From a Dying World to New Lands

by Electrician

Chapter 19: Game Plan

Chapter 19: Game Plan

Perspective: Eddy Culivin
Location: Southern United States
Date: October 27, 2025

“What the Heck do you think could’ve caused that?” Mike asked, dumbfounded. Sitting in Jonathon’s hands was a partially charged Ultracapacitor, which I could have sworn was empty before…

“Guys.” It was barely above a whisper, yet I quickly found their attention directed at me. “The capacitor was empty until I gave it to Celestia. Since we didn’t pay attention to it shortly after Celestia dropped it I can’t be sure of this, but maybe, just maybe, Celestia unknowingly charged it.”

“But how?” Jonathon asked.

“No clue.”

“Wait wait wait, back up a second. Maybe there’s another explanation. After all, Celestia was so weak she was practically devoid of magic, last time I checked.”

“She wasn’t that drained if she was still moving around,” Mike added. “And besides, I really doubt some random stranger came out here and partially charged this up while we were occupied.”

“We need to take this inside,” I intervened. “I have a feeling we’ll need the ponies’ help to get to the bottom of this.”

“They should all still be with Celestia,” Jon noted.

“Well then let’s go.” Jonathon carefully cradled the Ultracapacitor like it was made of glass, and followed us in. I heard voices coming from my room as we approached, confirming that there were still people inside. As we entered into the corridor, we found the guards, as well as Luna, outside the Master Bedroom. They were all pressed against the door, trying to listen in. Edgar’s voice could be made out from behind the door. He seemed upset…

“And do you have any idea how worried I was when you just dropped like that!?” Edgar exclaimed. “Please…just, listen to me every now and then. I’m not trying to run your life, but I can’t have you die on me either.” There was a pause, before hearing, “please Celestia, this is serious! I was really worried.” More silence followed.

“You’re right,” Celestia’s voice finally carried through the door. “And I apologize for putting you through that.” If they were going to say anything more, they never got the chance. As touching as this moment was, we had more pressing matters. I swung the door open, almost toppling all the ponies pressed against it. Mike and Jonathon followed as I walked up to the bed.

“Celestia, pardon the interruption, but we really need your help,” I said, before looking over my shoulder at the other ponies. “And theirs too.”

“What’s this about?” Edgar asked.

“I’m not going to beat around the bush; we think she charged up the Ultracapacitor somehow.”

“What?” Both Edgar and Celestia said simultaneously. Jon stepped up, the evidence in his arms.

“Remembered how Eddy mentioned the circuit and the battery meter?” he said. They both nodded. “Well, take a look.” Words weren’t necessary as their reaction told us everything we needed to know. By now the other ponies began crowding around Jonathon, clearly interested in what was going on.

“But how?” Edgar said.

“That’s what we came here to find out,” Mike said, stepping closer to the bed. “Celestia, do you remember charging the capacitor on the way to the house?”

“To do so would’ve required some sort of energy,” she responded. “I am very low on magical energy right now, I can’t be wasteful.”

“In addition to that, my sister would not be that foolish,” Luna added. “If she expended magical energy in her state, she would…faint.” Luna’s words slowed down as what she said and what actually happened clicked perfectly. Her eyes widened in realization, and her head turned slowly to Celestia. “Tia, are you sure you didn’t?”

“Remember, that capacitor was empty before you grabbed it,” Mike continued, looking to Celestia for answers.

“I just…I just don’t know,” Celestia said. “I didn’t even feel it if I was using magic. I remember feeling weak, and then I awoke here.”

“So what you’re saying is that can be your magic in there,” I said. I heard Celestia’s confirmation before my mind kicked into overdrive, dulling the senses to focus and try to piece everything together. ‘The ponies have limited magic, and physically tire when they run low. They would recharge with the ambient energy in their world, but no such thing exists on ours. Except this mysterious ‘sporadic energy’ that Luna mentioned earlier. But what the Hell is it? It obviously has something to do with electricity, but what? Could it be electromagnetic waves? But in that case, light would recharge their magic, and it’s not doing that. Let’s do a little test though.’ With a temporary plan of action set, the world rushed back into focus.

“Luna, do you remember talking about that sporadic energy source you sensed on Earth?” I interrupted. It was a little rude to just burst into a conversation I admit, but I might get to something through these tests.

“Yes I do, but I don’t see how this ties in,” Luna responded.

“Neither do I,” I said, earning me more confused looks from those around me. “Not yet anyways. Listen, can you feel it now?” She closed her eyes, remaining silent for just a moment.

