Sunset awoke before the others, thanks to the silent alarm spell she had cast the night before. She rose on all four hooves and stretched her legs, grateful to finally be able to stay in her natural form. Only her cutie mark remained hidden by a spell.
A physician rushed over to her as fast as he would allow himself so as not to disturb the freshly-minted ponies still deep asleep, their minds undergoing the final rewiring so that their new bodies would work smoothly from the outset. "Miss Sommers?" the physician said softly.
"Yes?" Sunset looked at herself and added in a properly bemused tone, "Is it ... is it done? Am I really a little pony?"
"We're sorry we couldn't stop it," said the physician in a somber voice.
Sunset certainly wasn't. Just a tiny tweak of magic, and she could remove the protection that this physician and the others employed. With as much magic as was building up, their sickness would be short, and they would transform within no more than a week. Yet there would be plenty of time for that later in less conspicuous circumstances.
Sunset took a few steps. "Thank heavens I can walk again! I felt like such an invalid yesterday."
"Do you want to see a counselor?" the physician offered.
"I sort of took on that role for the others. I don't see any reason to stop now."
"Miss Sommers--"
"Please, call me Sunny. I'm really just the same person in a new package."
The physician smiled faintly. "I'm glad you're taking it well, but perhaps you should go easy for now."
"Well, I'm certainly not going to wake up everypony," said Sunset. "But I do want to be there for them when they do. It's what I'm all about."
The physician nodded, his smile widening slightly.
Sunset believed that went well. At some point, they would start to figure out how cutie marks worked, and she could make her own appear and claim that the sun reflected her sunny personality and ability to see the bright side of things.
"We do ask that you don't attempt anything with your horn," said the physician.
Sunset gave him an innocent look. "Do something? It's not exactly big enough or sharp enough to be used as some sort of tool, if that's what you mean. I'd be too afraid of breaking it off."
"I mean, don't attempt, er, well, magic."
Magic? Why would he call it that? Sunset had not thought they would make the connection and accept the concept that quickly. Perhaps they were a little more open-minded at this point than she had given them credit for. "I do admit, I keep thinking I can use it for something, but I hadn't thought of that."
"All right, but please let us know at once if something unexpected happens."
"Will do!"
Sunset allowed herself a small smile. They were all going to have their fill of the unexpected quite soon. She had crafted her spell to awaken basic pony magic right from the start. It would be a bit chaotic at first, but it would smooth itself out soon.
She looked over the others. Colorful ponies of all three tribes lay curled up fast asleep. Other than the bits of now useless clothing hanging off them at odd angles, she could almost think this was Equestria. Her smile widened. This was the result of twenty years of hard work. This was her creation. She loved them all as if they were her own foals.
Sunset stepped forward, careful to keep her hoof-falls soft. Her gaze fell on a yellow-furred, orange-haired pony, her wings folded neatly against her sides, her tail curled around her haunches. She wondered what kind of cutie mark Laura would get, or what more appropriate name she might come up with for herself.
Sunset would get to see the first generation of ponies grow into their bright new future. She had considered remaining more detached, staying in the shadows and adopting various guises as needed, but she felt this needed a personal touch, especially where the Tanners were concerned after the unfortunate incident in Nebraska.
She had to stop feeling guilty for that. It had been an accident, and no one had gotten seriously hurt. Even the home that the tornado did destroy was empty at the time. Now Laura would eventually have the power to stop a storm in its tracks and never have to fear them again. Sunset hoped it would also make up for the trouble she had caused Sarah.
Sunset caught a glitter out of the corner of her eye. She turned her head, and she stared in deep confusion.
Lying on a bedroll curled up fast asleep was an older mare with a light blue coat and a lighter blue-and-yellow mane and tail. She was an earth pony, but her fur and hair glittered like spun glass.
Sunset turned away and trotted towards the physician who had first greeted her upon awakening. "Um, excuse me?"
The physician turned towards her. "Yes, what can I do for you?"
"I was curious about that mare over there." Sunset pointed with a fore-hoof. "I didn't recall seeing her before now."
"She was a really late arrival," said the physician. "I understand she was an extremely shy woman until her transformation was almost complete. Then she called 911 begging to be taken to a shelter out of sheer loneliness. This was the closest one, so we squeezed her in."
Sunset stared as the crystal mare's ears and muzzle twitched from the depths of a dream.
"Is something wrong, Sunny?"
