Epilogue: ... On The Long Road Ahead
Eileen dispensed what she hoped was the last meal before she could come out from behind the counter and have her own dinner. At least this time she had no one complain to her about the meager amounts of meat in their ration. She was tired of explaining just how damned expensive meat was. Not that anything was really cheap these days.
Eileen glanced towards the door, where a National Guard soldier stood watch. He took the glance as an unspoken question and peeked out the door. "No more for now, Ms. McDermott."
"Thanks," Eileen said in a tired voice. She removed her apron and quickly went about preparing her own meal, taken from the same rations as everyone else. Most of the staff tended to retreat to a room in the back to eat, but she preferred to stay with the others. She wanted to put a face on the people who came through here and not treat them as just random destitutes in search of a meal.
As she looked around for a spot to sit, she felt like she had stepped into a history book. The Great Depression was just a footnote in history for her, and yet now she felt like she was living it. The media were loathe to call it that, as not every area of the country was affected like this. This little place just on the outskirts of Pueblo, Colorado was considered one of the last bastions of humanity in the west. That was a bit of hyperbole to her, but not to the ones coming hat in hand for help.
Eileen scanned the crowd for new faces. She knew most of their stories already. A good number of people who visited the Relief Center -- to her, a fancy term for "soup kitchen" -- were former IT workers out of Denver and Colorado Springs. They either had no jobs or were forced to take low-paying manual labor work. Much of the tech sector in that part of the country had been forced to relocate to the east or west coast, and the jobs had gone with them. With the economy in shambles, many didn't have the money to relocate.
Eileen didn't profess to understand all the details about how the economy had crashed. Certainly it had to do with a significant chunk of Americans no longer in the labor force and no longer buying consumer goods. Some of the land that had been a focus for industry ranging from timber to tech were in pony hooves. This all came on the heels of an economy that had already been strained by the rampant absenteeism caused by the initial flu outbreak. Many services that had become thin during that time had yet to recover. Ponies no longer needing money had not helped; until the government started simply destroying money turned in by ponies, the sudden increase in circulating currency caused inflation to spike.
The government had been going on and on about things getting better soon thanks to programs to help relocate both humans and ponies alike to better balance the land use and bring humans closer to businesses who were actually hiring, but the ponies' penchant for being friendly and accommodating only went so far. Some had started digging in their hooves and refused to be moved about further. For those ponies who sought integration into human society, it led to needless animosity towards them from humans.
It didn't help the national mood that the numbers of ponies volunteering for "rehumanization" were depressingly low two months into the program.
"Over here," Eileen heard a gruff voice say.
She turned her head to see a barrel-chested man sitting at a table with two chairs. A smart phone sat on the table beside him, a bit of a rare commodity. Normally, she would advise him not to openly display such an expensive-looking gadget for fear of it being stolen, but the man gave off a vibe that said "don't mess with me unless you want your ass handed to you on a plate." He was the most neatly dressed of anyone there, the only thing breaking the illusion was the graying stubble on his face. He waved a beefy hand towards the empty chair across from him.
Eileen headed over and sat down. "Thanks."
The man extended his hand across the table. "John Barrows."
Eileen accepted it. "Eileen McDermott."
"Hey, yeah, I was right, I do know you," said John in a fairly heavy New York accent. "Weren't you the gal my guys caught tryin' to run the blockade into Lazy Pines?"
Eileen hesitated. While all charges against her had been dropped in exchange for her being the guinea pig for the counterspell, she was still wary of discussing it. "Guess it depends on who wants to know."
John chuckled. "No worries, I don't harbor any grudge about it. None of the other men did. Just doin' their jobs."
"You were with the police in Lazy Pines?" Eileen asked.
"Police chief in fact," he said with more than a hint of pride in his voice. "Not anymore, of course, since the country went to shit."
Eileen glanced at the National Guard soldier. "I thought there would be a big call for law enforcement considering."
John shook his head. "Most of that's still being handled by the military. They say that martial law's not been in force for a while, but I'm just not seein' that. Yeah, I could go back to New York and maybe get something there, but nowhere near my former rank and salary. And the damn ponies certainly don't need me."
"Before you go off on any tirade," said Eileen in a cautious tone. "I have family who are ponies, so I won't take too kindly to it."
John waved a hand dismissively. "Naw, I've done all the ranting I'll ever do about it. Besides, I got a sister who's a unicorn. Tried to drill it into her fool head to get rehumanized, but she went off and got marked instead."
"Got marked" was meant to be a derogatory term for acquiring a cutie mark. "My son is a unicorn. Unmarked, still. Sister and her husband and one of their daughters, the oldest, all marked. My mother's a pony, unmarked, but stubborn. Becoming a pony did nothing to soften that Irish brogue of hers." She paused. "My sister's younger daughter Jenny is going for rehumanization."
"Well, hey, that's one bright spot," said John. "What about your son? Think he might do it eventually?"
Eileen gave him a faint smile. "Never sure with him. I've been exchanging letters with him since my cell phone died and the postal system isn't such crap anymore."
John frowned. "Can you believe that the postal service actually suggested they start hiring pegasi to get them back into business sooner? Jesus."
So much for having done all his ranting, Eileen thought ruefully. "Why the hell not? Personally, I think the controversy over it is stupid. I think it would be better if some ponies did integrate back into society. Shit, I could think of a lot of things pegasi alone could do, like make rain over forest fires."
John rubbed his neck. "I still think they're just treating this as some stupid lark. They'd all be better off as human again."
"Well, there's still time for that to happen," said Eileen, though she was no more hopeful than most.
"Yeah, but I'm just not seein' that happening. Here, look at this." He shoved his cell phone across the table and turned it around. "Look at this video I was just watching a little while ago."
Eileen set her meal aside and tapped the play icon. It was a news report where several ponies were interviewed about the push to have them rehumanize.
"Why the hell would I want to do that?" one yellow and orange earth pony mare from Florida said. "When I was human, I had Lupus. I was in constant pain every day. Now not only am I healthy, I've got tons more strength than I ever had!"
"Go back?" said a purple and blue unicorn stallion from Phoenix. "Why? So I can be homeless again? Yeah, it took me a bit to learn to use my horn properly, but I had other ponies helping me rather than treating me like some kinda trash someone dropped on the street. Not everyone who's homeless is a drug addict, you know."
The third, a green and yellow pegasus mare from Kansas, was a little more sanguine. "I've actually been thinking about it after hearing the truth behind it all," she said in a soft voice. "But, I don't know. I have tons of friends I don't want to leave behind. I do wish humans would let ponies work more with them. There's so many things we can do to help them."
Finally, a brown and amber earth stallion from Wyoming spoke. "Rather than droning on and on and on about how I'm not supposed to be a pony, how about letting me help, huh? I've already done all I can for our pony community. Let me do something to help humans, okay?"
Eileen tapped the pause icon. "Frankly, I think those last two kinda prove my point."
"Yeah, but it also shows there ain't gonna be droves of ponies wanting to be human again, and that's the only thing that will fix the country right now," John declared.
Eileen knew what John really meant: that was the only thing that would bring back the old world. The old world was dead, and a new one was slowly -- if painfully -- rising in its place.
Before Eileen could respond, she suddenly noticed that silence had descended on the shelter. She turned her head and spotted the visitor just inside the door.
"Crap," Eileen muttered as she launched herself from her seat.
"Eileen, you have a minute?" said the earth pony stallion with a bright orange coat and dark red mane. Upon his haunches was a cutie mark shaped like a stream of water with steam rising from it. Around his neck was a silver pendant shaped like a crescent moon.
Eileen rushed through the shelter and herded the earth pony outside. "Goddammit, Fire, I told you to come in through the staff entrance!" Eileen growled through clenched teeth.
"I'm sorry," said Fire Springs, his ears drooping. "But no one was there when I looked."
Eileen sighed. "Okay, I'm sorry I got upset with you. I just didn't want to give the soldier in there something to do."
"Look, if I'm going to spread the word about reuniting with the humans, I have to live that philosophy as well."
Eileen tended to enjoy working with ponies, and she liked that some of them really did want to help, but those like Fire taxed her patience. He was a Lunite, a sector of the pony population that looked towards the Equestrian Princess Luna as a spiritual leader. Some of the night ponies whom Luna had contacted to modify Sunset's vision had become so enthused with her that they included her in the vision.
The Lunites were not the only such movement among the transformed. Without Sunset's guiding influence, and being encouraged to think for themselves, ponies were coming up with various belief systems around what had happened. Another group had been dubbed the New Equestrians, who believed ponies should live as they do in Equestria. A similar group were the Harmonists, who believed fervently in the Five Pillars of their faith: Honesty, Loyalty, Kindness, Generosity, and Laughter.
Then there was the tiny contingent that Eileen frankly hoped stayed tiny: the Shimmerists. To them, Sunset was both savior and martyr.
