//------------------------------// // 12: Unicorn // Story: Chaotic Emergence // by Gambit Prawn //------------------------------// The olive-skinned youth sat perched on the massive bed, looking down on the tiny mare as if appraising her worth. His gaze bore through Alaine, broadcasting frequencies of fear into her. Despite his slight built, her reduced size made him much more intimidating by default. The suspicion in his human eyes cast a spell of regret on her, a reminder of what she had lost. What’s more, these were a killer’s eyes. Although her mion caretaker’s kindness was a falsehood, she had grown somewhat attached to the brown-coated man. Having him coldly dispatched in front of her had been traumatizing, and she was still processing what had been a flurry of panic and confusion for her. It was all she could do to patiently answer his questions and hopefully discover what he wanted of her. Still, it was not he who she feared the most. Instead, it was the ponies on the other side of the door that she truly dreaded facing. They had presumably saved her out of empathy for her situation, not knowing it was she who had been behind their previous kidnapping. As only the man in front of her spoke any French, she took temporary refuge in the language barrier. Still, their previous interactions with her were already more than she could handle. The man cleared his throat finally ready to speak. Besides curt commands to follow him, he had yet to communicate with her. “I suppose you want to know why you are here?” She nodded tentatively. “In truth, there’s not much to tell. My pegasus scout reported your suffering, and the ponies here wanted to save you.” It was as she had thought, yet the words still stung her with guilt. It pulsed through her, manifesting in a quivering of her wings. “I, however, am different,” he declared. “What I seek is information about your captors. To start, do you know why they were holding you?” “I—I’m not sure. They kept asking me about magic and some sort of ‘Equestria.’ They wanted information on the stallion in your group—I mean, ‘the green stallion.’ I had no idea what they were talking about until you guys appeared.” She took a deep breath. It was far too early for her to slip up. The man nodded, inscrutable. “I suppose I should start earlier. How were you captured?” Alaine had to think quickly. He couldn’t let him know that she was targeted as a loose end. “As I’m sure you already suspect, I was human like you before I turned into this.” The man showed no surprise, but nodded for her to continue anyway. “At first the tail appeared, then the ears, and I gradually shrunk and grew fur until I became like this.” “Yes, this matches up with what I already know. Tell me: were you by chance male before you transformed?” Shit! How does he know? “N—no.” She caught herself and said more forcefully, “No.” “I see. Good for you.” He paused for a moment before realizing his question would be seen as cryptic. “We don’t understand why it happens, but sometimes the pony transformation includes a change of sex. That was the case for two of the mares in our group.” Curiosity nagged Alaine. It shouldn’t have mattered, but were the two she held prisoner transformed in this way? If so, the added humiliation factor piled onto the enormity of his crime. “Tell me: did a book appear near you?” “Pardon?” Alaine asked. “A book about Equestria—a book about ponies.” Alaine shook her head, his clarification had done nothing to help her understand. Realizing the man wanted a direct answer, she finally said, “No, I don’t think so.” “Then why did they think you had any special knowledge…” the man mused. “I’m sorry. I just don’t know,” Alaine said placatingly. “I wish I had more to tell you about them. The short one seemed to be the leader… sometimes spikes sprouted from his skin. The one with the brown coat was ordered to be kind to me, though he almost never spoke. Others were different…” Alaine once more held her tongue. She had to feign ignorance of the red-skinned humanoids. She couldn’t let him deduce that her former companions were turned into monsters since logically there was no way she should be sure that they were former humans. The youth read her emotions surprisingly accurately. “I see. I’m sorry for dispatching the brown-coated man in cold blood in front of you. Even if he was your jailer, it must have been tough on you. In truth, he was one of my men, Diego, but he was captured and corrupted into a mion—one of them. I—I didn’t want him to live like that any