Sunset forced a small smile. "Not at all. I just thought her sparkly coat was so pretty. It's certainly unique."
"I'm told there's two more similar to her in another shelter, but, yes, like the ones with the bat-like wings, they seem to be rather rare."
"Thank you for the info," Sunset said before heading away.
Sunset had researched crystal ponies, but without any actually around at the time she crafted her spell, she had left them out of the equation. She knew them to be a variety of earth pony, but without a way to examine their specific powers more closely, she had chosen not to attempt any transformations with crystal ponies as the intentional target.
So what caused this one to become a crystal pony? A random thaumic drift, perhaps? The morphic resonance of earth and crystal ponies were very close. Likely this mare got some aspects of crystal ponies, but not all. She may be no more than an earth pony in a pretty wrapper. It was a concern how this had happened, but not a significant problem. Of more concern to her was the immunity, but now she had an idea how to deal with it.
All she needed was about five minutes alone with Kevin Conner, and the problem would be solved.
Like the morning before, Laura awoke to the sound of clopping hooves around her. Unlike the previous morning, it felt as normal as hearing a bird outside her window back home. Her eyes blinked open, and she was taken at once by how much wider her field of view was. Colors seemed a touch more vibrant than she remembered them.
Her eyes briefly crossed as she beheld her muzzle, which had only just barely begun to manifest the night before prior to falling into an exhausted slumber, as if the very last stage of the transformation had taken a physical toll on her.
She rose and faltered, the last of her clothing entangling her rear legs. She managed to free herself, whipping her tail to the side and fluttering her wings. The idea that this left her naked didn't register as even a fleeting thought.
Laura glanced about, and her eyes widened in both shock and wonder. Almost everywhere she looked, she saw ponies in varying states of wakefulness and bemusement. She took a few steps, and four appendages responded. She looked down at herself, lifting a fore-hoof and studying it for a moment. She turned her head to look at the rest of her, neck far more flexible than she ever would have thought possible.
"You doing okay, Laura?"
Laura turned her gaze forward and saw Emma standing a short distance away. There was no mistaking her, not with those orange and pink streaks that ran through the straight red hair of her mane and tail. What really threw Laura's senses into a brief tailspin until her newly rewired brain asserted itself was that she even recognized Emma's smell. Perhaps she had noticed it only on a subconscious level before, but now it was just as much a part of Emma as what she looked like or how her voice sounded. It was pleasantly familiar, the smell of a friend, somepony around whom she could feel safe.
Laura smiled faintly. "I think so."
Emma took a step closer. "It's finally done, isn't it?"
"It looks like it, yeah."
"So, um, what do we call ourselves?"
"Well, we're ponies," said Laura. "I mean ... it's weird, but at the same time, it's not. I know that doesn't make sense."
"No, it does." Emma averted her eyes. "It's strange to think now that, when my tail first came in, I cried like a baby."
"So did I," Laura said. "I was terrified over what I was becoming."
"I worried I was going to become a dumb animal."
"Except we're not." Laura paused a moment before adding, "We're pegasi."
Emma slowly smiled. "Kind of a grandiose title for us, isn't it? At least from what I remember of them from mythology. We're sort of on the small side."
"It just feels right." Laura extended her wings as easily as she once extended her arms. "What else would we be?"
Another set of hoof-falls approached. "I like it," said Joan. "And it makes sense to me, too."
Emma extended her wings and flexed them. "Should we try them out?"
Joan smiled. "I think Laura should go first."
Laura's pupils shrank slightly. "What, me?"
"I second that!" said Emma with a grin.
Laura blushed, which somehow showed even through the fur covering her cheeks. Yet every fiber of her being was begging for the chance. These wings were as much a part of her now as her hooves. If her hooves worked perfectly well, why not the wings?
The night before, the last of her humanity had begun to slip away, leaving her unable to do more than just lie down while it happened. Despite how calmly she had taken the latter part of the transformation, that moment had held a frightening sense of helplessness that she had simply been too dead tired to express.
She had awoken in a body that was no longer a struggle to either move or understand. She had hooves because she was supposed to have hooves, thus it simply must be true that she had wings because she was supposed to have them, and they were supposed to work.
Despite how brief her moment of reflection had been, a small crowd had gathered around her, mostly the friends she had made the day before. Her old tendency to shy away from attention tried to reassert itself, but the sense of camaraderie she had developed battled successfully against it.