“It is there, but it is weak. It is appearing and disappearing rapidly at a steady rate for now, but it will randomly get a litter stronger, or vanish completely without warning. If you’re going to try something, I suggest you do it with haste.” Needing no further encouragement, I pulled out my radio, quickly selecting an unused channel so as to not block communication channels. Pressing the ‘Talk’ button, I spoke into the radio as I spoke with Luna.

“Can you feel any difference Luna?” I asked her, making sure my words were picked up by the radio’s mic as well.

“Hmm, if I focus, I can feel the smallest of variations,” Luna answered. “Though I do not believe that contraption is the source of this power that I sense.”

‘Figures it wouldn’t be that easy. So not electromagnetic. What about magnetic fields? But Earth’s magnetic fields wouldn’t disappear, nor would they rapidly fluctuate. Shit, ok then, just electric fields? However, I’m not sure if there's anything generating just those near here. Argh, what the fuck is it!?’

“Eddy.”

“WHAT!?”

“Whoa shit, calm down man! I was just going to ask if I could turn on the ceiling fan.” I registered Edgar’s voice, forcing me to stop for a moment. As I took a deep breath, I felt the frustration bleed out a little.

“Yea, sure,” I answered, much more calmly this time. “Let me just set the regulators on the solar and wind generators to bypass the pack.”

“You mean the ‘Both’ setting on the regulator? If so, it’s already set Eddy; that’s what you always tell us to set it to.”

“…I’m really fucking out of it today, aren’t I? Go ahead and switch it on Edgar, it should work. I’m sorry about earlier. Was just thinking.”

“Yea, you always have been difficult to call back when you space out.”

“Hey, I was actually thinking.”

“Oh I’m sure you were.” *Click*

“I felt something!” All conversations ground to a halt instantaneously. As the quiet humming of the ceiling fan motor filled the room, everyone, frozen where they were, turned to face Luna. “The energy source got stronger. It keeps appearing and disappearing at the same rate, but it is stronger now when it’s here. It’s…difficult to describe.”

“Edgar, turn off the ceiling fan for a moment,” I said. Edgar did as I instructed, and the ceiling fan ceased humming as the power feeding it was cut. “Luna, did it get weaker?”

“It did, I don’t believe this!”

“Edgar, turn it on again.”

“You got it!” *Click*

“Luna?”

“It’s stronger again!”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Twilight moving closer to me. “Eddy, is the power that goes into that fan special?” she asked.

“No, it’s just 120 Volts AC, same as almost every other home appliance,” I responded. “But, that may be the answer. AC. Alternating Current. The current flows through a wire and creates an alternating magnetic field, albeit a very weak one, since the wire isn’t wrapped in a coil. If your bodies are able to act like a closed wire loop near this field, then the changing magnetic flux through your bodies due to the alternating magnetic field would induce an EMF, or ElectroMotive Force. Basically, a voltage. The induced sinusoidal voltage creates a sinusoidal current inside you all, which apparently you ponies can use as energy to recharge your magic. This explains the ‘sporadic’ nature, since we turn stuff on an off all the time. It also explains the reason it disappears and appears rapidly, since the sinusoidal current often hits zero, since it alternates at the same frequency as line voltage, 60Hz. This is perfect, it all makes sense now!”

Blank. Stares. Not one comprehending nod, not a single smile, nada. Sometimes, being the only nerd around sucks…

“The ponies can use electrical currents as magical energy, and apparently vice versa as well,” I deadpanned. There was a resounding ‘oh’ as the shorter explanation seemed to resonate better with everyone who wasn’t an Electrical Engineer. Aka, everyone.

“Jon, could you pass the Ultracapacitor to Twi for a moment?” I asked. Jon nodded, and passed off the device to Twilight. “Alright Twi, I want you to grab it by the ends. Now, since I don’t know how this works, I’m relying on you to tell me if this is even possible. Can you sense the energy stored in the electric field of the capacitor?”

“I can,” Twilight responded quickly. “It’s amazing; how did I not notice this at all before?”

“Because I told you not to grab the ends, or touch anything up in the attic for that matter. Ok, moment of truth. Since you can sense the energy in the capacitor, can you add to it, or absorb it?”

“Let me see.” My request was apparently more inherent than we thought, because in no time at all, I watched the monitoring circuit extinguish all four lit LEDs, before relighting them again. Twilight continued until all ten LEDs were glowing.

“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic,” Edgar said, astonished. “Arthur Clarke was right after all.”

“That truly is incredible,” I said as Twilight’s horn stopped glowing.

“But why would electricity in this world equal magic in theirs?” Jon pondered.