longer.” From there, their roles in the interrogation reversed somewhat, as the man, who introduced himself as Domenico, explained what little he knew of the mion threat. It disturbed her how little they knew of them, considering how menacing they were. “So the question remains,” Domenico started hesitantly, “do you want to stay with us?” The question carved out an anxious rift between them. “Pardon?” “If you don’t mind the cramped quarters, it won’t strain our resources too much to take in one more pony. We’re currently hiding from the mions, who still may be searching for me—all of us in fact. I don’t know what our ultimate goal will be, but I intend to strike out against these twisted monsters. We may be able to protect you somewhat, but don’t get me wrong: you will have to pull your own weight.” “What good am I?” Alaine asked, giving words to deeply held emotional scars. “For starters, you will need to learn how to fly.” Alaine trembled. “Whatever mental block or reservations you may have about this you will have to get over them. Your potential to fly is the one thing that makes you valuable to us. So I ask again: will you join us?” Alaine’s ears drooped, her eyes fell to the floor and her wings quivered. “I guess so…” “Good,” Domenico said sonorously. “I mean, what other choice did I have?” Domenico smiled ominously. “There was none; you would be too much of a loose end.” Is that still all I am? Alaine thought. I don’t like this man… “Come,” he commanded. “The others need to meet you.” “Wait, there’s one more thing,” Alaine meekly voiced. “Hmm?” “What was that language you were speaking to one another. It sounded like nothing I’ve ever heard.” Domenico’s eyes went wide. As he paused in thought and recalled what she could be referring to, pieces quickly snapped together. When he had finished his mouth went agape. “No way…” Alaine crept a little closer to the bed to inspect him more closely. “Thank you,” Domenico said cryptically. And just as quickly he gestured her out the door. She walked to the hearth and slowly the three mares filed out of the other bedroom, invading her personal space from every angle as they each curled up beside her in turn. Thankfully, the stallion was not among them. When he arrived, he stood watchfully at Domenico’s side. The young man played translator as the other ponies asked Alaine about herself. Naturally, she begun to spin an elaborate fiction. She became Alaine Poirier. She was twenty-two years old. Given her lack of skill at life, that fact might be more believable than her true age. She considered giving herself a child or two to arouse sympathy, but she couldn’t bring herself to brave such a monumental lie. Instead, when asked, she claimed to have a boyfriend of two years. That part of her story sickened her. The implication that she had had sex with even a fictional man repulsed her. However, the more she thought on in, the more intrusive the carnal images became. She looked to the stallion. That can’t be what I want now… can it? With the male pony at the forefront of her thoughts, she reaffirmed her commitment to her fake boyfriend and her desire to get back to him. Next, she was asked about how she became a pony and where she was at the time. This lie was easier, as she was able to recount the transformation truthfully, having been forced to witness every step of the change while captive. As for the circumstances, she said she was holed up in her room during the changes and had fled into her rural surroundings once it had completed. From there the questions became a bit more personal and innocuous. She was a country girl, so she had trouble relating to any of them. But from this exchange she learned their names: Taylor, Lynne, Xavier, and Storm Chaser. The others rolled their eyes when the latter claimed to be an errant Equestrian hero. Unnervingly, she felt calm in their presence. The language barrier was her salvation, for she couldn’t stomach the idea of speaking pleasantries to these ponies while basking in the glow of the fireplace—not after what she had done. The next day, while Storm was out trying to teach Alaine how to fly, the three other mares found themselves lounging on their bed once more. The three of them were restless, as Domenico hadn’t told them their next move yet. Aside from exploring the woods, or sampling Xavier’s delicacies there simply wasn’t much to do. “How about Alaine?” Lynne asked. “Do you think she’ll break out of her shell soon?” Taylor shook his head. “She’s really traumatized. After what she went