Laura wasn't sure when she actually started flapping her wings, yet it became very obvious when her hooves left the floor. Her friends gasped as she teetered and wobbled. A rush of contrary thoughts about what she should and should not be able to do threatened to destabilize her further until she forcefully quelled them, and soon she was hovering steadily a foot or so from the floor.
"Ohmygod, she's flying!" Emma suddenly cried, breaking the wide-eyed astonished silence.
Laura blushed again, but a wide smile stretched across her muzzle. "Well, I'm hovering," said Laura, though her voice quavered in betrayal of sheer exhilaration. "But the wings work, just like I thought they should!"
"I want to try that!" Emma cried, stretching her own wings.
"So do I!" Joan said.
In their excitement, they had failed to notice the white-coated technicians converging on them. "Wait, stop! Miss Tanner, please, put your hooves back on the floor."
Laura hesitated both in disappointment and the quandary as to exactly how to get herself to comply. Once she was in the air, maintaining level height was as easy as walking. She didn't have to consciously flap her wings, they just moved as they needed to. Her wings finally faltered, and she came down a bit hard, but her hooves absorbed the impact easily.
"Thank you," said a relieved technician. "All of you, please, don't try this again until--"
"Why not?" Emma said in an indignant voice.
"That's not fair," Joan declared.
"If we have wings, we should use them!" cried another.
"What's the point of becoming pegasi if we don't fly?" insisted yet another.
Laura stepped forward. "I agree with them. Our wings work. Why shouldn't we use them?"
Several others drew closer to Laura as if to show their solidarity. The technician gave them a forlorn look before replying, "We just want to do this in more controlled conditions. We don't want to see any of you hurt, or have you hurt any of us without meaning to."
The other pegasi all looked towards Laura, as if they had tacitly elected her their representative. In the ensuing silence, her ears swiveled as she picked up a distant, high pitched voice whining, "But Moooom, I wanna fly like she did!"
Laura looked around. Even non-winged ponies were looking towards them, as if wondering how this would play out. She spotted Kelly staring very intently at the carrying case for her cell phone, a feeble glow flickering around her horn, her comrades moving as if trying to shield her from the watchful eyes of the technicians and physicians.
Laura turned her gaze back to the technician addressing her. "I know you all tried your best to stop what happened, but it's sort of a moot point now. This is what we are, and we need to start understanding how to work with it." She glanced at the others. "Maybe let us each try out our abilities one at a time, but give everypony a chance to do it."
The others nodded.
The technician glanced at his comrades before replying. "All right, we'll see what we can do to accommodate. Thank you for your cooperation."
Laura smiled faintly as he turned and headed away with his compatriots.
"Well, I guess that went better than it could have," said Emma.
"It was really the best I could do," said Laura. "I didn't want to antagonize them. They're just trying to look out for us."
Joan smiled and draped a foreleg around Laura's barrel. "I think you did pretty well."
Several ponies parted to allow a familiar yellow and red unicorn to trot forward, a wide smile on her muzzle. "I think you did wonderfully, Laura."
Laura broke into her own smile, her eyes glistening as she hugged Sadie tightly. "Thanks, Sunny. Did you see me? Did you see me using my wings?"
"I did," said Sadie as she returned the hug. "It was magnificent."
Laura blushed. "All I did was hover for a few minutes."
"You have to start somewhere, and I'm very happy you were the one who had the gumption to do it."
"It was sort of weird at first," said Laura. "I felt something in my wings I couldn't explain. It's like I've only scratched the surface, like I can do so much more. Is that just wishful thinking? Am I getting ahead of myself?"
"Just take it one step at a time," said Sadie. "I feel like you do, that there's some grand purpose behind all this, and we're all moving towards it."
"I really hope so. I--"
Laura was interrupted by a tug on her tail. She turned around, her gaze falling on a peagsus filly with red-pink fur and light orange mane and tail. She was about half Laura's size, sitting on her haunches with her fore-hooves still raised and facing one another.
Laura smiled. "Um, hello?"
"Hi," said the filly as she rose to her hooves. "Can you tell me something, please?"
"If I can, sure."
"How did you fly??"
Laura hesitated. "Oh, um--"
The filly flapped her wings furiously until they became a blur. "I tried and tried and can't get off the ground."
Laura recognized the filly's voice as the one she had heard whining earlier. She wasn't sure how to answer. When the filly stilled her wings, Laura saw they were in the same proportion to the rest of her body as Laura's were.
"You might need a bit more time, little one," Sadie said in a gentle voice. "Maybe you need to grow up a little more."