What was common to many of them, however, was their belief that they needed to stay ponies, and in turn came a need to rename themselves as Fire had done. Even Laura was going around as Sunrise Storm.
"What is it you came to see me about?" asked Eileen.
"I just wanted to let you know that some earth ponies up north are willing to try raising more chickens to help augment the meat supply," said Fire. "Right now, they've been raising them only for their eggs."
"Doesn't that offend your pony sensitivities to be sending animals for slaughter?"
"Not really. Just because we don't eat meat doesn't mean we begrudge those who do."
Eileen sometimes found herself wanting to discover reasons to give ponies a hard time. This really wasn't their fault, and nothing she or any human or pony could do would force her son to make up his mind. "Thanks, Fire, but keep that under wraps, okay? The agriculture business in this country took a huge hit, and the last thing they need is to hear you're undercutting them."
"As soon as human farms can provide, we'll stop sending food," said Fire. "But if it's ever needed again, you're damn straight we're going to help. We're not going to let people go hungry over a point of politics."
Eileen wanted to explain it wasn't as simple as that. Already people were demanding that food produced with magic be labeled like GMO foods were. All sorts of foolish misinformation was circulating, such as eating magically produced food would eventually turn someone into a pony. It was patent nonsense, but even before the crisis, so-called "fake news" had been an issue.
The food industry was a mixed bag. The beef and poultry industry took a huge hit when part of their consumer base vanished. Prices first crashed due to saturation of the market, then skyrocketed as cattle ranchers went bankrupt and inflation went out of control. Producers of corn were hit next, as much of their market was for cattle feed or to manufacture corn syrup, which in turn went into products ponies didn't want. Grain and vegetable markets fared somewhat better, but they, too, were hit with wild price fluctuations and a dearth of replacement equipment. The federal government finally had to step in and impose rigid price controls.
It wasn't that there was a lack of arable land for humans to use, it was more finding people willing to work the land in a depressed economy. Earth ponies were more than willing to share their surplus with humans but had to overcome lingering suspicion, misinformation, and politics. In very few places in the US were people actively going hungry; the ponies found a way to work with humans in many unofficial capacities that the federal government tacitly if not publicly supported.
Eileen and the rest of the Relief Center staff never let on exactly how much of their rations were pony-supplied.
"Nothing is simple anymore," said Eileen in a softer voice.
"That's one of the reasons I decided to stay a pony," said Fire. "I felt like it actually had simplified my life, considering I was working fifty and sixty hour weeks at a desk job I hated."
Eileen almost repeated the mantra that she had drilled into herself after hearing it from the purple pony princess -- that becoming a pony wouldn't solve her problems -- but it would be wasted on Fire. To him, it had solved his problems. His talent was finding hydrothermal features in the landscape, and he mentioned that he had a long-standing interest in geology and always regretted not pursuing it as a career.
Eileen managed a small smile. "I guess whatever works for you. Thanks for the help as always, Fire."
Fire Springs smiled, nodded, and headed away.
Eileen watched him go. In a way, she felt like she was looking into the future. Humans and ponies had to find some way to accommodate each other. Their very survival depended on it.
Laura darted up high above the clouds that were being gathered below, her gaze whipping around as she shielded her eyes from the sun with a fore-hoof. So far, the coast was clear. The helicopter she had earlier spotted in the distance had not returned. Hopefully that meant they had not been spotted.
She dove back down and joined the crew of four other pegasi who were busy creating a small rain shower as fast as they could and as boldly as they dared. Not that she had much work to do, as her cohorts had nearly finished the job. Naturally, they would with Rainy Skies -- otherwise known as Emma -- in charge of the detail.
Laura flew up to her friend, briefly glancing at Emma's cutie mark, that of a cloud dropping rain and driven by the wind. She still remembered the day it had shown up. Emma had indeed tried her hoof at going back to sewing, and while she had some success with it, the lure of the skies proved too much to ignore.
Laura felt like Emma had chosen on her own. When Emma decided to rename herself, she thought it appropriate that their names complemented each other.
"I think we got this, Sunny," said Emma.
Laura smiled. She still liked that nickname despite its past connotations. She was always careful to introduce herself as Sunrise Storm before letting them call her Sunny. She admitted choosing the name as a nod to her more positive memories of Sunset, but decided a break with the past was in order, hence the name Sunrise.
The other pegasi gave the clouds a buck, and the skies under them darkened with rain.
"Let's head away under the clouds to avoid being seen," Laura said.
The others fell into formation around her as they dove through the obscuring mists of the clouds and broke through into the soft rain. Laura glanced down at the section of forest that had remained far too dry for too long. With a little moisture, the fire danger would be reduced.
No one in any official capacity had asked them to do this. If anything, human authorities were still adamant about reigning in pony abilities until they could arrange for "proper" training from Equestrian experts. Those experts had failed to materialize for most pegasi, and ponies like Laura grew more impatient.
"This really is ridiculous, you know," Laura said, giving voice to her thoughts.
"Yeah, tell me about it," Emma said with a roll of her eyes.
"It's been three months now! You'd think they'd actually want fully trained pegasi around when the Atlantic hurricane season started. Or the tornado season in the Midwest."
"Oh, I doubt they'll let us handle anything that big for a long time," said Emma. "If anything, they'll start blaming us for any bad weather that happens."
Laura sighed. She had really wanted to take to heart the idea of engaging with humans and avoid a pony isolationist mindset. Indeed, she had even supported plans to try to make Denver more of an integrated, multispecies city rather than the separated pockets of humans and ponies that it was now. It didn't help that some bright spark among the ponies had dubbed their part of town "Ponyopolis," and the name had somehow stuck despite sounding a little silly to Laura's ears.
"I have a feeling I know what the delay is," said Emma. "It's not that Equestria won't train us. The unicorns at least have been given some more basic spells."
"Yeah, but only very basic," said Laura. "Bob's complained about not being able to do more advanced spells. He figured out all the basic stuff himself."
"And the earth ponies were given lessons on maintaining the land," Emma continued. "But where pegasi and weather control are concerned, the US government is dragging its feet. I think they're waiting to see just how many ponies will still be around after this rehumanization thing is over."
Laura tried to stay away from that topic whenever she could. She knew Jenny was going for it and would unlikely be swayed otherwise. She wasn't looking forward to how awkward things might be between them for a bit. Many of Laura's friends thought Jenny a little funny in the head for wanting to change back, but then again, many of them had already gained cutie marks.
Gaining a cutie mark was occasionally bittersweet, especially if it meant that the pony's true talent would take them away from the community. That was what caused Joan to move away when she gained her mark of a bird with a bandaged wing, realizing her true calling was back in bird rehabilitation.
"You're probably right," Laura said in a glum voice. "Is it me, or are humans still trying to pretend that we're going to go away if they wait long enough?"
"Is that what finally made you agree to do stuff like this?"
Laura had begged off using pegasus abilities to do anything outside of maintaining the weather in their own communities. She had wanted to hold to being respectful of the fact that they shared this world with humans. Yet she realized that many of these delays indirectly hindered themselves. With so much of the forested lands of the west in pony hooves -- whether by sanction of the US government or not -- a wildfire here could be more devastating to ponies than humans.
"Sort of," said Laura. "More that not all humans are of that mindset. Here, I'll show you what I mean."
She directed her contingent out from under the rain shower and towards a small building at the end of a winding dirt road. A human male in a ranger's uniform waved at them. Laura led her cohorts into the clearing and landed. "We took care of some of those dry spots like you asked."
The man smiled as he advanced. His uniform looked a little worse for wear. He was technically a volunteer now, as US government infrastructure had not recovered enough to pay the man a steady wage. "Thank you kindly for that," he said in a slightly raspy voice.
"You sound better," Laura said with a smile. "Finally shaking off that cold?"
"Seems like it."
Emma nudged Laura with a wing. "You hadn't told me there was a human living out here. Or that he asked you to do this."
"I've only known him for a few weeks," said Laura. "I've been trying to find more like him, people who actually want us to work with them."
The ranger nudged his hat back. "Sunny here's been a big help. Granted, I don't have any official authority right now, but I felt I had to do something."
"What makes you stay here?" Emma asked.
"This is my job, my life," said the ranger. "I'm not going to give it up. Hell, if I were a pony, I'd have a cutie mark by now."
Laura turned to her friends. "This is what we have to do, everypony. We all have to find more people like him. We have to show humans we can work with them and that they don't have to be afraid of us."
"But that's dangerous, isn't it?" Emma said. "You've heard the same stories I have about all those survivalists holed up in the mountains."
"Somepony has to take that first step. If we don't, who will?"
"I just want us to be safe and happy. I finally feel like I've gotten to that point in my life. I guess I didn't want to spoil it."
"I'm not saying we have to. We just need to expand our horizons a bit."