through, I’m surprised she can even speak to us about it. That really goes to show how amazing you and Xavier are.” Lynne smiled sheepishly. “We don’t deserve too much credit. We just got lucky enough to be rescued by a dashing stallion in a timely manner.” Her expression turned sour. “Also, we weren’t beaten by our captors… thankfully.” Taylor looked to Xavier and inspected him for a moment. The maroon unicorn was on his side, apparently sleeping. “And so our little group grows,” Taylor remarked. “Funny how it happened: first you three show up and then we risk our lives to bring Alaine in." Lynne smiled broadly. “Isn’t it just amazing when you say it that way? We’re heroes! We faced danger and came out on top. And that thing you did where you stomped your hooves—how’d you learn to do that?” Taylor shrugged. “Instinct is the best answer I can give. It was described in the dime store novel that came with my transformation. Apparently only earth ponies can do it.” “I’m so glad,” Lynne said. “What do you mean?” “It’s great that there’s something special about earth ponies after all. I mean, unicorns get magic, so it’s only fair that you get super-strong earth-shaking hooves!” “Maybe that’s why I was given the book…” Lynne cocked her head. “You mean it wasn’t an accident? That somebody or something orchestrated everything that’s happened?” Taylor shook his head. “I wouldn't go that far. Forget I said anything. It’s just some magical thinking.” Silence draped over them, and the pair of them started fidgeting, the elephant in the room waiting to be addressed. “So, umm…” the two of them began in unison. Blushing they turned away from one another. “About the other night…” Taylor braved, saying a minute later. “Yes… umm, I’m sorry I didn’t know what came over me. Kissing you like that—it’s so out-of-character for me; I don’t know how to explain it.” “Well… ummm…. Did you like it?” Taylor murmured. Lynne nodded after some deliberation. “Me too. It’s stupid to say, but it was actually my first kiss. I know that’s hard to believe, given how old I am—future forty-year old virgin right here. But...” Ignoring the self-deprecation, Lynne peeped, “Mine too…” Silence. “I don’t know if I’m making excuses, but I think there’s a bit of a story to explain why I acted the way I did,” Lynne said. “I’m all ears,” Taylor said, wiggling said ears. “Well, when I was in the sixth grade, there was a girl named Tammie in my class. She was good at sports, part of student body, good grades, and well-liked by everybody. Any one of those things could have grabbed my attention, but I was drawn to... something else about her.” “Charisma?” Taylor supplied. “I knew a few people like that—the ones that you can feel when they walk into a room.” “No… ummm… it was… her—her breasts...” Lynne practically fled behind her mane when she uttered the confession. Taylor didn’t seem fazed, and he nodded politely for her to continue. “I felt like a complete pervert, staring at another girl’s breasts. I—I wanted to think it was envy. However, when I was around her, my heart fluttered. I wanted to spend every moment I could with her. I felt every feeling my adolescent readings had described. I was in love with another girl.” “Were you afraid of your parents finding out?” Taylor asked. “I know my sister had to fight that battle for years before coming out to our parents." “Your sister is gay?” Lynne said, surprised. “Yep.” Taylor smiled. “My parents never saw it coming. Considering her obsession with wholesome Disney Channel entertainment, they struggled to figure out what had corrupted her. It got… better, but my parents almost cut her out of their lives after she moved in with her girlfriend, who’s seven years older than her. Anyway, back to your story.” Lynne cleared her throat. “The strange thing was, when I was around cute boys, I felt much the same way—heart racing, all of that. And when I read my romance novels I fantasized about falling in love with the hero, not with the heroine. I tried to forget; I tried to tell myself it was a fluke—a one-off thing. I even did… some stupid things to try and convince myself I was completely straight.” “What do you mean?” “I… well, I tried to seduce Storm…” Taylor snorted in surprise, waking Xavier momentarily. “I—I’ll explain later, but basically I was in heat and—anyway, that’s not important now.” “What I don’t understand is why you didn’t just conclude you were bisexual?” Lynne shook her head disapprovingly at her own stubbornness. “Part of it was I just didn’t want to admit it, I guess. But