Saphire Systrine

Luna's face hardened for a moment in frustration, then softened. "We apologize for our behavior," she said, her entire demeanor changing to that of a kinder, more loving ruler, "Saphire Systrine is a diligent, resourceful enemy, and while she will sometimes be kind like she did to you, you must understand that under that shell of a body she is a violent killing machine, and she only intends to use you." The princesses' words were laced with a sense of genuine concern, if not a hint of frustration, but maybe not towards Tinker. "While we may have her in our custody now," Luna continued, "she is fully capable of escape at any time. But…" Luna thought for a short time then said, "You may be able to help us stop her… your magic resists our anti-magic technology, similar to hers. If you would let us study you, maybe we can develop a method that can truly stop her." The Princess of the Night smiled kindly at Tinker, "Will you?"

@Skylight Scintillate Just so its clear, you can transform right now, you aren't lacking magic to do that You can basically do whatever here, its up to you on how to handle this situation, feel free to be creative

"You said 'like' one hundred and twenty-eight times," Luna responded without a beat, "Are you so inept that you don't know any other transitionary words? Not to mention what you said was quite useless. We already know everything you spoke of. It seems you are only as useful as your... abilities," she said, looking the quivering changeling up and down. The way she said that did not seem like he was about to be enlisted in service to the Princess of the Night. No, with the context of 'copying magic', maybe this meant something much worse.

"Really now," said the princess in a cold tone, her eyes still unsettlingly emotionless, "You have thirty seconds to begin talking, or I will… encourage you to talk." Tinker didnt have many options here. He could say what he knows, which wasnt much, something she probably wouldnt like, or say nothing. As his instincts begin to kick in, he can feel that he has the ability to transform. Maybe that is an option as well.

"Names Ramfin, though I used to just be called Fin before I got my title," he said, introducing himself, "Nice to meet you Tinker, wish it was in better circumstances." "I believe so, you're the first I ever saw brought in. Maybe its because those changelings really know how to defend their hive. You didnt come straight from the hive did you?" The mention of the hive being defensive brought some interesting yet startling implications. It was already established that the creatures here had been kidnapped, but to try and make blatant moves like attacking the hive? That doesn't sound very Equestrian. Tinker never heard any news about this, then again, news from the hive doesnt exactly travel to the small town of Ponyville very fast. "If you ask me I don't trust a single one of these thugs, not even the Princesses. Not after how I saw them treat the others, treating their own ponies like prey." Ramfin tried to keep up with Tinker's bombardment of questions the best he could. "I got not idea what you're talkin about bud." "I dont know, they dont say anything." "If by meals you mean some weird synthesized snot then sure. Keeps us alive but thats about it. And no, I've not seen Celestia much, mostly Luna. When did you see Celestia?" "Uhh..." Ramfin didnt know what he was talking about. Seems he was not familiar with Equestria's leaders, so he may have been taken straight from his homeland. If so, does that confirm they were trying to capture changelings from the hive as well? Soon the torrent of questions had become overwhelming for Ramfin, so he shushed Tinker. Right as Tinker stopped a door could be heard opening, and the sound of metallic hooves reverberated through the hallway. Within a minute or so, a guard was looking into Tinker's cell. "Get up and get out here," the guard barked as the door opened. The guard prodded Tinker with his spear down the hall. Beyond a door with absolutely no window was another maze of hallways, just like the ones Tinker had seen when he was with his group. Just as with the cell, he was unceremoniously shoved into a surprisingly empty, dark room. Suddenly the room was blindingly bright before Tinker's eyes could adjust. In the center of the room was just a drain, the concrete around it stained a slightly red hue. "So tell me," came the low voice of a dark-blue alicorn he hadn't noticed standing in the corner, "What do you know about Saphire Systrine?" The alicorn, who must have been Luna, slowly walked forward. Her gaze was unrecognizable. Cold maybe? Either way, it was unsettling, utterly lacking the warmth Celestia had.

"Honestly not much. Kidnapped, taken here. For the first day I was passed out and woke up with all these wounds all over my body, but then they never came back," The hippogriff started to explain in a low voice, "They do for the others though. Those three ponies have had it rough, they get taken almost every day. I try to talk to them but they're just too weak, only get a word or so out of them. Something about copying magic or something..." Aside from their voices, the only other sounds were the whimpering ponies in the cell next to Tinker.

"Come to the door crack, we can talk better through there," came a voice from outside his cell. Across the hall was a hippogriff. He pointed down towards the air flow space under the door, then squatted down, vanishing from the window, "You'll need to hurry, the guards to rounds every 3 minutes, which is overkill if you ask me."

The large metal door shut with a loud reverberation, and just as it did @Skylight Scintillate Tinker felt the poke of a spear behind his head. "Move, bug," the guard demanded rudely. The guard led Tinker further into the facility, and eventually to what looked like a set of holding cells. Each cell contained some kind of magical creature, everything ranging from cockatrice to manticore, all locked behind thick steel doors with thick viewing windows. Deeper into the hall of cells, though, he noticed other fellow races. Dragons, hippogriffs, griffons, and even a set of the three pony races. The ponies in particular looked like they were in horrible shape, but Tinker didn't get enough time to fully inspect them before he was shoved into the cell next to them. This development didn't bode well at all. Was the two-faced treatment going to reveal itself upon his friends? "The Princess will see you soon, keep your mouth shut and you may get a meal tonight," the lead guard gruffly said as the door was slammed shut. Four cinder block walls and a steel door encased Tinker. Attached to one of the walls was a steel sink with a floor toilet below, the rest of the floor was solid dark concrete. Above was a bright light made of a technology he had not seen before, and next to it was an intake vent and output vent, fastened securely. It had pea-sized holes to pass air rather than the slats usually used on such vents. His friends could be in danger.