“I’ve actually been thinking about that myself,” Twilight said. “We have to look at the similarities here. Both forces have a dominating influence in their respective worlds. Picture Equestria suffering a "magic outage" for a week. Farms couldn't grow nearly as fast, weather would go wild, unicorns couldn't do much of anything, the celestial bodies wouldn't move. We'd be in big trouble!”

“I think I see where this is going,” I added. “Guys, picture Earth without power for a week. Communications dead, factories dead, economies ground to a halt. If the world was working like it was before the Infection, we'd be in big trouble too!”

“We come from universes with many similarities,” Twilight continued. “And magic can be used to create electricity in our universe, and apparently vice versa as well.”

“So that means-”

“We can do the same in this universe!” we both finished together. We looked out to everyone, hoping they followed along. It seemed everyone did. The guys however, were also smiling for other reasons.

“You two are perfect for each other,” Jonathon teased, the others snickering with him. I felt an intense heat in my cheeks, and I was sure that my face was bright red. Looking over, it seemed Twilight had the same problem.

“I already approve the wedding,” Celestia joined in without missing a beat. This brought everyone from snickering to outright laughing. Except Twi and me.

“Celestia!” Twilight exclaimed, the red on her cheeks showing through her purple coat.

“God damnit guys,” I breathed out. “Can we please focus here? We have a means to restore your magical energy, and it won’t take you four weeks to do so either. This is huge!”

“Alright, we’ll stop,” said Jonathon when the group decided we had had enough. “So, what’s the big plan?”

“I was thinking we could probably use the generator to get Celestia, Twi, and Luna up to full power,” I replied. “We can head out tomorrow and try the spell we were talking about, and go from there. Jon, you should probably go prep the generator. Disconnect it from the grid, and start it if it isn’t already running.”

“Sure thing, but shouldn’t you, you know, turn the power on before we do anything? So we don't have to run the generator all night again?”

‘…Shit. Gonna burn through all our Biodiesel real quick at this rate.’ I grabbed the Ultracapacitor, heading for the door quickly. “Ok, let me take care of this really quickly, then we can try this out. You guys take Celestia to the generator shed, I’ll meet you there.”

“Do you need any help Eddy?” Twilight asked. A sense of dread washed over me like a tidal wave. From behind, I could already feel the tease coming, and there was no stopping it.

“Yea Eddy, take your lovely assistant with you,” Jon snickered.

“Fuck it I’m done,” I muttered, storming out of the room as I did so.

---

Perspective: Jonathon Burley
Location: Southern United States
Date: October 27, 2025

“Alright Twilight, are you ready?” I called out from the generator’s dashboard.

“As ready as I’ll ever be I suppose,” she respond a little uncertainly. Nodding once, I directed my attention to Eddy.

“Fire it up to idle speed only; we want to start off with a low voltage,” Eddy instructed. Disconnecting the generator from the grid, I set the throttle to idle and proceeded to turn the key, the generator only having to turn over twice before coming to life. I’ll admit; Sword and I did a really good job with this thing!

The engine revved up to its idle speed of 750rpm, the voltage gauge stabilizing as the rpm steadied. “Alright, she’s steady and holding. Reading 30 Volts on the gauge,” I informed the gathered group. All eyes moved to Twilight in anticipation. “Whenever you’re ready Twilight, grab the ends.”

Twilight glanced at the thick output cables, slowly reaching for them. My hand moved to hover over the circuit breaker; if things went south, I could kill the power immediately. She moved close to the cables’ exposed ends, then quickly and suddenly closed the gap and grabbed them.

The generator was the only noise in the shed. It hummed steadily, unaware that anything had happened. It didn’t stop, or even slow down. A quick glance at the amp gauge revealed no current.

“You feeling ok Twi?” Eddy asked.

“It’s…strange,” she replied. “It’s like I’ve been manipulating this force all my life. I can easily hold on to the ends of these cables and feel the energy in them, but I can control if and how much energy I take in.”

“You have been manipulating magical energy all your life Twilight,” Celestia added. “It should come to you as naturally as breathing. Whether conscious or not, your body has been absorbing and converting different forms of energy into raw magical power daily. Perhaps this power source is handled much the same way, allowing you to use it as you would the ambient magical energy on Equestria.”

“So would you be ok if I turned up the available power?” I asked. Twilight nodded.

“Let’s give it a shot.”