the other part of it was that I wasn’t attracted to girls as much as to boys, so I couldn’t be bisexual.” The cyan pony slowly lifted her head up and smiled warmly. “But then I met you, Taylor and everything became clear to me. I love being around you, and… I find you attractive.” Taylor did a double-take at this. “Your funny personality, the way you talk, I like all of it. Though it bothers me how low of an opinion you have of yourself.” Lynne blushed. “Where was I going with this, anyway—oh yes, I realized that if I find both you and Storm attractive now that I’m a pony, I have to be bisexual. I knew for sure when I kissed you. So, I guess thank you.” Taylor rubbed his hoof on the bedspread nervously. “So are we in a relationship, then? I’m no good at picking up on subtle cues. I haven’t been a girl long enough to know relationship calculus.” “If you want it to be a relationship, then I want it to be too,” Lynne said simply. Taylor felt a huge lead weight in his chest and he swallowed hard. “I probably know the answer to this one already, but I have to ask, “do you find me attractive as a guy, or... as a mare?” Lynne sighed. Her guilty complexion betrayed her answer before she could voice it. “I feel terrible saying this, but I like you the way you are now. You probably won’t believe this, Taylor, but you’re actually rather pretty. I know your colors clash, but even so you have a beautiful body. You’re muscular, your hair is silkily luscious and thick, your flanks are…” Lynne blushed a feverish red and Taylor soon joined her. Once the embarrassment had cleared somewhat, Taylor posed another question. “I can resign myself that you like my body the way it is. I was kind of ugly as a guy anyway, and besides, you never saw me before I was a pony. But what about personality? In other words, are you attracted to the male brain in this mare body?” Lynne once more had guilt smeared all along her features. “Again, I feel terrible saying this, but I’d rather have you as my girlfriend than as my boyfriend.” Taylor slumped. “I mean, you still talk like a boy, mostly, but I am starting to see you act more and more like a girl. Your inflections, your gestures—all of it has become more feminine lately. I find it endearing, and it fills me with a feeling like I want to cuddle you. Like it’s—how do I say it? Like when we hug I don’t want to be the girl being hugged; I want us to hug each other equally.” Lynne looked away. “I know I’m probably not making much sense, and after hearing that you probably don’t want to be in a relationship with me anymore…” Taylor rested his head between his hooves, planting his muzzle face-down on the bed. Three minutes passed while Lynne took deep breaths to calm her nerves. Finally Taylor’s head resurfaced. “Okay,” Taylor said, his voice quaking, “I’ll be your girlfriend.” “Really? Are you sure? Do you mean what you—” “Yes, I mean all of it,” Taylor said. “I’m a mare now, so I may as well accept it sooner rather than later. I doubt I’ll ever turn back, so that means I’ll spend more of my life female than I will have been male. I—I’m a girl now…” “I didn’t mean to push you.” “No, Lynne, I want this,” Taylor declared. “I want to be done with wishing I am what I’m not. I want to not hate my body. And if you think I’m beautiful, well, maybe I’ll start to believe you.” Lynne paused before smiling wryly. “Does that mean I can do your hair?” “Sure,” Taylor said with a smile. “But in return you’ll have to teach me how to be a mare.” Lynne laughed nervously. “I can try, but I’m an amateur myself at the whole mare thing.” Taylor and Lynne gazed into each other’s eyes in joy for a solid thirty seconds. Taylor briefly imagined a pulsing sensation on both flanks, but when she turned to look, nothing had changed. However, out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of Xavier, who was looking absolutely irate. “What the hell are you saying?” the mare bellowed in her glass shatteringly high voice. “You’re giving up of being a man? Where is your pride? Taylor folded her ears back. “What do you mean?” she asked in Equish. “Don’t speak at me in that damnable tongue that a book planted in our minds! I want to say how can you let it do this to us? You get turned into a bitch pony and you say ‘ok!?’” Taylor felt a churning in her stomach. What if Xavier was right. Was she giving in too easily? Letting what did this to them win? Taylor felt a reassuring hoof on her shoulder. “I want to do what feels right to me. The world may tell me that I should have some