//------------------------------// // A Frayed Knot // Story: A Twist in the Tail // by Midnightshadow //------------------------------// A Twist in the Tail Part 5 A Frayed Knot *** Vertigo looked down at the empty vial on the floor, tears falling from his blue eyes. “Why?” he whispered hoarsely. Hooves enveloped him and pulled him close. “She should have told you. It’s my fault, really.” said Rarity, “I kept telling her it would be alright. She trusted me.” “You should have told me!” shouted Vertigo, flaring his wings and pushing Rarity off him, “All this time, she... he, he was there, laughing at me!” Rarity’s pained expression caused him to catch his breath, he fell down onto his haunches again, wings folding. “No, Vertigo, she wasn’t playing.” “He.” corrected Vertigo. “She,” continued Rarity, “loves you. You think she’d have stayed a mare a second longer than necessary if she hadn’t had a reason? She... it was my fault, you know. I gave her an old version of the potion, when she Converted. It was the final beta product before they started mass-production, programmed to turn human into Equestrian with one minor difference: all recipients would end up female. They say they did it for simplicity’s sake, truth is I don’t know what they thought they were doing or why, but it worked, perfectly. Glenn became a mare. We moved here to get in touch with Twilight to see if she could fix things since she was so involved with the initial process, and also because Ponyville is being purposely kept relatively safe and quiet by order of Princess Luna. Less inquisitive muzzles to hide from.” “So, what? He...” “Glenn settled down to wait, and then you arrived. I encouraged things, it made the two of you so happy and you made such a cute couple!” “Happy? You call this happy?” Vertigo kicked the vial so hard it shattered, denting the wall where it impacted. “You mean you weren’t?” asked Rarity, quietly. Vertigo looked down at the ground where a small, wrapped box had fallen out of his saddlebags onto the carpet, “I was. Very. I loved her.” “She, he... Glenn loves you, Vertigo. Call it a crush, call it a mistake, I... a few years ago I was at the Grand Galloping Gala, chasing after what I thought was the stallion of my dreams. He turned out to be... rather less suave and sophisticated than I had envisioned. In fact, one could call him an oaf of the lowest calibre. Glenn though, when she spoke of you... Vertigo, come here.” “What?” “I want to show you something.” Pointe Vertigo walked slowly towards Rarity, she was standing by the dresser. “What is it you want to show me?” “Just look.” “My reflection?” Vertigo peered into his troubled blue eyes and scowled, snorting. Rarity laughed, and pointed a hoof, “Remember that day? Glenn certainly does.” Vertigo looked again, at a picture of them at the zoo. He gingerely took hold of it with his teeth and pulled it free of the frame, placing it down on the dresser. He flipped it over with a hoof and read the message on the back. It said, simply, ‘to Glenn, I love you, Vertigo’. *** Summer gripped the mop tightly in his muzzle and swept it back and forth across the floor. The tiles shone, gleaming with moisture. They were, temporarily at least, free from dirt. He lifted the mop into the bucket and pushed it down into the water, dunking it to clean it. He lifted it up and squeezed the excess out through the sieve and repeated the sweeping motions. Satisfied, he stopped and looked at his work. The bathroom was spotless, it had been quite the chore. This was the human bathroom facility on floor three, and those humans certainly were good at causing a mess. None of the human janitors would deal with it, except Gumby, and Gumby’s back had gone again. That left Summer, who didn’t mind. Gumby was an older human, something over fifty, and a bit of an odd duck. He would while away the dark hours talking about the time Before - it was hard for some to understand, and even less remembered a time before the Singularity, before the promise of the future had turned sour. Gumby slept on-site, like Summer. Summer still remembered fondly when he’d trotted up to the strange man in the blue denim overalls, dirty oily rags stuffed in pockets and oily but well-maintained tools hanging from a utility belt. “Well dang it if’n that ain’t the cutes’ li’l horsey I did see today. Howdy fella, what’ve you got there for old Gumby?” he’d asked. Summer hadn’t been sure at first whether the amazingly cliched accent had been a put-on or not, but apparently Gumby talked like that. Summer had snorted and trotted up, handing the old man the chit with his muzzle. Gumby had taken it and patted him absent-mindedly on the head like a dog, idly running the fingers of one hand through his mane whilst holding the note with