“Ramp the speed slowly Jon; the output voltage at operating speed is dangerous,” Eddy warned. As per his advice, I pushed the throttle lever slowly forward, keeping the other hand on the circuit breaker just in case. The rpm reading came up to and exceeded 1500, then 2000, and continued climbing. Everyone frequently asked Twilight of her condition, though she didn’t seem the least bit fazed by the potentially lethal current being held at bay at her fingertips. Ramping up the final 1500, the generator was at operating speed, pushing 140 Volts.

“This is it,” I informed everyone. “That’s 3500rpm.”

“Amazing,” Eddy breathed out. “If I, or Jon, or any other human did what you’re doing Twi, we’d get blasted with a current that would stop our hearts real quick. But here comes the moment of truth; can you recover magical energy from the generator?”

Twilight took a deep breath, and closed her eyes. Everyone’s attention was focused on her as she poured her own attention into her current task…for about a second.

*PING!* “Ow!”

Before we knew it, the generator had sputtered and died. Everyone stared at Twilight incredulously. For her part, Twilight had donned a sheepish smile.

“Too much?” she asked innocently.

“Well you tripped the circuit breaker, which activated a failsafe that killed the engine, sooo yea,” Eddy explained. He then looked over at me. “You ok buddy?”

“Yea, the lever just got my finger when it tripped. Damn that spring is strong; that shit hurt!”

“Glad to hear it.” Eddy clapped his hands together. “Alrighty then, let’s try that again, only this time I’ll be monitoring current draw. Jonathon, if you would be so kind…”

“Yea I got it.” Resetting the breaker, I turned the ignition key, the generator roaring to life and spooling to speed. “That’s 3500, whenever you’re ready.” With Eddy keeping a close eye on the amp gauge, we carefully figured out what the maximum power draw was for this generator.

“If you hold current draw around there, it should be ok,” Eddy said.

“At this rate though, it could take weeks to get Celestia and Luna to maximum strength,” Twilight informed us. I looked at Eddy, the same unbelieving expression on both our faces.

“But that’s a 49 horsepower motor,” I protested.

“And that generator can output 25 kilowatts,” Eddy added. “That’s a lot of energy; assuming direct hookup to a DC to AC converter, the generator alone could run our entire house and charge my electric car at the same time!” Twilight smirked.

“They raise and lower the sun and moon every day,” she pointed out. “That takes quite a bit of power.”

“…Point taken,” we both agreed. We decided to let Celestia recharge, since she needed magical energy the most.

“How long until you could potentially cast that spell?” I asked.

“To build enough energy for just that spell would only take about two hours,” Celestia responded.

“Heh, the power of one human life: 50 kilowatts,” Eddy joked. From across the shed, the door suddenly opened, revealing Edgar and Mike in the doorway.

“We just contacted Phoenix on the radio,” Edgar announced. “He’s surprised we came up with a solution so fast; he thought we were joking at first.”

“He’s going to get in touch with Doc tonight, and let him know we’ll be there at 8a.m. sharp tomorrow,” Mike added. “That means we’ll be out of here by 7:45. Make sure you all wake up accordingly. We’ll be re-implementing our night watches: Edgar, then Jon, then Eddy, and I’ll take the last watch. The usual, two and a half hour shifts.”

“Damnit, and I had just gotten comfortable not doing those,” Edgar muttered. “I guess our time in Equestria has made us lazy.”

“Speak for yourself fat-ass,” Eddy jokingly said. This earned him a chuckle from the guys.

As the idle chatter continued, I couldn’t help but smile. For all the terrible shit that has happened since our return, we finally found a silver lining in all this. Our group, though wary, accepted our friends, we discovered a spell that might reverse the plague, and Eddy even found a way around our main problem with it. If this plan actually works, we’ll have a means to stop this Infected plague, once and for all.

“You know guys, today was a good day,” I stated.

---

Perspective: Edgar Worthington
Location: Southern United States
Date: October 27, 2025
10:30p.m.

‘Good, only an hour left and I can go to sleep.’ I quit glancing at my watch as I continued my automatic sweep of the front side of our house. The night so far was quiet, and I couldn’t hear any Infected approaching; a good sign. I broke my sweep just for a second, and took a sip of coffee, before resuming my scanning.

I nearly leapt out of my skin when the front door, located right beside me, swung open unexpectedly. Taking deep breaths and a few moments to quell my racing heart, I turned my head to the front door. “You’re a little early for your shift Jon; go back to bed,” I told him.

Imagine my surprise when the door closed to reveal Luna standing outside instead. “It is only me, I did not mean to startle you Edgar,” she said. I pulled a seat up for her, which she graciously accepted. I was grateful her company during the uneventful watch.

“So, couldn’t sleep?” I asked.

