up to you to shape your life into what you will."

Starlight nodded, reaching up a hoof and pressing a button on his visor. There was a couple dozen of them around the rings on his ears. A large list dropped down in front of his face with various music tracks. He pressed another, and his vital signs showed up. He pressed several buttons, the visor quickly responding, and he nodded. "A-alright. I think I'm starting to get this." The human smiled, nodding slowly, before leaning down to Starlight. "Be cautious my friend. With great power and knowledge come great responsibility and danger. Do not attempt to remove any of the cybernetic replacements I have outfitted you with, or you won't like the outcome. They're as much a part of your body as anything else is, now. You may remove your visor, if needed, but I do not advise it. Your eye was barely salvageable, and it does not work well in direct light from outside the visor. Too much exposure, and you will go blind in that eye." Starlight just nodded. "I understand..."

He took a silent moment, thinking everything through. He was a monster. An abomination. He was a pegasus who was half pony, and half machine. He didn't even know of technology like this existing on Equestria... What would everypony think? What would everypony say...? Would he even be accepted back after being gone for so long, and then looking like he did..? He shook his head, and looked to the human again. "Now... It's my turn... What do you know about my past? Why did you do all of this for me? Why didn't..." He swallowed back a lump in his throat. "Why didn't you save Aloe?" The human waved the questions away. "You're special. You're not from Equestria, but your life is there. There is nothing for you here, and it is time for you to go back." Starlight went to object, but his eyes suddenly felt heavy, and he slumped to the floor, words flashing on his visor.

Manual Override Disabled.
Automatic Override Engaged.
De-Authorizing Protocol 18-01-22-05.
System Shutting Down.
System Reboot in 30:00...
29:59...
29:58...

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