The ranger stepped up. "If it helps any, I can't believe I'm the only human who feels like they can live with ponies instead of apart from them. I'll bet anything that there are people actively preaching that message."
Laura turned towards him. "There has to be. What a lot of ponies don't realize is that there are still far more humans on this world than ponies. Our future depends on them."
"I'm not sure I like that idea," Emma said.
"It's the truth nonetheless," said Laura. "And the sooner we realize that, the better. Becoming ponies didn't solve all our problems, it just shifted the challenges that face us."
Emma slowly nodded, as did her cohorts. "I guess you're right."
Laura managed a smile. It was a small victory, but a victory nonetheless. Perhaps things were not moving as fast as she would like, but somepony had to move things along. She could only hope that others were trying to move things along as well.
Father Lyle Donovan climbed up into the pulpit and looked out over the congregation who had gathered for Sunday Mass. The Gospel reading had just been concluded, and this was one of his favorite parts of the ceremony: the sermon.
It was not that he liked lecturing to people. He tried to use this time to put his faith into his own words, but with the added challenge of not calling on too many religious invocations. He didn't want his sermons to devolve into "do this because God told you to."
It also gave him a chance to look at his congregation and assess their well-being. He was glad to be pastor of a small church; with the roomy, big-city churches, he could barely see anyone's face past halfway down the pews.
He was happy to see Mrs. Johnson's dress looking a little less threadbare. Goods delivered from outside were few and expensive, and people had to make do with what they had. Some had left Carbondale to follow the movement of jobs out of town, but too many people here had strong connections to the area and decided to stay and tough it out until things got better.
He noticed Ms. Kelsy sitting in the pew next to Mrs. Johnson, a needle-and-thread cutie mark gracing the unicorn mare's haunches. He hoped that meant she was the one who helped patch Mrs. Johnson's dress. Only just last week, they had sat on opposite sides of the church from one another.
The entire congregation was a mix of human and pony. In many cases, the ponies sat apart, but over the course of the last few Sundays -- like Ms. Kelsy and Mrs. Johnson -- he was seeing more mingling. Ponies still tended to remain apart from humans, with ponies living in communities outside of town and humans inside. Thanks to the efforts of Father Donavan with help from the other churches in town, they had managed to urge both sides to come together more often. It helped that some of the ponies were eager to do so, especially those who wanted to return to their religious faith.
The church was not as full as during the ETS crisis, but certainly more so than it had been pre-crisis. He hoped that was a trend that would continue, not so much so he could count on more devout Catholics, but because the church was a means by which they could come together as one people.
Yet he, of all of them, could understand the calling the ponies felt they had.
His horn glowed, and he neatened the arrangement of sermon notes before him. He brushed a few strands of gray-streaked white mane hair from his blue eyes with the back of a brownish-red-furred hoof.
"My fellow beings in Christ," he said in the same gentle voice that still seemed very appropriate coming from the unicorn pony priest as it had from the human who once presided over the Mass. "Recent events have tested us and our faith in ways that we never had dreamed possible."
That was certainly true for Lyle himself. Once he became fully pony and realized much of his congregation would be as well, he decided that he would best serve them as one of them. He acquired his cutie mark soon after, that of a Christian cross superimposed on a Eucharist host. He felt it was a reaffirmation of his faith, a sign that he had indeed taken up his true calling.
"But I don't mean faith in God," said Lyle. "I speak of faith in ourselves. It is almost too easy to look for God for help compared to reaching out to others, especially given how different and strange our neighbors may seem."
Mrs. Johnson and Ms. Kelsy exchanged a glance and smiled at one another. It was then Lyle noticed the pendant around Ms. Kelsy's neck depicting the Virgin Mary. Several other ponies sported similar pendants. A few weeks prior, word had come down to the Carbondale ponies that the mare in the initial vision was believed by some to be an image of Mary, and that belief had taken off among some of the Catholic ponies in the area.
"I overheard a comment the other day. The comment was: I don't even recognize the world I live in anymore."
More than a few people, human and pony alike, nodded their heads.
"Some years ago, before settling in Carbondale, I volunteered for relief efforts in New Orleans in the wake of hurricane Katrina," Lyle continued. "I heard a comment very similar to that from one of the residents. It indeed seemed like the world as he knew it had come to an end. His home, his entire neighborhood, places he had known for many years were all gone and never to return."
A few of his human congregation looked uneasy. They had relatives who were still ponies, and they likely had argued with them time and time again about rehumanization to little effect.
"Since then, his neighborhood has been rebuilt and is thriving again. It's not the same neighborhood. It's not the same world. It's not his world anymore. Yet all was not lost for this man. My friends and I encouraged him to move somewhere else, somewhere he could make his world. No, it was never the same as the old, but he adapted to it enough to make his life fulfilling again."
A glow from his horn, and he quickly switched to the next page of his notes.
"The same challenge is before us, my friends," Lyle continued. "Yet we do not have the luxury of moving someplace else, of making someplace else our world. We could argue whether what has befallen us is the work of God or the work of the Devil, but the end result is the same. We have a new world before us, and we have to make that world our own."
Lyle noticed a man wearing a cowboy hat sitting in the back row. Lyle could not remember whether the man had been there from the start of the service. Lyle knew him only as Mark, and that he had been very adamant about not going to Mass run by a "pony preacher." Even now he still wore a sour expression as he listened.
"There is another reason I've told you this tale," said Lyle. "The man was not of my faith. He was not of my skin color -- well, at least what I had as a human at the time -- and certainly not of my culture. It mattered not. I helped him just the same. Perhaps those differences seem almost trivial now. They should. We were all children of God then, and we still are now. He does not turn His face away from us just because some of us have hooves, horns, and wings."
Lyle glanced at Mark again. His expression had changed from sour to stoic. There had been an incident of a man bringing a gun to a service at one of the other churches. Fortunately one of the unicorns present acted fast enough to yank the gun out of his hand before he could fire. Lyle would rather not be forced to put his magical talents to use in that regard.
"I certainly know and understand the pull ponies have to come together in their own communities," Lyle continued. "But in my mind, it is vastly overshadowed by a greater need. We cannot have two separate worlds. It will never work. We need to stop thinking in terms of humans and ponies and think in terms of beings united not just in Christ, but for our own common cause. Until someone invents a better term, we must expand the term 'humanity' to encompass all of us. If we do any less, we do so at our own peril."
So perhaps this sermon had turned a little more lecture-y than his usual fare. He felt it necessary. Sometimes, it was best to point out the elephant in the room. That he left much of his congregation with thoughtful looks was encouraging.
He presided over the rest of the Mass, once more glad that a guiding hand -- or perhaps hoof -- had made him a unicorn. It certainly made Communion rites easier to perform than it would have been with hooves.
After the concluding rites, Lyle did what he did after every Mass: stand at top of the steps to the church and greet those who filed out. As a human, he would shake hands with those who wished to do so. He still offered his hoof to any who would want the contact, but in the first weeks after his transformation, only the ponies would take him up on it. Slowly, a few humans braved it, and that morning, a lot more had.
Perhaps he had gotten through to them after all.
Finally, it was down to Mark. Sitting in the back of the church, he could have been one of the first out, but he specifically waited until the rest had left. Lyle admitted to a little wariness but didn't show it. When the man came to him, his expression was uncertain. He took off his hat and fiddled with it. "Uh ... nice preaching there, Father," he finally said in a subdued voice.
Lyle smiled and nodded. "Thank you."
Mark scratched his head. "Look, um, if I ever seemed riled up at ponies, it's because my family lost their ranch. It was everything to us. I know it's not the ponies' fault, but sometime's a man's gotta have an outlet for his feelings, you know? Even if it's not the smartest outlet."
"I understand," said Lyle.
"I wasn't expecting to hear what you said in your sermon. I was expecting you to go on about humans being more like ponies. Something like that."
"I realize some ponies are like that," said Lyle. "Ponies can be different from one another. And that, in turn, makes them not too unlike humans."
"Yeah, I think I see what you mean," said Mark. "It's gonna take awhile before I can get chummy with them, you know?"
"I realize it will take time. It won't be solved overnight. We have a long road ahead of us, my son, even if we started working together right away. It's not going to be easy. Faith in God is almost easy compared to faith in ourselves."
Mark nodded, fiddled with his hat for a moment, then thrust his hand forward.
Lyle smiled and placed his hoof against he man's palm. "God bless you, son."
"You, too, Father," Mark said.
"I can't believe you're going to go through with this!" James cried.
Jenny did not respond right away. She sat by the suitcase she was packing, having refused assistance by her mother whose horn could have likely finished this task already. Draped over her fore-hooves was what had been one of her favorite shirts as a human, one depicting a fairy surrounded by an enchanted forest. She had retrieved it from their old house once the military had pulled out of what was once Lazy Pines.