the other, which he squinted at through a plastic-rimmed pair of scratched spectacles. “Sez here y’all gonna be my ‘prentice. Sounds like a plan, does it, boy?” “Yessir,” Summer had stammered out, “if you’ll have me.” “Hrmm, I ‘unno, li’l thing like you, no hands... sure you can manage it? What’s your name?” “S-Summer, sir, and I’ll work hard like you won’t believe.” “Summer? Odd name for a pony. I’ll jes call you Pony, if’n that’s alright with yew.” “Okay, sir.” “And none of that ‘sir’ stuff, ‘m Gumby, and don’t you forget it. Come now, Pony, old Gumby’ll get you sorted.” Summer sat on his haunches in the corner of the bathroom and breathed a heavy sigh. All done, his shift was over, he could go back to his box in the boiler room where it was warm and safe. Summer looked out across the bathroom, at the door on the other side. “Dammit!” *** The door to the boiler room creaked open. As it did, Gumby cracked open one eye. He smiled when he saw it was Summer, “Howdy boy, been good have ye?” “Everything’s done for today, Gumby. How’s your back? Shall I make tea?” “P’shaw, ol’ Gumby’s back’ll be right as rain by the morrow, specially if’n he gets some tea made by his favourite li’l pony.” “Your back’d be right as rain if you’d just get ponified, too.” “Eh, I won’t be meddlin’ with that sort of thing for a while yet.” Gumby waved off the pony with one hand whilst scratching his greying beard with the other. Summer took the old kettle, eased off the lid, filled it from the spigot and placed it on the furnace to boil. “I... just want you to be...” “I know what you want, you want ol’ Gumby to be new Gumby, hmm?” “It doesn’t hurt, you know.” “I know, lad,” Gumby winced as he sat up and scratched himself, “but there’s time. There’s always time.” The pot, despite the old adage, boiled as Summer patiently waited. He mouthed a tea-towel and lifted it off the furnace onto the table. It was a tricky operation, but he got the lid off and dumped in some loose-leaf ground tea-leaves. It was one of the perks of working at a Bureau; real Equestrian produce, tea leaves included. Glenn had never been much for a tea drinker before ponification, but under the tutelage of Gumby he’d learned how to make a real pot of coffee and then, when the night drew in and something more soothing was required, tea. As the tea brewed, Gumby brushed first his own hair and beard, then his apprentice’s mane. It was Summer’s mane he tackled first with the shearing scissors, trimming off the excess and neatening things up, but then he grabbed an old shaving mirror and saw to his own fringe. He collected up the hairs and threw them in the furnace, before adding another compressed refuse block or two. The fire flared up and Gumby pushed the heavy iron door closed with a stick, lifting and then seating the latch with practiced precision. “Gumby,” asked Summer, pausing to fill two cracked mugs with the brew, “can I ask you a question?” “Course you can, my little pony. I believe yew jus’ did.” “I’ll ask another then. Is there... was there ever, a misses Gumby?” Gumby smiled again, but there was pain in his eyes, “Aye, there was. A long time ago. She’s gone now, to a better place, so’s our daughter.” “E-Equestria?” asked Summer, hopefully. Gumby blinked away tears, “No, lad,” he said, softly, “an accident, on the roads. This was before cars drove themselves, when some were foolish enough to drink themselves stupid and get behind the wheel. My girls were crossing the bridge, a few miles down the river. Some...” Gumby’s voice cracked, “they never saw it coming. Big truck, out of control, spun, jack-knifed, slammed into their vehicle and sent it, somehow, over the edge. They pulled my darlings out, but it was too late, far too late.” “I’m sorry, sir.” “I tol’ you not to call me that!” Gumby snapped, balling his fists, but he let them drop. “I’m sorry, Gumby. Is... is that why you’re still here?” “I’m waiting to join them, boy, is that so bad? I’ve been a good man, I think I deserve to see them again.” “You’re scared you won’t see them if you turn into a pony?” “I ain’t made up my mind.” Gumby snaked out a hand and grabbed his mug. He held it to his chest, close like something precious, before lifting it and taking a noisy sip. “How about you? Is there a misses Summer somewhere, out there?” “He... she... it didn’t work.” Gumby raised an eyebrow, “You should always grab on to love, even foolish ol’ Gumby knows that. Even silly little ponies should know that, even if they don’t have hands to grab with.” “It’s not that simple.” Gumby took another sip, “When you get down to it, it rarely ever is. Then you look deeper, and... maybe t’ain’t all that complicated after all. Now, you up for cards tonight?” “What’re the stakes?” “Mikey and Dewdrop are comin’ over from