OUT-29: Andromeda

Back in the days before the two alicorn sisters, there were six unicorns (those that trapped Arka): one of them was Starswirl and another was Enchanted Waters, but this story is about another one, Andromeda. Still, the story starts somewhere after the birth of the two sisters, little after the defeat of Discord and Cosmos. The Grifix had just settled in the Everfree Forest back then. Andromeda was a sorcerer who was fascinated by all sorts of magic, predominantly other creatures’ magic. They spent their life studying magic that unicorns could not perform, trying to find a way to be able to perform it. Magic was the only thing they lived for, and nothing else mattered. They even found a spell to stay young, agains their advanced age.

One time, they met the Grifix and due to their magic knowledge they were able to see and interact with them. They even befriended a grifix female, named Milky Way. Fascinated by the grifix’s magic, they asked that grifix to help them with study, and so they spent a lot of time together. Not long after that, Milky Way fell in love with Andromeda, and thought the unicorn was in love with her too. One day, she sighed:

“If only we were of the same species, and could have a baby together…”

Andromeda was struck by the idea: that would have been the peak of grifix magic understanding. All species breaded the same way, but the Grifix breaded through magic: could they manage to find a spell to make their magic compatible with the Grifix magic, and create a functional egg?

The idea became to obsess them. They spent days and nights trying to find a way. The only thing that did to the Grifix was make her even more convinced that Andromeda loved her. And she started loving them more and more. She was convinced that Andromeda did that for her. And if they made all that effort for her… it meant that she was the only thing Andromeda cared for. 

One day, Andromeda came to the Grifix with a spell. It seemed to be all perfect. The magic looked exactly like the grifix’s, and so they managed to form a perfect, seemingly healthy egg. The Grifix was overjoyed, and her love for the unicorn grew even bigger. There was no doubt that the unicorn loved her more than anything in the world - she thought.

But her joy was soon to be crushed, as the egg hatched. The baby inside it was deformed, hardly resembling the traits of a grifix. It was sick and his gems were cracked. The Grifix stared in shock at her baby, hugging it desperately. 

But Andromeda looked at it emotionlessly. 

“What could’ve gone wrong… well… I guess not all experiments come out perfect from the first try. I’ll have to review the spell, we’ll try again later.”

The grifix’s eyes emptied as she heard those words. The whole world around her was crushed.

“E… experiments?” She whispered, waiting for a comforting answer from Andromeda, but they just walked away, sunk in their thoughts, without hearing a thing.

That night, the Grifix left the pony settlement, returning to the Grifix village, the first time after a couple years in which she lived with Andromeda. She realized that there was no love in Andromeda’s heart. They had no heart. They never cared for her. She, as well as her baby, were nothing but experiments for Andromeda.