She sighed and tried to fold the shirt as best she could. She had wanted to do this packing herself to help further emphasize that her decision was the right one. Her heart ached just the same as she heard the plaintive tone to James' voice. "We've been over this already," Jenny finally said in a low voice. "Stop trying to make it harder."
James stomped a hoof. "Since I think you're making a huge mistake, I'm damn well going to make it harder for you."
Jenny rose to her hooves and spun around. "Now who's being selfish?"
James' pupils shrank slightly. "What are you talking about? I'm only thinking of you."
"You sure about that?"
"Jenny, you told me yourself, the night ponies have been helping you ever since that enchantment holding back your memories was dispelled. You won't have that anymore as a human!"
Jenny took a deep breath and tried not to shudder. The night ponies had tried several times to reach the minds of humans as they slept to no avail. Their abilities apparently worked only on fellow ponies. "I can deal with a few nightmares," Jenny muttered.
"But the point is, you don't have to," James insisted.
"I've explained this to you before," Jenny said in a tired voice. "Dispelling that enchantment did more than just unlock those traumatic memories. It made me really remember what it was like to be human."
"What, and suddenly you don't feel comfortable as a pony anymore?"
Yes, she did still feel comfortable in her pony body. She could have easily stayed in it for the rest of her life. "You still don't seem to understand, James, and I'm getting tired of explaining it to you."
James stepped closer. "Try me one more time."
Jenny frowned and stepped back, foiling his attempt to get her to better breathe in his scent. That always seemed to calm her, but right now, she wanted to remain riled up. "Being comfortable with this body doesn't mean I'm comfortable with myself, and I'm not at all comfortable with how I got here. I was forced into this, and I need to decide for myself what I want."
"But if you go back to being human, you won't want to be a pony again. I don't even know if you could change back."
"The point is not to change back! Again, you're not getting it!"
"Your whole family are ponies," James insisted. "Your parents, your sister, Bob--"
"Bob simply hasn't decided yet."
"Oh, come on. He says that, and then he comes up with yet another new spell every week. I'm telling you, he's going to stay pony."
"Don't go thinking you know his mind any more than you know mine," Jenny declared. "And I'll have you know that my family supports my decision. Why the hell can't you?!"
Jenny had not realized she had started yelling until the silence that ensued seemed so stark, James staring at her with glistening eyes and one fore-hoof raised as if feeling the need to bolt. He finally set it down and said in a quavering voice. "Because ... I'm in love with you, Jenny."
Jenny's pupils shrank to near pin-pricks. "What??"
James swallowed and looked away. "I-I'm sorry, maybe I should've told you earlier, maybe it would've mattered."
Jenny felt her throat tighten. She realized she should have seen this coming. Even back before the rehumanization drive started, she suspected his feelings for her ran deeper than she had wanted to believe.
"How are we supposed to pursue any sort of relationship if you become human?" James demanded in a shaky voice. "You'll be in a completely different world than me."
Despite all the push to get ponies to interact with humans more, there were still those like James and his family who would prefer to remain in their own little pony world. They saw nothing wrong with pretending that only other ponies mattered in their immediate lives.
She sometimes wanted to remind him that the first settlement -- now going under the unofficial name of Pony Hope until the US government formally recognized it -- had a devil of a time remaining where they were. They had become briefly embroiled in a dispute with humans over water rights, a contentious topic in Colorado even in the best of times. The federal government had stepped in with temporary solutions while they helped rewrite the laws, but so far no one was satisfied.
Yet this was all a distraction, an easy way for Jenny to refuse to deal with the problem. She could chastise herself for not dealing with this sooner, or even blame him for not revealing his feelings to her sooner, but that would be just avoiding the issue as well.
Jenny took a deep breath. "James, I'm sorry," she said in a much softer voice. "I like you. I really do. But ... I just ... I just never felt that way about you."
James gave her a hurt look, and his eyes still glistened, but thankfully he managed not to tear up. "I guess maybe I should've seen that," he said in a low voice.
"I like you as a friend," said Jenny. "You're a very good friend. You listen to me when I have to rant. You don't judge me when I tell you how I feel."
James considered. "If you delayed your decision to rehumanize, maybe you--"
"It won't change anything."
James lowered his gaze, his ears drooping.
"It won't be fair to you," said Jenny. "And it won't be fair to other girls who are interested in you."
James lifted his eyes and tilted his head. "What other girls?"
"I, ah, better not mention their names, but I have seen some making eyes at you."
James swished his tail. "But I don't want anypony else."
"I know, but you can't have the one you do want."
"But ... well ... wait, maybe we could make it work even if you're a human, I--"
"James, stop it," Jenny said. "After I rehumanize, I'm not likely going to be living here anymore. I'm not sure exactly where I will go at first, but I have to be among my own kind for a while. Certainly I'm going to visit often." She paused. "After all, it will play into what I'm thinking of doing with my life as a human."
"And what's that?"
"Help improve relations between humans and ponies."
James looked confused. "And just how does that play into your love of fantasy?"
Jenny smiled wanly. Having the complete story of her past laid out to her had not changed the fact that she still longed for her fantasies. That had been a sign that perhaps they were a natural part of her after all. "What's more fantastic than helping humans deal with little magical ponies in their midst?"
James gave her a faint smile. "I guess I can see that."
"Right now, I feel like I'm straddling two worlds," said Jenny. "In a way, considering the state of the world right now, that's not really a bad thing. But I need to feel more grounded in one or the other."
James stared.
"What?" Jenny inquired.
"It's just ... I don't know, it's like this is a side of you I've never seen before."
"What do you mean?"
"Please don't take this the wrong way, but ... you just seem a lot more, well, mature."
Jenny almost laughed. She thought back to the countless discussions she had had with her parents about that topic. None of them had worked. It had taken being transformed into a little pony to make her see the truth. "Maybe the girl you think you're in love with is the one that's not really me anymore. I've changed since we started going together as humans."
James tucked his tail between his hind legs. "I guess I was hoping we could be more like Tina and Bob."
"They have more in common than we do, than I think we ever did." Jenny paused. "And not to put too fine a point on it, James, but Tina would support Bob more if he decided to rehumanize. If you really want us to be more like them, give me that support."
James was silent for a long moment before he finally said. "I'll try. I really will."
Jenny let out a small sigh of relief. Despite how supportive her immediate family was, it would help having a friend outside that arena make the effort to understand and encourage her. When she had been transformed into a pony, she had no choice. This time, she was making a choice, and to her it felt tantamount to deciding to have some sort of huge elective surgery. She was about to disrupt her life again, and by her own decision.
She gave him a brief hug. "Thank you."
James managed a small smile at the contact, even if it were bittersweet. "How much time do we have? When are you going to do this?"
"In two weeks," said Jenny. "It was going to be in a few days, but we changed the appointment when my Dad found an opportunity to head to Grand Junction to see if he could reconnect with Aunt Mary and Grandfather George ..."
Harold was grateful when the old pickup truck finally came to a stop on the dusty road a few miles short of Grand Junction. His muscles ached from being bumped about on the badly rutted road. The healing wound on his flank where he had been grazed by a bullet still hurt. At least it wouldn't bleed anymore thanks to the unicorn he had encountered in a pony settlement outside Vail who had a healing spell.
"Here you go, buddy," said the beefy man at the wheel. "Far as I can take you."
Harold looked out the window, and his heart ached. He had not seen this place in years, and yet it seemed like it hadn't changed from that day he thought he had left it for the last time. "Thanks," he murmured as he fumbled for the door lock and pushed open the door.
He jumped to the ground with a loud clop of hooves, kicking up more dust. He reached up and slammed the door of the pickup shut, and the driver tipped his hat before heading off.
Harold shook himself vigorously until his coat looked less dulled by the dust, better revealing the stalks of grain that served as his cutie mark. It still left his mane looking a bit worse for wear, but that was to be expected considering this trip took him almost a week. Even if he had been able to count more on the generosity of humans willing to give him a lift, it belied the problem of the roads themselves.
Most interstate roads in the western states wound through mountains, and the most common hazard were rock-slides. I-70 alone was subjected to several during the course of a year, requiring men and equipment to clear, both of which were in short supply. It was worst in the spring and early summer with both the constant freeze-thaw cycles and the runoff from the melting snow, which was just when ETS and the immediate aftermath occurred. The Army Corp of Engineers had been assigned to clean up the worst of it until they were pulled off onto building Relief Centers. Only recently were ponies trying to pitch in to help.
Even where the roads had been cleared, the damage left behind had not been fixed yet in many areas. Ponies could clear big rocks, but not lay new asphalt or concrete.
Harold's heart pounded as he advanced further down the road. Despite his great earth pony strength, he felt very vulnerable as he recalled what Mary had described of armed men circling the farms and ranches as if they had become bunkers. He had already been shot at once when he chanced upon a small camp of survivalists.