The filly put on a pout that Laura thought was absolutely adorable. "But it looks like so much fun! I really want to do it now."
"Molly! Molly, where are you?!" cried a frantic voice.
The filly turned around. "Over here, Mom!"
The cherry-haired woman Laura had seen briefly the day before rushed over. She had progressed as far as ears, tail, and fur, and her gait was awkward like Laura's had been just before her rear hooves came in. She scooped up the filly despite a protest of flailing hooves and fluttering wings.
"Mooom, stop!" Molly cried. "You're treating me like a little foal!"
"I'm terribly sorry if she bothered you," said the woman. "I-I'm just not sure how to deal with her anymore since she's become like this."
Sadie smiled. "It's okay, I understand."
"I just want to fly," said Molly in a glum voice, her ears drooping.
Laura looked at Molly and was immediately reminded of Jenny when the family went on their first camping trip when Jenny was six. She had taken off into the trees the moment Sarah and Harold weren't looking, and it had been up to Laura to chase her down. She looked to the woman and said, "Please, don't worry, um ..."
"Theresa," the woman said. "My name is Theresa."
"Don't worry, Theresa, we'll all keep an eye on her. We won't let her get hurt."
Theresa smiled. "Thank you."
Molly squirmed. "Now can you put me down?"
"Oh, yes, sorry." Theresa set Molly down. "She's just so tiny now, I'm afraid she's going to hurt herself."
Molly fluttered her wings before folding them against her sides. "I'm not tiny, I'm aerodynamic."
Laura pressed a fore-hoof to her muzzle, and her sides trembled from suppressed laughter.
"I just hope I'm as calm and accepting of all this when I get this far," said Theresa.
Sadie smiled. "I have a feeling you'll be better able to relate to your daughter when that happens."
Laura lowered her hoof, some of her smile fading. Just what was her family going to do once they were all like her? How would they live their lives as little ponies? Would anything go back to the way it was, or did they have to find some new destiny? She felt like the answers were just within reach. If there was ever a time where she couldn't afford to make a mistake, it was here.
Eileen rubbed her eyes as she stared at herself in the bathroom mirror, still bleary from a fitful night. Her flu symptoms had abruptly subsided the night before, and now she scrutinized herself for any sign of what was to follow, at least if the doomsayers on the news had anything to say about it.
She let out a ragged sigh as she gripped the sides of the sink. All she could think of while she lay in bed for several sleepless hours the night before was her son. How bad was he now? Would she even recognize him if she saw him?
Eileen frowned and forced herself to straighten up. She needed coffee and a cigarette, and not necessarily in that order.
She pulled her robe more securely about her as she trudged into the kitchen. She started the coffee brewing and grabbed her pack of cigarettes, but uttered a curse as she saw the chilly temperature outside on the weather monitor.
She threw the pack across the kitchen table. Sarah had made her swear not to light up inside the house. While the instinct to ignore that just to be contrary was strong, it wouldn't bode well for her stated intention to remake herself.
"If I get the chance," she muttered as she fell into a chair. She crossed her legs, one ankle encircled by a sensor band courtesy of the state police. Eileen had hoped that they would just trust her to remain in the home while under house arrest. Had it been just the charge of running the barricade, she had been told, she might have gotten off lightly, but the "pricks" (as she called them) at the car rental had insisted they press for charges for theft. Her damaged rental car had already been impounded, so it wasn't like she had anywhere to go.
Eileen frowned as she glanced at the sensor. "Just hope the fucking thing doesn't strangle my leg if I start turning into a pony."
Eileen grabbed her coffee and spent the next hour or so trolling the internet on Sarah's computer. She might as well have stepped into a madhouse. The only islands of sanity were the support groups that had sprung up for those affected by ETS who had no organized shelters into which to retreat. Worry and anxiety still ran high among them, but at least they seemed to have their heads screwed on a little straighter.
Those with ETS were acting more rational than those without it. Incidents of violence and rioting were rising, and there were rumors that the government was close to declaring martial law. It only served to drive the ETS-affected into more tightly-knit groups for their own mutual protection. The fact that a significant portion of them had superhuman strength made the tactic rather effective.
Eileen thought back to her conversation with Bob, that maybe having this happen to her would be best. Maybe she'd finally be part of something bigger rather than feeling like no one gave a shit.