masculine pride, but I’m tired of being told how to be. I wish it didn’t take a gender change to show me that, but my whole life I’ve been bowing to external pressure and other people's expectations.” “You are still a man!” Xavier said, pointing a hoof accusingly. “Inside your head is a man. Don’t give up and be a pony! Don’t”—Xavier paused before switching to Equish to express his thoughts clearly—”be assimilated.” Xavier looked like he was torn between tears and rage. “I hate the idea too,” Taylor admitted. “However, a thought occurred to me recently: what if instead of just turning us into men in mares’ bodies, we were turned into mares in mares’ bodies. Heck, I was as miserable as I could have been about it, but I still bounced back. Maybe Taylor the guy was replaced by Taylor the mare without letting her know.” Xavier fumed, hopped off the bed and bellowed, “Traitor!” slamming the door behind him. Taylor was on the verge of crying, but Lynne gently rubbed her withers, making all the tension evaporate. Soon they lost themselves in the comfort of a furry hug, each squeezing equally tight. She opened her eyes. The picture in front of her was one she recognized, with the safe trappings of familiarity. Three brick walls and an iron gate surrounded her with a stone floor with hay strewn about underneath her. It wasn’t her favorite picture, though. Hesitating she stood up. In this picture, inflexible parts and fur adorned her. They were heavy, but somehow they felt natural. She moved around the prison she did not comprehend using the four parts underneath her. Unlike in other pictures, she couldn’t glide along or fly. Still, the strange properties of this picture were rapidly becoming well known to her. Even though she could sometimes teleport to a different picture by closing her eyes, she would always end up back here in the end. She felt herself rumbling from within. It hurt. She didn’t like it. Knowing the solution from experience, she walked along the floor until she reached an oval receptacle. It was filled with brownish-gray mush. When she approached it an unpleasant feeling went inside of her. She hated it. Still, it was the only way to make the rumbling stop. Opening up the cavity in front of her she scooped up some of the gunk and let it slide down into her. An awful feeling manifested as it slid down a tube into the centermost part. Despite the unpleasantness she repeated the feat until there was no more mush in the receptacle. Soon, the rumbling and the pain disappeared. However, a new ache manifested itself in the four parts under her, sending her a message that they wanted to move. She obeyed the compulsion, but as usual, the stone wall stopped her in her tracks. In this picture, she couldn’t pass through walls. Longing already for a different picture she lay down and closed her eyes Everything was quiet for a moment, but then a muffled noise floated above and through her. Two upper extremities above her twitched in response. “The overseer told us to observe this pony, but I don’t see what good it is.” Another incomprehensible noise followed “Yeah, all she does is eat, sleep and shit. This one must be broken; it’s not going to show any special powers.” “It’s not surprising: the overseer all but lobotomized the human she used to be.” “I say we gut her.” “Yeah, I’m with you. Maybe then we’ll finally get some reaction out of the retarded horse.” The upper extremities curled inward on their own, but still the noises kept passing through her. She felt a dissonance: she wanted to go to another picture, but the noises kept her in this one. For a while the strange noises stopped, but it was a brief respite. “I don’t know what good giving a braindead horse a book is going to do.” “Yeah, but you heard the orders. Once the boss sees for herself how useless it is, maybe she’ll reassign us.” “That can’t come soon enough. My talents are wasted cleaning stables.” There was a creak. She opened her eyes and saw an opening appear in the iron bars. Through that opening she saw a weird, reddish, lanky shape with no fur. Fascinated, her eyes followed its movement. It was the first moving thing she had seen in this picture other than her parts. “Hey, Horsey, catch!” A blur rushed towards her, straight at her eyes. With a pair of loud thuds, she found sharp pain pulsing into her from above. It throbbed over and over with varying intensities. She moved her parts seemingly randomly in hopes of alleviating the awful sensation. Eventually, however, it stopped. Mysteriously, a rectangle had