t’other section, so we’ll be playin’ fer their Equestrian rations versus our hot water.” “Ugh, I hate washing in cold water!” “Hehe, maybe that’ll learn yew how to bluff properly!” *** Pudding yawned and strode into the cafeteria, she bounced happily around collecting baskets, pots and pans. In moments, the previously pristine and serene kitchen become a bustling hive of magical activity as she levitated eggs, mixed batter and set the stoves to bubbling porridge. She hummed happily along to some obscure Earth tunes on the radio, sat in the middle of the chaos with a placid expression on her muzzle, eyes almost closed. Elegance, another early riser as she was once again on the reception desk, called out a cheerful greeting. “Ella! I’ve got your toast!” cried the custard-yellow unicorn, leaping through the food-based hurricane, her bouncy treacle-coloured mane barely being ruffled as she passed. A plate with two perfectly-browned wholemeal slices followed her, where they were picked up by Ella’s own magic. The pair nuzzled affectionately before Pudding bounced back to work, her culinary storm not wavering for a moment. Elegance laughed, that unicorn could do the job of an entire army of cooks and not even break a sweat, just as long as she was cooking up something. She floated the first slice of toast to her muzzle and demurely took a bite as she flicked on the computer. With a wave of her horn, she unlocked the doors and they slid open, and then closed. She looked up from taking another bite of her toast to find three humans standing in front of her. None of them looked over the age of consent. “We wanna get ponified! Today, if possible!” said the first, a short-haired specimen with light brown hair and freckles. “I see.” said Elegance, narrowing her eyes, “I take it you all have verifiable identification?” “Sure do, miss pony. Scan me first!” Elegance sighed, apparently another set of humans convinced that her entirely magical powers could somehow seemlessly integrate with their ‘technology’. “Standard prefab nanotech ID bracelets, I take it?” “You’re not gonna...” the first, apparently a girl according to the profiles which were already popping up onscreen, waved her arms about as she said, “wheeeoooooo?” hopefully. “I do not ‘wheeoo’, and even if I did I would not do it with quite so much a lack of class. You are... oh hello, Elizabeth. I have to commend you on your choice of name at least. I am Elegance Flare, or Ella for short. You, at least, check out. Sixteen yesterday, you’re legally old enough to go pony. Are you sure?” “Would I be here if I weren’t?” “You do realize it’s a one way trip, right?” “Oh come on! I’m sixteen, I’m old enough to get ponified! I’m old enough to have a real boyfriend if I wanted.” “Fine.” Elegance with a huge sigh, “You’ll have to sign the release forms like everypony else. Stand over there and I’ll check in your friends too.” Much to Elegance’s annoyance, all three checked out. ‘Liz’ was the youngest, ‘Trisha’ was next, having turned sixteen several weeks before. Her curly blond hair and blue eyes looked far more innocent than Liz’s had. ‘Debs’ was the oldest, by several months. It seemed all three had been waiting to get ponified together. Judging by the fact they’d waited until sixteen, it was unlikely their parents knew or approved. Their residences were listed as being upstate, far from what had previously been the sites for the Hackensack Reservoir and Elseworth Park. She felt a headache coming on that not even hot buttered toast could... A crunching noise roused Elegance from her reverie. “My breakfast!” “What? I was hungry.” said Liz, wiping crumbs from her mouth. “Away with you! shoo!” Elegance pushed a button on her desk. “Three candidates incoming, keep an eye on them.” she said, before pointing with the same hoof into the Bureau Proper. *** Gumby had been good to his word. He’d all but leaped out of bed that morning and had set to making breakfast. Summer opened one eye at the rattling noise of his metal dog-dish being set before him. He’d been pretty annoyed at it at first, but when he’d searched about for a suitable replacement, he’d found nothing. It also proved a lot easier to wash and a lot more resistant to the tool-impacts that had led to such a shortage of porcelein. Gumby used an old saucepan for almost every meal in any case, and only owned a fork. “Mornin’ pony. Well played last night. Gotcha some carrots.” “Really?” “Aye, and I think that’s an apple. The rest is alfalfa, sweetgrass and daisies.” “Breakfast of kings.” “Breakfast of ponies. Thought you Equestrians had only princesses anyway? Breakfast of princesses?” Summer narrowed his eyes at the offending meal, “I’ll stick with ‘breakfast of champions’ then, Gumby. What’s on the roster for