She was about to raise the mug of coffee to her lips when a pounding on the door startled her. She frowned and set aside the mug. "That's an angry police knock if I ever heard one." The knock at the door came again and more urgently, spurring her to sprint the rest of the way. "Mind keeping the door on it's hinges, please? I don't exactly own this--"
She stopped short when she flung open the door and saw men in suits wearing earpieces with wires trailing under their collars.
"Ms. Eileen McDermott?" said the one in the lead in a crisp voice.
Eileen's eyes darted between the men. "Uh, yeah, that's me."
The man lifted a badge into view. "Federal Bureau of Investigation."
"Shit, what the fuck did I do now?"
"We have spoken with the state police," the man said. "They have agreed to drop all charges against you if you agree to submit to medical examination and experimentation."
Eileen stared. "Are you fucking serious?"
"This is extremely serious, ma'am. Your cooperation would be greatly appreciated."
"Does this have to do with ETS?"
"Ma'am, everything has to do with ETS. Now, do we have your cooperation?"
"But I don't have any symptoms," said Eileen.
"That, Ms. McDermott, is exactly why we need you."
Eileen frowned as she read the form that had been given to her almost the moment she had set foot in the hospital. It amounted to telling her that there was no guarantee that what she was about to undergo would cure her of anything, or that she wouldn't have side-effects, or that she might come out worse.
"So, in other words, you don't know what the fuck you're doing," she said to the physician sent to consult with her, a man who had introduced himself as Doctor Kevin Conner.
He seemed to take her acerbic wit in stride. "In effect, yes. This is all very untried."
Eileen blinked. "Damn."
"Sorry if that's making you reconsider."
"No, I mean, damn, someone who's actually honest with me. I don't get that a lot."
"At this point, Ms. McDermott, we're desperate," said Kevin. "We don't quite understand everything about how the mechanism of this affliction works, and we have to trust those who claim to know."
Eileen raised an eyebrow. "You got some sorta outside experts for this?"
"You could say that."
Eileen frowned. "Now you're being mysterious. What happened to honesty?"
"Very well," said Kevin as he folded his hands. "You're going to be subjected to magic."
"Huh?"
"Just what I said."
"What, you gonna have someone waving a magic wand over me?"
Kevin smiled faintly. "In a way, except the wand in question is attached to her forehead."
"O-kay, this is getting weird," said Eileen.
"Magic is apparently the mechanism by which ETS operates. If it helps any, we've seen the actual effects of magic. Perhaps it will be understood someday as some sort of previously unknown subset of physics, but right now, 'magic' will have to suffice as a handy label."
Eileen looked down at the permission form. "I don't like how broad this is."
"Neither do I," said Kevin. "I would have preferred they take the time for a more conventional approach, but they insisted this was faster."
"Which it isn't, because we spent just as much time debating this one form than I would have signing a stack of them."
"Precisely. I had tried to convince them with little success."
One corner of Eileen's mouth rose. "I like you, doc. I wish I had you as my physician. You know how to cut through the bullshit."
Kevin smiled. "I've been told that before. If you stay in Lazy Pines after the crisis is over, please feel free to visit my office. I already treat many of your relatives as it is."
"You're Sarah's physician?"
"Yes, I am."
Eileen recalled some of the unflattering things she had said and thought about this man and scratched her head. "Um, okay."
"Something the matter?" Kevin asked.
Eileen shook her head. "Not really, just thinking how many other times I've been stupid lately." She grabbed the pen and dashed off her signature. "There. Do whatever voodoo you do best."
Kevin accepted the form and stood. "This way, please."
Eileen was expecting to be brought to hospital check-in and go through a lengthy admissions procedure, just like the time she had to have an ovarian cyst removed. Despite having had all the paperwork in ahead of time, she still had to wait almost an hour before they had assigned her to a room.
Instead, all that happened was Kevin submitting the form, another physician asking her a few quick questions to make absolutely sure she knew what she had signed, and she was led down a corridor away from the hospital rooms. She glanced about nervously as she saw both FBI agents and National Guard. A final phalanx of agents stood before a door that led into an examination room, one of whom checked both Kevin and Eileen's ID cards.
As the agent handed Eileen's ID back to her, he said, "I need to impress upon you the need for descretion, Ms. McDermott. We ask that you do not speak of this experience yet to anyone, either in person or electronically."
"You can't really force me to keep quiet, can you?" Eileen said.
"No, we can't. We're asking for your cooperation."
"I'll think about it."
The agent frowned but stepped aside to allow them through.