appeared in front of her. Its exterior was fairly thick and purple, while a series of white rectangles were sandwiched in between. With the moving thing having vanished, she propelled herself closer to the rectangle, which was now by far the most interesting thing in the room. A Primer on Unicorn Magic. By Princess Twilight Sparkle She flinched back. Another noise. But this one was completely wrong. All other sound had come from the outside, invading her. This sound came from within, shattering the absolute calm that was she. She hated it. And even though she had retreated from the awful rectangle, the noise echoed in her mind, insisting on its importance. A Primer on Unicorn Magic By Princess Twilight Sparkle A Primer on Unicorn Magic By Princess Twilight Sparkle A Primer on Unicorn Magic By Princess Twilight Sparkle A Primer on Unicorn Magic By Princess Twilight Sparkle. She put her front appendages over her upper extremities and closed her eyes. She needed it to stop. A Primer An image of the rectangle appeared in the void. It was there, yet it wasn’t there. She could only see pitch black, yet the image of the rectangle was somehow still there. After a tense moment, she dared open her eyes again. The rectangle was still on the floor of the picture, but the image was also inside of her. Surprised, a noise escaped from within her, startling her as it boomeranged back inside of her. When she had recovered, she approached the a primer. Primer? The sound came from inside her once more. She pointed with one of the appendages underneath her. Suddenly aware of her breathing, she inhaled before steeling her nerves for what she was about to do. “...primer...” Once more the sound came from within her. She stared at the rectangle, still pointing at it. “Primer.” “Primer.” “Primer.” Suddenly a wonderful feeling of understanding overcame her. She was looking at a primer. The noise “primer” meant rectangle. She felt herself smile. For the first time, after flailing in a whirlpool of nonsensical sounds and images, something in one of the pictures finally made sense! She felt great and was eager to soak up more of that feeling. ...of… Of… She closed her eyes and tried again. ...of… No picture appeared inside of her. “Of” “...of…” She looked around, but no “of” was to be found. Worried that it wasn’t working she shut her eyes again and repeated a different internal sound. ...unicorn… Instantaneously a vivid image appeared inside of her. She saw a figure with four appendages underneath it and one behind it. It had a tube-like structure attached to a cylindrical central base. On top of the tube was another approximately cylindrical shape decorated with two holes, a cavity filled with white squares, two beautiful orbs, and three upper extremities. Before she could make sense of the image it vanished and was replaced by another. This figure was much the same except taller and bulkier. Then, a kaleidoscope of similar figures flashed through her. They were of all shapes, sizes and colors, but one thing stood out most prominently: the pointed appendage on each of their heads. “Unicorn” appeared to be much more complicated than “primer.” She wanted to make sure she understood it. Unicorn. Once more she was pelted by a barrage of images, but this time she was prepared. She made note of their common features and approximate shape. There was even a complete picture surrounding each unicorn: a grassy field underneath with a wide blue horizon above. Then, something strange happened. The progression of images halted and focused on one picture. Several of the similar figures were standing side-by-side. Unicorns. This new noise surprised her, but she found it very familiar at the same time. Unicorn All but one of the figures vanished. Unicorns. The multitude reappeared. She was close. There was a relation between unicorn and unicorns that was just out of reach. She wanted desperately to understand. She wanted to recapture the happy feeling of “primer.” Incubating half of an idea, she applied a dose of intuition. of unicorn. A detached appendage dominated the picture inside of her. of unicorn This time it was the conical extremity that appeared in isolation. This wasn’t getting her anywhere, so she summoned the “unicorns” picture once more. of of The picture was panning strangely, as if unsure what the main subject was to be. Unicorn of A lone figure appeared, surrounded by a shining border. Unicorn of unicorns? Just like that, the pieces snapped into place. Unicorn belonged to unicorns. Each of the figures