“Alas, I could not. So much has happened in so little time. In truth, it is a little overwhelming.”

I rubbed the back of my head sheepishly. “Speaking of that, sorry about dinner. I’m sure that doesn’t help during this stressful time.”

“Think nothing of it,” Luna smiled in reply. “We have hosted ambassadors from several carnivorous races, so the consumption of meat does not bother us. Though I must admit having to eat meat myself was a surprise. It was not nearly as bad as I had thought, though I am glad Miss Fluttershy was not in our midst.”

“Yea, that…might not have gone over as well.” We sat in silence for a little, me enjoying the lunar princess’s company, Luna gazing up at the night sky. The moon was three quarters full, and only faint wisps of clouds obstructed the canvas of stars.

“How long have you had to guard the house like this?” Luna asked. “And why only at night?

“Well, we’ve been doing this ever since this mess started four years ago. During the day, Infected are mostly blind, but at night, their sensitive vision lets them see really well in the dim light. They tend to wander more during this time.”

“I see.” Luna fidgeted a bit. “I’m sorry if this is a sensitive topic, but I have only heard stories about Earth as it is now. I was…wondering, if it’s not too painful of course, if you would enlighten as to how it was before.”

‘Ah, where to begin?’ “The world at the time was…interesting, to say the least. There was so much going on, so many cultures and so many different ways of living. Before the world went to Hell, long-standing conflicts were finally starting to come to a close, technology was marching along at an impressive pace, the richer countries were trying to bring the poorer countries up to speed with them.

“That’s not to say wars, terrorist attacks, disease, and other things didn’t see their fair share in the world. Crimes, drugs, human trafficking and more; there was good and bad on our little blue rock in space.

“Despite this, humanity accomplished so much. We’re tenacious little bastards; we’ve found many ways to overcome our shortcomings. We’ve built cars that travel faster than any land animal, hydraulics to do our heavy lifting, planes that fly many times the speed of sound, the list goes on. We’ve managed to travel to the moon, connect the entire planet via communications and info sharing systems, cured many diseases; we’ve done a lot. It had its numerous flaws, but our world was an amazing place nonetheless.

“Sadly, in our pursuit of progress, we got ahead of ourselves and created the mess you see here. The world’s never been the same since.”

Luna remained silent, taking all this in. When I finished, she spoke. “Your people are truly amazing. Without magic, you’ve managed to not only survive, but thrive. You have accomplished things that we cannot even fathom, and the proof is right in this very home. Machines more complex than anything we have in Equestria, and they’re nothing more than consumer-grade goods here.”

“Well, you have to remember that technology in this world is like magic in Equestria. I’m sure scholars and researchers are constantly studying magic and finding out new things about it.”

Luna looked up wistfully at the night sky. “This is true. My sister’s student was at the forefront of these studies oftentimes. Twilight would always cause a stir in the castle according to my sister's stories, or in Ponyville when she moved there. It was a pleasant interruption to the monotone of our lives, usually quite humorously so…”

I heard Luna sigh quietly. “Homesick?” I asked.

“Very much so; our stay on Earth hasn’t been the most, ahem, peaceful.”

“Yea, Earth’s in a bad spot right now.” I stopped scanning, turning my attention fully towards Luna. “Hey Luna, I’ve been meaning to ask. What’s the probability that this actually works?”

“It is hard to say really, since experiments in magic have never been done on humans. Quite honestly…I’m terrified to find out. I’m terrified to go to such a dangerous place tomorrow, to see if we can grab the attention of only one Infected, to see if this works, to see if we can escape with our lives. So many unknowns, so many possibilities for catastrophe. Failure could result in our very deaths! I’m scared Edgar, petrified!”

Not knowing what else to do, I grabbed the distraught mare and pulled her in for a hug. “Calm yourself Luna, everything’s gonna be alright,” I told her quietly and reassuringly. “This isn’t the first time the boys and I have found ourselves in a tight spot. If push comes to shove, we’re getting everyone out, whether we accomplished our goal or not. We will not lose another pony Luna, I promise.”

Luna didn’t say anything, but she didn’t push me away either. So I sat there for the rest of my shift, even after she drifted to sleep, repeating a single phrase to her whenever I felt her shiver in dread for what’s to come.

“Everything’s gonna be alright.”

Author's Note:

If anyone's wondering why this took so long to get out, I've been upgrading the piss out of my motorized bicycle. I apologize for any future distractions my bike may provide!

Comments

[shy sad jaded shard]

and here I thought you where upgrading your place to mach the story just in-case of a outbreak.