They entered the examination room, which looked no different from what she was expecting. Other physicians were in attendance, whom Kevin introduced, but Eileen just nodded as the names slid off her mind without really sticking. She had half expected to see them dressed in cheesy wizard robes.
"Okay, so, is this where you make with the magic or something?" Eileen asked.
"Not quite us, Ms. McDermott," said Kevin. He turned his head towards a closed drape. "Twilight?"
Eileen was drawn to the motion of the drape being pulled back, and she nearly recoiled as her gaze fell on the purple creature who stepped forward. Several people on the internet had taken it upon themselves to draw what they thought the final end state of the transformation might look like, but nothing had quite matched this. The eyes were enormous compared to the size of the head, and in any other circumstance it might even be cute. Her first impression was a unicorn, until she saw the wings.
"What the hell are you?" Eileen finally uttered.
"My name is Twilight Sparkle," said the creature. "You can call me Twilight. May I call you Eileen?"
Still staring, Eileen nodded slowly.
"I'm sorry if my appearance startles you. I'm here to help stop what's been happening on this world."
"This world?" Eileen said. "So, you're an alien?"
"You could say that, yes."
"This isn't exactly going like alien abduction stories tend to, you know."
When Twilight looked on in confusion, Kevin smiled and said, "This is certainly no abduction. You can still walk out of here and refuse to undergo this procedure."
Eileen frowned. "I don't even know what this supposed procedure is. The form I signed wasn't big on details. It just mentioned 'unconventional' imaging and treatment techniques."
Twilight stepped forward. "It will definitely be different than you're used to, but the discomfort should be minimal. First I need to scan you to see if you have the transformation spell inside you."
Eileen raised an eyebrow. "Spell?"
"I was told you just recently got over the flu."
"Yeah, I did. No idea how I caught it."
"The flu is the way ETS is spread."
Eileen's eyes widened. "Bob was right?"
"Bob?"
"He's my son. He has this, too."
"I'm sorry to hear that," said Twilight. "I wish I could offer more explanation of what's happening, but I really need to check you for the spell. I doubt you'll feel anything more than a tingling."
"Um, all right," Eileen said in a slightly quavering voice.
Twilight nodded. "Thank you. Now, please, hold still."
Eileen thought this was insane. Didn't they have to put her into some machine to take pictures of her? Or stick her with needles to take a blood sample? Instead, all that happened was that Twilight's horn glowed, and she closed her eyes.
A few seconds later, the creature's eyes opened. "She has the spell."
Eileen's heart skipped a beat. "You mean I'm going to become a little pony like you?"
"Right now, the spell is dormant," said Twilight. "With as much of a pool of ambient transformation magic available, however, it will likely trigger in no more than a day or two. This is exactly what I was afraid of, that the available pool of magic hastens the transformation."
"But can you counterspell it?" Kevin said.
"I'll need to study the spell structure more," said Twilight. "It will be a little more invasive and uncomfortable for Eileen, but it shouldn't hurt her."
"This isn't making a goddamn bit of sense," Eileen declared. "Why should I trust anything you're telling me, huh?"
Twilight looked up at her. "I understand your reluctance, but I'm fulfilling a promise to a mutual friend: your sister Sarah."
Eileen's mouth fell open.
"Sarah wanted to protect someone in her family from this, so when she heard I needed someone who had the spell but no symptoms, she suggested you. She doesn't want to see you go through this."
Eileen swallowed hard.
"I got the sense from her that you two don't see eye to eye," said Twilight. "But she still loves you very much. I'm willing to stop and give you a more lengthy explanation of how magic works if--"
Eileen quickly wiped her eyes with the back of a hand. "No, never mind, I don't need it," she said in a choked voice. "Just do it."
"I did it! I really did it!" Kelly cried with delight as a small foam ball wobbled in the air a few inches from her muzzle, both it and her horn glowing. Nearby, her friends cheered her on, but the physicians and technicians standing in a close circle about her were more sanguine in their response. They took notes and tried to measure the immeasurable with everything from magnetometers to Geiger counters.
Sunset smiled as she looked on, feeling a vague sort of envy for these ponies. They reminded her of the first time she had applied her will to her horn and was met with something more than just sparks, or when she saw a pegasus classmate flap his wings in the playground and lift off the ground for the first time. She had hoped that the awakening of their pony magic would be met with delight and wonder, and for the most part, she wasn't disappointed.