was unicorn and together they were unicorns. Beaming in euphoria she opened her eyes to see her appendages underneath her. Just as quickly, a second epiphany jolted through her. Her bronze-furred appendages were much the same as those belong to the unicorns. Could it be? Looking behind her, she saw her dusty, rust-red rear appendage. It too corresponded to what a unicorn had. As a final confirmation she used one of her front appendages to feel above her. What she felt was a highly sensitive cone. When she tapped it, she hurt. There was no doubt about it now. Unicorn pointed to herself. “Unicorn... of unicorns.” Upon voicing this sound, Unicorn felt a sense of unity between herself and unicorns. She felt a part of something beyond the immediate picture in front of her. In that moment she knew there was more to this picture than these four walls. Bubbling with understanding, Unicorn approached the primer once more. “Primer of Unicorn,” she declared. It was true. This primer was hers and hers alone—her only and most valuable possession. It had opened the universe to her. She sat and read the title once more. From there, Unicorn began to ponder the infinite possibilities of magic. Ambra crouched in the back seat of Giovanni’s car, tucked just out of sight. The backseat had been removed to accommodate the two ponies and to allow them to hide. Currently they were parked near the police department where she formerly worked. Ambra’s horn glowed silver and the aura shrouded her eyes. An officer she recognized returned to the station and she peered through him. She saw his skeleton and organs as if looking through a magical x-ray. To her relief there was none of the pronounced orange taint anywhere in his body. Yuki chose this moment to pounce on top of her. “What’d you find? What’d you find? What’d you find?” “Stop,” Ambra ordered, attempting to shake the pest off of her. Yuki was thrown off, but hovered just before hitting the floor. “Tch, it’s no fair that you get to be so big,” Yuki complained. The disparity in height was quite pronounced between the two mares. Ambra came up to Giovanni’s chest and was nearly twice the size of Yuki. This suited Ambra quite well, as the more she looked like a horse instead of a pony, the more of her dignity she felt she could hold onto. If nothing else, she liked her colors: her coat was a warm caramel, while her mane and tail were a shimmering gold. “Well, what are you waiting for?” Giovanni asked. “Tell us.” “Still nothing,” Ambra said, somewhat smug. “I suppose all your talk about the cops being tainted was just talk.” Giovanni sighed and wrapped his hands around the wheel. “Well it’s been nearly two hours, so we are already pushing it in terms of looking suspicious. It’s slightly risky, but we can come back with a different car later. I suppose all we can for now is hold tight and wait to scan one more.” Yuki grinned and closed the distance between her and Ambra. “Yuki, personal space,” the mare said resignedly. “Oh come on! Do you see anyone else who can be your pony BFF? I’m obviously the best and only candidate. It’ll be great: we can brush each other’s manes and sing songs together and cuddle...” Ambra lit up her horn and magically pushed Yuki away from her. “Hey! I thought we set no magic as ground rules.” Ambra smiled slightly. “I don’t recall agreeing to that.” Yuki stuck out her tongue. Ambra had to remind herself that the childish pegasus pony was a criminal. Superficially, she didn’t appear dangerous, but Ambra refused to lower her guard around a known thief. Fortunately, the mafioso in front of her was much easier to deal with. She didn’t like him and he didn’t like her, but he was businesslike at all times and had eyes only for their next objective. Effectively, his gun was to her head at all times, and she had no doubt he would remorselessly dispatch her if she proved difficult. Yet somehow, a cordial atmosphere was maintained. She didn’t know if this was the mafia’s way of doing things, or if she had Yuki to thank for the relative levity. “So, have you made a decision?” Giovanni asked. “About what?” Ambra replied, purposely playing dumb to stall. “About joining us, silly!” Yuki said. “We could always use a third musketeer.” “I’d rather wait for proof before I sign my soul over to the devil,” Ambra retorted. “It’s not like it makes much of a difference,” Giovanni said. “Whether you believe us or not, we have proof on our end that the taint extends to the police.” Ambra waved a hoof dismissively. “Anecdotal evidence at best.” “Well, what