The ponies of the settlements he had passed through who kept him supplied with food and water told more tales of small bands of humans who violently defended their land not just against ponies but human authorities who would seek to displace them. The National Guard had to be called in on multiple occasions.
He crested the hill, and at once he was taken with the sudden contrast.
The dusty roads had been testament to the greatest challenge of farming in this particular area: the fickle weather. Harold was always concerned for his father's welfare, and often kept abreast of the weather conditions. Before ETS hit, he had already known his father would have a tough season this year.
All that had changed. Before him spread a luxuriantly green landscape, the crops already up and ripening, far more advanced than what they had done back in Pony Hope.
The place was indeed guarded; he just had not expected the guards to be ponies.
Two massive stallions, an earth pony and a pegasus, stood guard at the road winding into the farmland. The earth pony had gray-green fur and a brown mane, the mark of a cracked boulder on his haunches. The pegasus had a sea-green coat and light blue mane, his mark that of water misting over tilled soil. They didn't carry weapons per se, but the earth pony looked stronger than even Harold, and the pegasus had huge wings to match his stature. They were not ponies he would want to get on the wrong side of.
That was precisely what did not happen. At the sight of Harold, they smiled, and the earth pony gestured, saying in a deep voice, "Come, friend, you are welcome here."
Harold trotted towards them, still feeling a bit wary, especially when he saw that the earth pony wore a pendant shaped like Sunset's cutie mark.
"If you are in need of food or shelter, we'll be happy to provide," said the pegasus. "We ask only that you assist us in return."
"I'd be happy to help as long as I'm here," said Harold. "Though I'm not staying all that long."
"We have enough ponies to sustain us for now," said the earth pony. "We have enough food and water that we can provide for some of your return trip. My name is Strong Hooves, and this--" He gestured towards the pegasus and gave an amused snort. "--is Jim."
The pegaus Jim rolled his eyes but smirked. "Yeah, yeah, I know, I haven't quite bought into the whole pony naming thing. Lemme 'lone."
Harold managed a weak laugh. "Don't feel bad, Jim, I haven't quite either. Name's Harry Tanner."
Strong tilted his head. "Tanner? George's boy?"
Harold's heart leapt. "Yes! George Tanner is my father. Is he here?"
"Oh, yeah, he's here," said Jim. He chuckled. "And as ornery as he ever was."
"I'm here to see him. I wanted to find out how he's doing."
"Yeah, no worries," said Jim. "Hell, I'm sure your sister Mary will want to see you as well."
"If you want to see her that is," Strong said in a suddenly cooler voice.
Jim sighed. "Oh, don't go there again, Strong. Harry here is family."
"What's going on?" Harold said in a wary voice.
Strong frowned. "Let's just say we've heard some rather unsavory things about how humans are treating ponies. We've had this land as humans for generations. We're not moving, period. We don't give a shit that 'earth ponies can make any land good.' If humans want our surplus, they're welcome to it, but we demand a little respect in return."
Harold glanced between the two massive ponies. "I take it you've had some run-ins already?"
"Yeah, unfortunately," Jim admitted in a sad voice. "One of us was killed. That was before your sister showed up."
"So you can understand why we were reluctant to take her in," said Strong. "But George was insistent that we did."
Harold pieced this together in his head. So his sister Mary was human and his father was pony. "I'd really like to see her, too."
Jim turned to Strong. "I'm supposed to go off-shift in a few anyway. Mind if I knock off early and show Harry around?"
"It's been quiet today, it should be fine," said Strong.
Jim nodded his thanks and swept a massive wing around Harold. "This way."
Harold glanced back at Strong Hooves before leaning closer to Jim and saying in a low voice, "Is he always like this?"
"Try not to take him too seriously," Jim replied in an equally low voice as he folded his wing against his side. "He's bought lock, stock, and barrel into the whole idea that this pony thing was humanity's salvation or whatever. Frankly, I thought his beliefs were a little out there even before all this happened."
"And what about you?" Harry asked.
Jim shrugged. "Me, I've been doing farming all my life. I was an irrigation specialist." He laughed and opened his wings briefly. "Ha! Still am! So I just rolled with it. Beats having to set up and maintain expensive equipment."
Even though Harold had committed himself to remaining as he was -- indeed, he received his cutie mark the moment he had made that decision -- he still tried to take nothing at face value. Both the alien ponies and Bob had helped him question exactly what the future of ponies on Earth would be. It certainly was no longer as cut and dry as it had seemed to be that morning after the vision.
"I have to admit, I feel a little bad for Mary," said Jim. "I think she feels out of her element. She can't do things nearly as well or as fast as the earth ponies, so doing actual farming here didn't work out. Only reason I think she's here is to be close to George until she figures out what she really wants to do or where she can go."
"Just how much of Grand Junction was affected?" Harold asked.
"About half the population. Most of the humans have started to move away. No jobs for them. It's becoming more of a ghost town every day."
That saddened Harold. Some of his fondest memories as a kid had been taking the occasional excursion into town, usually to treat themselves to dinner at a restaurant or to drive over the Colorado National Monument.
"I've heard some ponies talking about trying to reclaim parts of the town for themselves," said Jim. "Even going so far as to replace the houses with ones sized more for us. Don't know if it'll go anywhere, though. You'd be surprised how many people or banks or whatnot claim they still own all the property when nopony's using it. Ridiculous, if you ask me."
"Isn't that the same that you and your fellow ponies here are doing?" Harold asked. "Claiming you still own the land?"
"We're here and still working this land, they're not," said Jim in a more serious tone. "Big difference."
Harold decided not to pursue the point further, for they had turned down another very familiar road which led to one of the small buildings provided for hired hands living on the property. His heart lurched when he saw the very familiar form of his sister sitting just outside the cottage, her long sun-bleached blond hair tied into a single loose braid that seemed to glow in the sunlight. A wide-brimmed hat adorned her head, shading her blue eyes. Her nimble fingers were working needle and thread as she appeared to be patching a work glove.
"Hey, Mary!" Jim called out.
Mary lifted her head. "Heya, Jim. What's up?" Her eyes shifted to Harold. "Who's your friend there? Another visitor from the settlement near Palisade?"
Harold surged forward a few steps and said before Jim could respond, "Mary, it's me, Harry!"
Mary's fingers stumbled in her shock, and she uttered a muted "ouch!" as she stuck herself with the needle. She bolted to her feet. "Holy shit, li'l bro, is that you??"
Before Harold could respond, she closed the distance, crouched, and pulled him into a massive hug.
"Mary, wait, I haven't had a bath in a while," Harold said, though his voice quavered with both excitement and relief.
"I don't care, Harry," Mary said in a shaky voice. "I'm just glad you're okay."
"I could say the same for you. You never got ETS? Last time I talked to you, you had the start of the flu."
Mary broke off the embrace, smiling, her eyes glistening. "My flu took long enough to resolve itself that I got hit with that wall of light they said was the cure. So it never happened to me."
"But it sounds like Dad didn't avoid it."
Mary rolled her eyes. "That old goat wound up keeping from me the fact that he was coming down with the flu ahead of me. He's just too damn good at pretending he's not sick. So he got there first and started transforming."
Harold paused as he worked out the math in his head. "But he couldn't have been more than partially transformed when the cure was distributed. Couldn't he have had it reversed?"
"Harry, the brutal facts are that they couldn't get everywhere all at once," said Mary. "They had to pick and choose where they could get the most benefit until they got rid of the remaining transformation magic. Deep here in 'pony country' was not one of them. By the time they did drain that magic, he was fully pony. Besides, he was loathe to go to a doctor in the best of times, and that really didn't change." She smirked slightly. "Though maybe this was good for him in the end. It softened him up just a bit. Not much, mind you."
"Do you think he'll want to see me?" Harold asked.
"I honestly don't know. He's, um, avoided the topic whenever I brought it up."
Harold's ears drooped. "I came all this way, I can't just go back now. I have to see him."
Mary grinned and ruffled Harold's mane. "I never said you shouldn't. Do you want me to come with you?"
"No, I want to do this alone." Harold turned to Jim. "That includes you as well."
"Hey, no worries," said Jim. "If Mary vouches for you, that's good enough for me. I trust you know the way?"
Harold turned away from them. "Certainly. This place hasn't really changed, ponies or no."
It didn't take long for Harold to wish he had taken Mary up on her offer. Everything was indeed so familiar that it tugged at his heart and threatened to make him tear up. He had not seen this place ever since his final row with his father; it had been a bitter association, one of the reasons he had never gone back.
Despite having looked at the vision in a new light, one thing was indeed clear: he had not been honest with George behind his reasons for leaving the farm. His only excuse was that he had not been honest with himself, either.
He trotted along the narrow road that ran alongside his father's property. The next break in the fence would be where the feed trucks came in delivering grain for the chickens. He could easily jump the fence, but he wanted to respect his father's property.