@Skylight ScintillateYou okay? I dont want to leave you behind. You're about to go on a side quest 👀

Hmm, thought I was dropping hints in celly's behavior but I guess I can be more overt. Leading actions? What are those? Also yes, no flying for now. You'll get that back later

"Well if you wouldn't mind, I need you to go with my guards to another area. Your magical signature remains as a latent part of your biology, we wouldn't want that to damage the sensitive equipment, would we?" Celestia said in a motherly tone. Nodding to her guards, the choice was made and Tinker was led through the door down the hallway. Turning to Azure, Stardust, and Saphire, she motioned for them to follow her down a different path. "Don't worry, your friend will be safe. Maybe he can help us with some... other things," she posited as she led the group. Saphire remained silent, her eyes locked onto Celestia.

"Whatever do you mean, my little pony?" the sun ruler asked. Unlike the others, she merely stood there. Her regalia remained on. Pressing her hoof to a button next to the door, she waited as the external air was replaced with the cleaned internal air. Next, she reached for a lever adjacent to the button but stopped. "This may hurt a bit. We need to disable all of your magic, as it can interfere with our equipment," she explained. With a thunk she pulled the lever down. For everyone but Twinkle a searing pain shot through their bodies. When the headache-inducing feeling subsided, the ponies gathered their bearings. "You're not a pony, aren't you?" Celestia asked as she turned to face Tinker Twinkle. @Skylight Scintillate

@Azure Dawn@Skylight Scintillate@Silly Druid I'm so sorry for the lack of updates dearies! After Harmony Con I was quite burnt out, and quite a lot happened. I drove 18 hrs across the country to save a friend from an abusive household, who is now living with me, my grandfather is in the hospital, and other life stuff. It has been quite busy for me irl, so I do apologize. TBH, I'm stalling on a part coming up in this thing because I need to finish an animated sequence for it However, let me continue some of it

Saphire began to disrobe along with the others, placing the crown and head ornaments in a basket the guards provided and moving to unlatch her saddlebags. The moment she undid the strap on her back, it was as if the bags simply vanished, sending some gems and the device she had previously used clattering to the floor unceremoniously. In the place of the saddle bags were two very real wings, speckled with what appeared to be faint blue freckles. She finished removing the dress and waited for the others. No longer covered in cloak or dress, her flanks finally revealed a large crescent-shaped cutie mark that seemed to have an almost metallic sheen to it. Though one would have usually been able to observe gender-revealing anatomy adjacent to that area, absolutely none was present, just the same fur as any other part of her body. Was she even a her? She picked up the items with her mouth and placed them into the basket, and only then did she turn to look at the others.

@Azure Dawn@Skylight Scintillate@Silly Druid When are yall planning on picking this up again? No rush! I am just curious so I can work things in my schedule

"Now we follow," she said out loud. But then she turned, her expression conveying another attitude entirely, "Stay on guard," she whispered, just barely audible over the reverberating clip-clops of their hooves. Why Saphire would say that was a mystery, as was much about the mare, but her face wasn't concerned, more... suspicious of something. But of what? It wouldnt be Celestia, so maybe she's suspicious about the magitech? That is the crux of the issue, after all. @Silly Druid, @Skylight Scintillate, @Azure Dawn, and @Saphire Systrine followed the Princess of the Day as she led them out of the throne room and through the quiet winding halls of Canterlot Castle. With each turn, the sounds of the Gala grew more and more distant until they were silenced completely as they descended a flight of stairs into the lower regions of the castle. After a few turns was another small flight of stairs. The ponies trotted down the stone steps into a wider room, but their vision was impaired by the fact the only source of light was the dim stairway lamps. Saphire stepped forward and was suddenly met by the razor-sharp spears of the Royal Guard. The guards immediately flanked the group on all sides, blocking the stairway with similarly armed pegasi. The room fell eerily still until Celestia's voice rang ahead of them. "Please, dont mind the company," she said, her voice sweet and gentle, "they are but a precaution. Please, step forward and we will begin the decontamination. All clothing and accessories will be confiscated for the duration of the visit to ensure no foreign material enters the science sector," she explained curtly, particularly eyeing Saphire when she said 'foreign material'. With that, a door opened before them, the room beyond a bright white that was difficult to make out due to the contrast with the dark room.

Do you think you could draw a sketch of it? :3

Hmm. Well for now I'll work on other aspects of the thing. I've already got the ##### ###### and ##### ###### done, and am currently parsing out some of the graphical effects

Right! right spike take a letter.mp4 I have a fragmented memory at times heh. I am curious to see the results! But do be quick if you don't mind, I need it for the scene I'm workin on! If you need the model to do it, you can download the base version here: https://systrine.carrd.co/#models

You can model? :O

@Azure Dawn Heya, what is your pony wearing? A dress? More simple stuff like a necklace and headwear? What color? I need to make that stuff

if you want to, sure. Characters can butt in

here, let me get it out :]

@Skylight Scintillate@Silly Druid@Azure Dawn I do apologize for the delay. I'm making... quite a lot of stuff for what's about to come up, but I've also been so busy with other responsibilities outside that, and ofc its holiday seasons so schedules get yoinked.