other options do you have?” Giovanni asked “Is that a threat?” Ambra asked through gritted teeth. “It could be,” Giovanni said casually. “But we won’t shoot you unless you do something really stupid. You ponies are rare, so even if you don’t cooperate, you’ll be useful in other ways.” Ambra knew he was referring to the the book that had come in the mail for her. They had confirmed intelligence that the book was in another language that a pony’s presence could translate. Slowly a reader would learn the language as they read it. Ambra had only been allowed to read it with Yuki and Giovanni looking over her shoulder at all times. After some searching of the indices, they had found an invaluable spell that allowed one to detect illusions, disguises and other falsehoods. It was this spell alone that Ambra was permitted to learn, but she turned out to be a quick study and figured out levitation magic on her own. She had confirmed its effectiveness of the disguise-busting spell by finding a red-skinned gangster and seeing the taint for herself. Using it all around the city, she had found many hidden mions. Fortunately, all of d’Atlanta’s staff had come up clean. Despising her powerlessness, she said, “You know you have given me ample opportunity to escape, right? I could jerk away your gun, open the car door and make a run for it.” “And then what?” Giovanni asked condescendingly. “Report to your police friends that there’s a continent-wide conspiracy spread by virus and oh, by the way you’re a talking horse now, but that’s besides the point?” “Yeah, you wouldn’t want to be locked away in a dingy internment camp. After all, there are so many fun things to do at the mansion that I have yet to show you,” Yuki said cheerfully. Ambra sighed. That had gone nowhere—not that she had expected it to. She had weighed her options several times now and cooperating seemed like the best course. Still, she was loathe to admit it. Lighting her horn once more she scanned a pair of officers exiting the station. Neither of them possessed any taint. Ambra shook her head. “That sure is a useful spell,” Yuki remarked. “Mighty convenient that it was in the book. Why do you think they included it anyway?” “It’s a training manual for something called the ‘Crystal Guard,’” Giovanni explained. “They had a problem with shapeshifting ‘changelings’ who nearly took over an entire kingdom. You should know this; it was in the introduction section.” Yuki giggled. “I might have fallen asleep,” she said. “It was sooo boooring!” Giovanni checked his watch again. “All right, abort mission,” he stated. “We’ll come back later. Yuki jumped and pointed. “Look: one more copper!” Like most of the people coming in and out of the station, Ambra recognized the policeman. His name was Paolo, and he was a good friend of hers. They had dated a few times, but nothing had come of it. Following him by sight, Ambra lit her horn and scanned the man. And what she saw was a distressing amount of orange. “I—I don’t believe it. They’re even in the police department…” Ambra buried her head in her hooves. “They got Paolo… I—I just saw him the other day and he acted completely normal. Was he, even then, under their control?” Yuki crawled to her side and stroked her withers with her wings. It was an intrusive but not an unwelcome gesture. “You got your proof, so we’re out of here!” Giovanni declared to no one in particular as he put the car into drive and slowly pulled away from the police department. “So, Sister, are you in?” Yuki asked, disguising her opportunistic motives with a forced tone of sympathy.” Ambra raised her head, tears in her eyes. “This really goes beyond the impact on you, or me, doesn’t it? This is a threat that could affect—no, destroy—the entire world. If they’re the bad guys and you are the only ones fighting against them, by that twisted logic, you criminals the good guys.” “That’s right!” Yuki said assuredly. There was a brief moment of silence, and Yuki fished out the pet tag from under the passenger seat. With a smile she presented it to Ambra. Ambra hesitantly accepted it into her hoof. While it was somewhat degrading, she saw through to the symbolism of the tracker tag. It was submitting to fate, but with a resolve to make the best of things. It was primarily for the boss’s peace of mind, but at the same time it was based in trust—trust that the power over them wouldn’t be abused. Ambra took the tag in her magic and snapped it around her neck. Since I have been gifted the power to resist, I choose to fight!