today?” he asked as he finished it up, swallowing the apple all but whole, his lips smacking mightily at the taste. “Ah, seems you’ve been a good pony. You’re up top today, lad, being a host for some two-legs that came in.” “That’s a reward? What’s a punishment?” “Cleaning the blocked sewage line in section fourteen. I got Chuckles doin’ that.” “Ugh, can’t stand him.” “Aye, lazy beggar didn’t replace the filter properly, hence the blockage, hence ‘im fixin’ it. Be off with ya, Pony. Get some sunshine, take ‘em to the park.” Summer nuzzled Gumby softly, who stroked his mane. “Be off with ya, you silly thing. I got things to do.” “Aye-aye, sir.” Summer turned around and danced out of reach of Gumby’s friendly ear-swat. “It’s Gumby!” “Yessir!” Summer skittered out the room laughing, as a heavy rag impacted the door behind him. *** “This place is big.” said Trish, “I thought they were all tiny. Waiting rooms, pony stations, that’s it.” “Naa, that’s only the mini-bureaus. This is a megaplex. Implant’s telling me we’re approaching the reservoir section...” said Liz, blinking at an occular display only she could see. “And you’re not supposed to be here.” said a new voice. The three girls turned around to see a chestnut stallion with burgundy mane watching them. He had two toolbelts and a saddlebag on him. He flicked his tail in annoyance, “I think you three are who I’ve been sent to babysit.” “We were just... looking.” “Sneaking is what you were doing.” the stallion walked through them and down the corridor a ways before turning around, “Come on then, if you want to see the reservoir. I’ve got a free day if you don’t count having to drag you three with me everywhere I go. My name’s Summer.” “Are you from Equestria?” asked the third girl who hadn’t spoken yet. She was taller than the other two, with straight black hair that hid some of her face. “Yes, you could say so.” “What’s it like?” “It’s pretty much like the pictures say, really. The pegasi control the weather, the earth ponies farm the land and build, and the unicorns do all the fiddly bits in between.” “Then how come you aren’t there?” “I wanted to get away from it all,” lied Summer, smoothly, “and a Conversion Bureau seemed a good place to start. Come on, through here.” Summer pushed open a large set of double doors with a hoof and walked through into a huge vaulted space. The air was suddenly hot and steamy and the girls loosened their clothing. Summer’s fur stood on end and he shook himself. He’d learned about the Hackensack Bureau when he’d first moved in, now he got to share it’s unique history. “This used to be the Hackensack Reservoir, or one of them at least. Before the ponies came here it was ruined; the water was poisonous, the plants dead. The park across the road was barren. They bought up the land and transplanted the park. I don’t know how they did it, but it’s now between Highpoint and Oak Street. They sent in some heavy-duty unicorns and paid for some nanotech disassemblers, the result was a magically-enhanced molecular sieve and a large-scale cleanup. They pulled all the debris and poisons out, transplanted fish from Equestria, planted a farm in the park and now the bureau makes a profit on the foodstuff alone. It’s not ‘Equestrian’ produce, but ‘farmed by real earth ponies’ brings in the bits. Better still, they sell water purification services as well as bottle the excess. That’s why this Bureau is as big as it is, there’s a full-time staff seeing to all the machinery and magic that keeps it running. I’m all they could spare for you three, somepony apparently thinks this is a reward for good behaviour.” “Can we swim in the water?” asked Trish. “No, not in the reservoir, but you can swim in the pond in the park.” “There’s a pond in the park?” “Of course, ladies, right this way.” *** Elegance looked up as the doors slid open and closed again. As the receptionist of a major Bureau like the Hackensack, she saw hundreds of applicants pass through every day. The Hackensack Bureau was a megaplex, it could handle mass conversions, specialist conversions for those with medical implants or other issues, counseling, and more. It even offered the ‘express lane’ conversion process where signups could get ponified more or less on the spot so long as they signed the release forms and helped around the place afterwards as an extended two-week rehab program. This had proved controversial at first, but was much more efficient than the usual one week human, one week pony deal. It also led to happier, healthier ponies that were better adjusted. “Good morning, I’m Ele- another one?” The lime-green pegasus pony trotted up to the front desk, shuffling his wings nervously. He looked haggard and thin. “Hi, I’m Vertigo, Pointe Vertigo, and I’m looking for somepony.”