Memories clouded his thoughts, of a little kid running along the fence, seeing how fast he could make it from one corner of the property to the other. He'd race his friends, and almost always beat them. They'd pretend to be soldiers, and the dirt road was a critical location behind enemy lines that they had to take. Or it would be cops and robbers, except everyone wanted to be a robber, so they were a gang on the run from the law.
"Hey, stranger."
Harold was so startled by the voice that he nearly stumbled as he whirled around, and his breath caught.
Approaching him from the other side of the fence was a hearty earth pony stallion with almost the same red coat as himself, except a shade darker. His mane was brown streaked with bits of gray. His eyes were deep amber. On his haunches was a cutie mark of a hoe and a shovel crossed over one another.
If Harold had not heard the voice, somehow he would have known that was his father. His throat closed up too tight to speak at first.
"Looking for work?" said George Tanner as he stopped at the fence. "I could use a few more hooves to work the flood ditches. Hmph. Those fancy-winged pegasi say they can put the rain anywhere I damn well want, but nothing beats being prepared. I ..." He trailed off. He sniffed the air. "Wait. Why ... why do you smell familiar?"
"Dad, it's me!" Harry blurted.
George's pupils shrank, and he backed up a half-step, his mouth dropping open. "H-harry?" he said in a small voice.
Harold swallowed hard and nodded.
"But ... y-you ..." George frowned slightly. "You have a lot of nerve coming back here now after all this! After you left me all those years ago claiming you didn't want the life of a farmer anymore, and now you show up with that cutie mark and expect me to ... t-to just forget that you ever ... that ... I ..."
With his own emotions in turmoil, Harold failed to hear the anger in his father's voice quickly break down. "Dad, I'm sorry I never told you the truth about why I really left. I don't want to go into that right now. I just wanted to know you're safe and--"
Harold never finished his sentence, as he was startled by his father's mis-timed jump that took part of the wooden fence down when his rear hoof caught. At first, Harold thought George had simply stumbled into him when he landed, until he felt his father's fore-legs wrapped tightly around him.
"I've missed you, son," George said in a choked voice. "God as my witness, I've missed you."
Harold had no words. He simply hugged his father in return. Explanations and reconciliation could wait. What mattered now was this moment.
Harold fervently believed that moments like this would be the light on the otherwise dark and forboding long road ahead.
THE END
(for now ...)
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Why do I feel that the former sheriff is going to be a real pain with dealing with ponies in the future. Hopefully Jenny will go live with her Aunt when she returns to being human.
Beautiful. Astounding. Astonishing. Epic.
This whole story was amazing! And these last two chapters... You definitely know to reach and twist the reader's heart. And the simple yet challenging fact that you were able to maintain a steady upload schedule, even in times of strife is just above and beyond what us readers deserve.
Just keep on dealing with what you need to, Geek. We'll be patiently waiting! You certainly deserve a break
Wow, and what a ride it has been.
I think this epilogue works perfectly and covers a lot of the issues that remained or will crop up in the near future. So, only 350 million ponies worldwide? That may actually make things more difficult than if it had been more and I'm looking very much forward to see where you take this. Oh and of course there's still the small matter of the devourers...
The sermon was a very strong scene indeed, I especially liked the effect that it for some reason felt as if the priest was still human until 'his horn glowed'.
Ending the story on the reunion of Harold and his father was a good decision. Reconciliation will be the key to a sustainable pony-human future after all. Now to wait for what the future has in store.
Thank you for writing and sharing this tale.
I loved this story from the very beginning and I can't wait for more. Bravo.
*claps* Well done, just, well done, I don't even know what else to say here, this was a great story, thank you for writing it.
Again, this makes no practical sense. This makes them come off as incredibly short-sighted. Refer to my comment in the previous chapter.
And oh Jeez, I forgot that there'd be a whole plethora of minor religions cropping up from this debacle. That's gonna be pissing off a whole lot of fundamentalists, I bet.
The Food industry paragraphs were on point however. I'd totally agree with everything if it wasn't for that dumb 'ponies don't take money' bullcrap, but eh, that's just me.
Holy shit that is such a stupid name I felt that I went cross-eyed for a moment.
No, they're dragging their feet because directly tampering with weather systems is not well understood, so they're not taking any chances in allowing a bit of rain in one spot in Colorado that might lead to a drought in, oh I dunno, someplace like Portugal. This stuff is so interconnected that unless the Earth has enough weather ponies to cover every corner, there's going to be weird shenanigans if ponies just start molding the weather to their hearts' desire.
Not gonna lie, this caught me off guard. That was well played, ASGeek. Keep fighting the good fight, Father Lyle.
Overall, like the previous chapter, this was a pretty good read, nitpicks and weird crap notwithstanding. I eagerly await the next installment!
Eileen seems the best choice for legal guardian for Jenny. Eileen lives in a predominantly human settlement which is close by predominantly pony settlements. Financial concerns aside the ponies won't let those humans go hungry. It's kind of ironic that Eileen had to give up guardianship of her own child to her sister and now may likely take guardianship of her sister's child.
The biggest concern with Jenny staying with Eileen would be formal education. I would assume Colorado as a whole would pretty much be out of human teachers, considering how likely every teacher was to getting exposed early on. And those that had avoided ETS transformation till the counterspell likely packed up and moved to other areas soon after.
Mary is another option, but the complete lack of other humans in the community she lives in is a less ideal situation for Jenny.
The final option is the foster system----which may have many, many issues at the moment. And it is never ideal even in better times.
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Thanks. I fixed that and a few other typos that another reader had pointed out in a PM.
I'm pretty sure I've said this already, but this story was a ride from start to finish, and it's easily in the running for one of my favorite fics on the whole site. Thank you ever so much for writing it! I'll be waiting eagerly for a sequel, but for now, I'd say you've more than earned yourself a break.
Admittedly this was a difficult read for me at times, for reasons I'm not sure I can explain. Words have never been something I've been good at expressing myself with.
However, the fact that this story is ending up in my Favorites is something that doesn't need explaining. Thanks for writing this. >^_^<
This is going to be a very long road, indeed. And I'm not sure I can see it heading anywhere but tragedy.
The fact of the matter is that, as far as I can recall the details in this story, ponies are objectively superior to humans in just about every area pertaining to survival. They're faster, stronger and magical on top of being generally more cooperative amongst themselves, and they are incredibly self-sufficient. That's going to attract envy and resentment from humans.
The world's economies are going down the drain. When desperate, starving people start looking over the fence and see (literally) greener grass on the other side, they're going to take what they want. Even if ponies were completely altruistic, I don't think pony communities are numerous enough to feed a collapsing country. Once they start holding off, that's when the guns come out.
If things start getting bad enough, people will probably start asking to be turned into ponies. A penniless, homeless person constantly faces death by starvation or exposure, but even a destitute pony can live off the land. And heck, we haven't even touched on the subject of soulless corporations in more stable countries attempting to patent pony agriculture and magic, if not outright exploiting pony minorities.
Of course, Triss and the devourers might change how that all plays out in the future.
I'll be looking forward to the sequel.
Congrats on finishing it!
I eagerly look forward to a sequel to this amazing world.
After all the chaos, this gave me a smile at the end.
I love Father Lyle. He's the kind of person i want to be.
I feel like the number of Asian ponies is a bit small. The place is so crowded they call 70,000 people a village. The flu should have spread farther. Might want to check that out and research how well disease travels there.
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Not to mention the fact that this whole mess was caused by a pony to begin with. That's gonna sour things for a lot of people.
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Not so much erudites, but definitely Luddites. It was a problem Twilight pointed out to Sunset during her first capture: her spell and vision combo was too powerful and basically shunted all ponies into believing the tribal community lifestyle was the best thing ever. Each pony community working towards being completely self sustainable and without a desire for modern conveniences. And while Luna's altered vision nipped the isolation from humans in the bud, it didn't stop them from abandoning the human lifestyle. They don't really accept money because they have no use for it. All the food they need to eat and all the resources they need to build they grow themselves, and their new communities do not use gas and water. The rest of the goods one would buy with money fall in the luxury category, which most communities seem to avoid.
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That is an argument for getting Equestrian experts in on the job ASAP, rather than keeping them away. Equestrians have the experience required with wrangling weather systems into shape, and teaching the transformed pegasi the do's and don'ts sooner rather than later would be vital to prevent pegasi from trying to figure it out themselves and screwing it up.
Wow, it's finally done. Bravo on a wonderful story. When this story started, I didn't think too much of it. It was interesting, but it didn't seem like much special. I don't know exactly when it happened, but at some point this changed in my mind into one of the really great pony stories. A true epic in the truest meaning of the word.