She glanced at Laura. She was the subject of another "controlled experiment." She hovered a few feet off the ground, while technicians struggled to find out exactly how she managed to stay aloft. They took measurements of the speed of the displaced air under her, while wires attached to pads at the base of her wings fed data about her muscle contractions. Nearby, some of Laura's pegasus friends who had yet to be allowed to fly were anxiously flexing their wings in eager anticipation.
Nearby, little Molly looked on with a mix of wonder and frustration. Sunset sorely wished she could console the filly further. Molly's wings were just fine, she just needed another year or two before they would start to work properly. Of more concern to Sunset, however, was the one group that still had yet to see their powers completely realized.
"This isn't fair," complained a frowning earth pony mare to one of the technicians.
"We want a chance to know what we can do, too," said one of her friends.
"We've been over this before," the technician said in a tired voice. "Your strength is enough to do serious damage to the building."
The earth pony stomped a hoof, and the floor shook. "Then let us outside!"
"Yeah, we've been cooped up in here for too long," said another.
"I want to see the sun again, at least for a little while," said another.
Sunset was very pleased. Already they sensed there was more to their abilities than just raw strength, and being outside was the perfect way to prove it. Once the pegasi got more used to their wings, they would soon start agitating for the open skies.
"We can't let you outside right now," said the harried technician.
"Why not?" one of the earth ponies demanded.
"You think we're going to run away or something?" said another.
"Why would I want to leave my friends?" demanded a third.
"We don't want to spread this further than it already has," the technician said.
"Oh, come on, the whole town is like this now, isn't it?"
"You can't keep us in here forever!"
"What's the point of keeping us quarantined if it's over?"
The technician sighed. "Look, I'll talk to my supervisor. I can't promise anything, though. Just, please, don't take matters into your own hands. Er, hooves."
Laura had concluded her experiment, and she trotted over to Sunset. One of the earth ponies glanced towards her before saying in a more contrite voice. "We won't, for now."
"What's going on, Sunny?" Laura asked.
Sunset smiled at her. "Just the powers-that-be starting to realize they can't keep experimenting on us forever."
"I have to admit, I do wonder what's going to become of us now," said Laura. "We've been relying on them to care for us, feed us, and all that. They can't keep doing that forever, can they?"
Sunset turned more fully towards Laura. "No, they can't. I have a feeling it's only a matter of time before they become like us."
"When this started happening to me, I felt like I was going to be a helpless animal. I don't feel that way anymore but ... well ..." She looked around. "Whatever I can really do, I can't do it inside an auditorium. I always thought this school had a really large auditorium for its size, and now it feels cramped. I'm just not sure how we'll deal with that if they keep us in here."
Sunset placed a hoof on Laura's shoulder. "The other ponies are looking up to you as a sort of leader."
"Oh, they are not," Laura said, but her conviction was weak.
"You were the first one to speak up for them, and you acted in a very mature and conciliatory manner."
Laura slowly smiled.
"That earth pony who looked at you? I think she was remembering that moment, and she acted in kind. You inspired them."
"I'm not sure I'm quite ready to be a leader," Laura said softly. "I don't want to let them down."
"That's just it, you don't have to do it alone. Your friends will always support you, even when you make mistakes."
Laura glanced back towards her friends. Emma was having her turn at flight, and Joan was helping another preen her wings. Kelly never looked so pleased as she stepped aside to let another unicorn try out her horn.
"It doesn't have to be like it was with Jenny," said Sunset. "You had nopony to turn to or confide in. You don't have to do it alone anymore."
"The future still seems a little daunting," said Laura. "It's neat to be able to fly and whatever else I can do, but it's still going to be a really different world."
Sunset felt as proud for Laura as she would for a daughter of her own, almost the same way she had felt towards Twilight. Laura had such great potential, and Sunset intended to do everything in her power to see that it was realized. She would love it if Laura was the first to earn a cutie mark, as it would be wonderfully symbolic of her fully embracing her new life and setting a fine example for others to follow.
Her ears swiveled as she heard somepony approach from behind her. She turned as a technician stepped up and said, "Sadie Sommers?"
Sunset turned more fully towards him. "Yes, that's me."
"Can you come with me, please?"
Laura gave Sunset a concerned look. Sunset returned it with a confused look of her own before saying, "Is something wrong?"
"There was an incident at your residence last night, and someone wants to ask you a few questions about it."