I love it so much. The characters, both the ponies and humans are incredibly well developed. The setting and scenario are fully fleshed out. It's just so great. And I love how you managed to maintain the alternating pony/human chapters, even when they started to mix together and become almost the same. Even to the end. (Though that does leave us with ending the whole thing on, of all things, Harry and his father, which I think is kind of an odd choice. And ending the pony segment on Derpy rather than the more central characters. Wait... Both epilogues ended with the long lost child unsure how they're going to be received by their parent and then being welcomed back unquestioningly. Holy crap the symmetry. Still, odd choice to end with the lesser characters.) So gooood!
I'm sad that it's over, but I can't wait to see where you go from here. And while I don't personally have any ideas for the setting, were you thinking of opening the world up for people to write sidestories? Because I feel like this brave new world is ripe for spinoffs.
8516063
I think the ponies are aspiring to their better natures and working for a form of communism (the original intended version; like ground level communes. not the socialist dictatorship we call communism now). In a utopian community where there's no scarcity and no one in want of things, they wouldn't need money. They obviously didn't mean that NO ponies are dealing with money any more, since some are still dealing with humans. I'd assume the money-shunning ones are the hardcore insular pony communites who want to live substinance level and help each other for the sake of helping each other.
8516157
Keep in mind that the original desease vector; it's point of origin; is a small isolated town in the Rocky Mountains. I assume there isn't a ton of traffic going directly between Lazy Pines and rural China. Any infection in China is going to have had to travel betwen a couple of hubs first. Of course, once it's there and ingrained, it would spread like CRAZY (as we saw in that there were 100 million chinese ponies- 10 million more than the US, which was the epicenter), but it would take time to get there in the first place. That time is why the numbers are as "low" as they are. It took a while for the infection to get there, and by the time it did, the Equestrian forces were already implementing their solutions to the problem.
8516306
That would be a logistical nightmare not to mention all the ponies who won't want to move.
The ponies are mentally unstable .
Holy smokes, this has been a roller coaster of a story! I'm glad I ended up finding this, and as such, I give this a 10/10!
thank you for a wonderful story. you should get 10,000 points just for your ability to stay on schedule looking forward to the next book if you continue this story congrats on a tear jerker finish
8516311
Not sure why I typed erudites instead of Luddites there. Good catch.
Except they do. Perhaps not for purchasing goods and services, but for fiscal reasons. Last I checked, they all consider themselves to be American citizens. That means that the land that they occupy is still subject to property tax. They are legally required to pay their due in currency.
Now I'll admit that it's entirely possible that concessions can be made so as to allow alternative payments (paying with surplus food, for instance) or they can exempt their lands from the real estate tax. The issue here is that it's a poltical minefield either way. Why should I have to be expected to pay my taxes during a neo-depression, but the pony next door who considers himself an American is allowed to not spend a cent in taxes? That's asking for a lot of disillusioned citizens at the very least.
Not only that, but as it had been mentioned in the chapter, their refusal to participate in the marketplace only aggravated the current economic situation, and them creating what is essentially a black market of free food isn't helping things along.
Here I have to go to the point that 8516317 makes in regards to the perfect communist utopia and say that while this is likely achievable for the transformed ponies, it is not sustainable for their future generations and for possible Equestrian immigrants. I expect that the generation borne from the transformed ponies will be far more like normal Equestrians in tempermant and desires; Equestrian society shows that there is a market for goods and services, and these are subject to monetary values, just like ours. These ponies aren't just worsening Earth's economic woes by refusing to participate, but they are also setting their communities up for failure in the future.
Don't get me wrong, this makes sense as it's consistent with what we’ve seen of their behaviour, but this is only going to lead to further conflicts in the future (which, let's be honest, is probably ASGeek's intention).
8516592
Most simply consider themselves ponies. If you recall, almost everyone prior to Luna's tuning of the vision figured they'd have nothing to do with humans at all. Even now many still do, and even those who consider living alongside them still draw their own lines between 'I will work together with humans' and 'I am an American citizen.'
It seems that only those that actually integrate themselves into human societies are the ones picking back up old customs again. The majority still seems to bee in 'communist utopia' mode. Which yes, will cause problems. Eventually, as the government is a tad tied up with other problems to figure out how to get ponies pay their taxes. Especially since the transformed don't have any income to tax. Can't squeeze blood out of water after al.
But given the nature of their transformation it's understandable why this is happening: They were given a utopian vision, and they intend to follow it. For them, there is no reason to bother with money as they provide for their own needs. The long term problems of this line of thinking isn't something they're considering.
Former humans calling people "humans" is really irking me. Still neck deep in mind control I see.
8516640
Well, what else are they supposed to call them when they specifically talk about humans? People? That'd be like saying humans are people but they are not.
8516640
The nature of changing the Morphic Resonance makes being a pony seem natural and if they view themselves as ponies it makes since that they would refer to themselves as ponies and humans as humans after all they are different species.
8516650
Just people. Taking time and effort to refer to them as humans creates a distinction between the transformed and the untransformed. It's the mind control making the affected to not refer themselves as part of humanity anymore.
Amazing...simply amazing, you good sir have made something truly epic and I can't wait to see more
8516664
But there is a distinction, like it or not, and when you want to talk about that very distinction you can't just use 'people.' It'd be like saying "I can't call Germans 'German' because they're people, so I have to call them people." It'd make it impossible to talk about Germans without tripping over a word soup.
8516664
But they aren't part of humanity. And to push matters further they are being set aside by a very large, and vocal, part of humanity. You see this same thing in minority groups; where the large amount of hostility towards them makes them band together for their own welfare. They cease to think of those outside their group being concerned about them at all and a rift forms. Even without their vision; the way things work they would have enivitably banded together apart from humans.
You see many ponies trying to reintegrate into human society in this chapter, but they are blocked by prejudice. For many of them this might be their first real taste of having prejudice like this impact them, and it is likely hitting them hard.
All considered? this story was fantastic!
itude meter! I wonder what'll happen next?
This was a unique tale with lots of drama, high stakes, some nice mystery elements and a genune sense that it was a race against the clock. The characters were great, the lore was great, the comedy was on point, It's just an overall great read.
With your bonus points, this story nets a 14 on the
8516664
There IS a distinction between them. They're a different species. I mean, you can't get more different than that. To deny that they're different from each other would, frankly, be insanity.
<sigh> This here is the purest evidence that ponies are still people.
Now we must all wait patiently for our Lord and Savior ASGeek2012 to make another masterpiece.
There is definitely a lot of potential for the sequel of this story, and there are a number of great ways you can take it.
This story had a slow-ish start, but once Twilight made contact, it felt like the story found its groove and really took off. While there wasn’t a lot of action in this story, the suspense more than made up for it.
I am now hooked by your writing. I will keep track of your stories about as much as I do Rick Riordan’s. And I own nearly every one of his books.
Keep up the good work. Please. You’re one of the best writers on the site.
8516948
I live in Olympia Washington smack in the middle of the Pacific Northwest.
8516869
Or at least that they've been brainwashed so strongly into having a nice receptacle in their brains for an all-consuming vision that they're willing to fill in the blanks even when the spiritual figure is removed from it and the culprit is known and dead.
For that matter, the original vision used Celestia. Has she shown up on Earth yet?
This is the other thing I was worried about, and it's something that Twilight really needed to see before she made a final decision on a forced reverse. With what we saw of the Lazy Pines commune, and seeing how many are outright changing their names now, I'd be surprised if Jenny was one of more than a thousand or so out of almost a hundred million even considering going back -- and if it's taken two months and a two-week appointment to even be a possibility, that makes it dramatically more likely people on the fence will get marked and the decision will be made for them.
Generally speaking, on pretty much any given subject humans' opinions on something will rarely skew by more than an order of magnitude or two. Even for things we typically consider core values, you'll begin to see dissent spring from splinter groups. For goodness' sake, surveys routinely turn up suicidal ideation more commonly than that.
The sheer uniformity we're led to expect from Sunset's batch is not only indicative of brainwashing, but brainwashing to a degree of effectiveness completely unheard of even by the most elaborate autocracies on the planet (and we still don't know if the mind magic component is present in newborn foals!). The variance in the transformed's religious interpretations of the vision doesn't really count; they're still almost uniformly clinging to the core concept with fanatic desperation. Listening to the reasons given by the ex-humans in this chapter, sure you'll have stuff like the terminally ill or people who fell thorugh the cracks of society. But stuff like this:
It honestly sounds more like post-hoc rationalization than weighing much. We've all had awful jobs, but one has to realize he left that for probably about the same work hours and not much more intellectually stimulating labor starting up his commune, and the job prospects for his newfound dream career aren't exactly fantastic. We can't even trust that this guy was that into geology before. We have people like Harold that explicitly hated farming and now have cutie marks of it (even for the implications that he ran away because of his father more than because of farming, suffice to say I'm more inclined to trust what he said as a clear-headed human than as a mind-screwed pony). And hell, how many humans had dream jobs that are impossible as ponies, but miraculously don't give a damn anymore? Not all careers are as lucky as Sarah's -- my job is fundamentally not possible without fingers.
Add in stuff like James aggressively pressuring Jenny into backing out, and you know most people would get browbeaten by their entire community for even considering it, and it's no wonder the effort is failing.
Even if Twilight can't justify forcefully transforming everyone back, she really needs to start working on a way to separate out or at least diminish Sunset's tampering with their horrendously overclocked instincts. Her key flaw here is that she's insisting on thinking of them as Equestrian ponies who happened to be humans before, but they fundamentally aren't. Equestrian ponies wouldn't run out overnight to tear up public property en masse for an isolated hippie commune. They don't think like Equestrian ponies, they think like Sunset's ponies. And again, we don't seem to know if that's hereditary either -- if it is, Equestria is going to have some serious problems once Equestrian and ex-human ponies start intermarrying, and Twilight won't be able to ignore that anymore.
You're god damn right "for now"
!!!!!
8516681
More accurate term would be not calling germans germans anymore because they moved to a different country.
8517217
What? Unless they've changed their nationalities, they're still Germans.
8516885
There was a... fic craze around 2013 I believe? Where a lot of people were writing stories about ponies arriving on earth and, for reasons that vary per fic, started transforming humans into ponies. They build special bureaus to do so and called them 'conversion bureau's' or 'ponification bureau's.'
That line was a little reference to those fics.
8516962
There is no evidence as of yet that this is the case though, and what little evidence exists points against it (no transformation magic to trigger the dream). That raises a ton of ethical questions, given how we're talking performing the single most invasive medical procedure known to both worlds on an unborn child purely on what is essentially just a huge "maybe." How would you judge whether or not the brainwashing is present? You can't exactly ask a fetus questions. Hell, even a recently born foal won't be able to answer any questions that hint at brainwashing. You'd have to wait at least until they're at preschool age, and at that stage we're on the question of the difference between nature VS nurture given how most of what they learned at that point would have come from observing their parents.
8517056
And the better solution is another round of mutilation against their will? Remember, there is no convenient reset button unless the patient is willing. Forced reversals mean you have to use approximate templates, which means that whatever human the transformed ends up becoming will not be the same as the one they were before this incident. You will have transformed them into what you think they should look like without giving them a say in the matter, including a new layer of brainwashing so they accept this new form. How is that any different from what Sunset did?
Going by how much free time Equestrians have, he won't be running 50 hour work weeks. Maybe the initial community startup is going to drain more time, but when that's over he's going to have plenty of time.
That had little to do with the brainwashing and far more with James not wanting to lose Jenny. He's damn well aware that relationships between humans and ponies are going to be... awkward for a while. Romances even more so. When Jenny pointed our romance between them wasn't likely to begin with, he quickly backed down.
On the flipside of this argument, look at Jenny's family, who fully support her decision.
8517217
But they didn't. The point is that there are distinctions. Even virtually all humans are using that distinction, and they don't have a lick of magic altering their perceptions so pointing at ponies using humans as a distinction and calling it brainwashing is unfair.
I just want to say I truly enjoyed this story. Thank you ASGeek2012 for sharing it with us. This tale does need to be continued though. There are too many loose ends otherwise.
Oh man, I loved seeing Father Lyle again. That entire scene was great, and I wasn't expecting it at all. Loved the whole chapter really. I do wish there had been one more scene with Bob though.
8516136
Not seeing it head anywhere but tragedy? Aren't you just a little ray of sunshine. :P
Well done! A wonderful story and I can’t wait to see what you have in store next.
Human Tech combined with Pony Magic. Humans figuring out how to harness magic with tech. Magetech! The possibilities there could fill a whole other story.
Then there are the devours. Let’s hope Magic travels slower or at least light speed. The detection of magic on Earth would take hundreds of years at least. Hopefully Earth will be ready.
Well that's an easy one. Terran. Terra being another name for Earth, Terran can be used to identify all those of earth together as one people, be they pony or human. And helps distinguish the ponies of earth from the ponies of Equestria/Equuis(or whatever you want to call the planet). Could also be used for any who later choose to immigrate from Equestria/Equuis to Earth, and include those besides just ponies. If a griffin or minotaur wanted to identify as being from earth and one of it's people, they could/would be a Terran as well.
Now that I have had over a day to process my feelings on the final two chapters I can feel my thoughts. I understand why the nobles are raising such a stink but the all need to be banished to Tartarus if they keep up this speciest attitude. I hope the relations between the Griffins and the Ponies will improve in the next story and all the other nations understand will understand why Celestia did what she did. As for the people on Earth I hope the choose Kevin as either the ambassador or a senior part of the staff. I like how the transformed that we have followed as they come to terms with what Sunset did. I am willing to bet that it is more on Spoiled Rich stirring up the trouble in Ponyville then her husband and child. I hope they get dealt with fast and quickly.
My biggest complaint is that if the government thinks that the transformed where not in their right mindset they would just put their money into specialized accounts that can be accessed by them if they need it. Still this was a great story and will definitely be highly worth seeing expanded in future stories.
I don't know why but this got to me.
Like, a bridge had been built finally.
A stepping stone.
An end to a story that's rocked the site, for now.
Just glad we made it together.
8517056
Once again, an upvote is in order. It's not being reversed in anypony past the halfway point, as it has not. That may very well be past the point of no return, and thus why no one has reported a single reversed TF yet. Only those with horse ears and discolored hair thus far.
The fact these seem to get marked faster than their own Equestrian equivalents, and at any given time seems even more so a major factor. They usually get them around adolescence or puberty, possibly occasionally adult. These almost universally got them in a matter of minutes or even hours. And it seems while some realise their purpose, it sounds like just as many simply get it.
This is yet more evidence, as claimed, the disease itself is at play, even with the virus gone. The excessive reflexes and natural urges only hasten it. They aren't hostile, but they reject being "Cured", almost universally. As humans, they could have chosen, and many would almost certainly choose it if asked. It's no coincidence virtually nopony accepted being reverted here, as the disease itself is making them say no. Rare individuals can resist it, by coincidence.
Even those who want to reverse it cannot because there is a waiting period, in which time it will almost certainly show up, and others will fight it tooth, nail and hoof, Tanners being the vanishing rare exception to the rule.
Basically, the disease is designed to mark them ASAP, even faster than their Equestrian equals, influences other ponies stop any who may try to get reverted with all their might, and only the occasional victim is even capable of wanting to go back, evidence of mind tampering. Millions upon millions of ponies who may get it, you'd think there'd be more who miss their hands, as their career needs their fine motor skills, or ones whose lives weren't complete shit or exceedingly bored. It's clear they are all rationalising this with all their might, even if they need to grasp at straws, which they probably eat now. Save the ones who were amputees, missing a sense, and so forth.
Even then, they were past the point of no return the minute they slouched and got their hands stuck in a fist. This Re-human bureau is a waste of resources. Better to try fixing their mental state, as they are clearly not of sound mind, save Fred, Sarah, Jennifer and Robert.
What's more is they made a martyr out of SS, and her influence transpires her demise. I'd hope to Tia it doesn't transcend generations, thus their foals, which brings me to yet another thing that traps any who might get out: Pregnancy.
I have beaten that other subverse to death, and continued lashing its corpse at this point, but it, in spite of its cruelty, leaving most people all alone or thrusting them into a world where everyone's a complete stranger, culture shock, and even not having anyone speak their language, not to mention selecting their bodies at random, meaning about half of all people will be discontent, even knowing they can't keep their old one, they are still themselves at the end of the day. The intent was to find the most suitable body for each person, but since that didn't work, it selects randomly, with mixed results, about half being the best suit. They might receive extra senses, like sensing thaumic energy, or reject meat as their new body finds it repulsive, but their mind is not altered beyond the circumstances.
Even more evidence: Not just the religions based around Mooney and so fourth, but outright rejecting their old names, and using Equestrian vernacular most of them have never heard. And one even shamed his companion for keeping his old one, and told humans to go away. When others in PAP did this, like Sudden Storm and Sky, they had their reasons, one being abused and neglected, wanting to reboot her life, the other not wanting to constantly explain why she has a man's name. Neither apply here.
Other stories like this, at best make the characters docile, but otherwise, everything indicates they are in there, especially after time lapses.
Bottom line, it won't take much to tell these former humans apart from natural ponies via their general aversion to humans altogether.
the epilogues are perfect.
the hole story is awesome and a super good read.
Just become a furry! Then it won't matter at all!
In fact, it'll be totally hot!
PS: You've neglected the part about a certain Middle Eastern religion's almost certainly universally negative response to all this. Tsk tsk, a shamefully dishonest omission of what would surely be a bloodbath.