Sunset's thoughts immediately jumped to Star Singer, as that was the only unknown variable of the equation. Everything else in her home of magical origin was warded against tampering or discovery. Even if Twilight had arrived in town already, Sunset would have detected Twilight's attempt to disable them. Had Star finally decided she had wanted nothing to do with Sunset's plans and tried to talk to the authorities? Without knowing the native language, that wouldn't get her very far.
To allay any suspicions, Sunset face-hoofed as she said, "Ugh, I'll bet it's that old hot water heater. I knew I should've turned it off before I came to the shelter."
"Oh, no, Sunny, I hope your basement didn't get flooded!" Laura said. "My parents were always worried our heater would do that on us."
Sunset smiled at Laura. "No worries, I'm sure somepony can help clean it up." She turned to the technician. "All right, let's go."
When Eileen was told that the procedure would be "uncomfortable," she had assumed that was just a nice way of saying that it would hurt like hell. While it turned out not to be the case, what she did feel was almost as bad. First it felt like ants crawling all over her skin, then when Twilight applied more power, it felt like ants under her skin instead. Several times she contemplated calling a stop to it, as she still only half-believed what was going on. Had she not already been in such a defeatist mental state, she would have likely told them what she thought of all this hocus-pocus and left.
Suddenly, the sensation stopped, and Twilight lifted her head, the glow of her horn fading. "I've got it now. I can craft the counterspell."
The faces of the other physicians held a curious mix of doubt and hope in equal measure, but Kevin smiled and said, "Things are looking up, then."
Twilight turned to him. "Realize that this is just a first step. I'm still facing the problem of how to mass-cast this spell on such a large number of affected people, but at least now I can protect those who are running the emergency zone operations."
Eileen glanced from person to person. "You all actually believe this shit?"
"Perhaps we don't fully understand it, Ms. McDermott," said Kevin. "But this should give you an idea how desperate we are for a solution."
"I've come to terms with the fact that humanity still needs more convincing," said Twilight. "'Seeing is believing' is the correct term from your vernacular, I think."
Eileen frowned. "So what does this mean for me?"
Twilight turned to her. "It means I can cure you of this permanently."
Her horn glowed, and Eileen's eyes widened as a piece of paper and a pen floated before the creature. The latter began writing on the former as if held by an invisible hand.
"What the hell am I seeing?" Eileen murmured.
"Magic, I would say," said Kevin. "Perhaps that is sufficient proof there is something to this."
Eileen watched the pen continue to move across the paper. "What about my son?"
"The last report I had was that his symptoms had started."
"I know that!" Eileen snapped. "Use this counter-whatever on him, too. In fact, I'd rather you use it on him than me."
"Casting the counterspell on someone actively transforming is more problematic," said Twilight without looking up from the paper. "I'd have to stop the inflow of magic first, and that's more difficult. With as many people affected--"
"I don't care how difficult it is, I want him cured, too."
"Ms. McDermott, we're doing everything we can," said Kevin,
"I just don't know why I have to be so special," said Eileen. "What did I do to deserve this privilege?"
"You didn't deserve to have this happen to you in the first place," said Twilight in a somber voice. She paused to make a few more notations before setting the pen aside. She lowered the paper slightly as she stepped up to Eileen. "I'm ready to cast the counterspell."
"Wait," Eileen said in a choked voice.
"Eileen, it's important we know if this works," said Twilight. "I promise, this won't generate the same discomfort that the deep thaumic scan did."
"I don't mean that, I ..." Eileen trailed off when the words would not come to her.
"Don't you want to be cured?" asked Twilight.
Eileen took a deep breath. "I just ... I-I won't bore you with the details, but my life's been pretty much total shit up to now. I didn't do so well as a human being, so I thought, I don't know, maybe this is the ultimate chance to start over."
Twilight lowered her gaze for a moment. "I've met ponies back in Equestria who have had similar feelings as you do. Even my friend Starlight still struggles with issues of self-worth." Twilight looked up. "I'm going to be blunt, Eileen. If you're looking for some sort of instant cure for those feelings, there just isn't one. Becoming a pony won't help."
Eileen let out a shaky breath. "So in other words, I'd just be trying to run away from the problem."
"Yes," said Twilight. "And that never works."
Eileen nodded quickly and sniffled once. "Thank you for being on the level with me. Sometimes I need someone to shove my nose in it before I understand. All right, go ahead with your hocus-pocus."
Twilight smiled faintly. "Hold still, please."
Her horn glowed again, brighter this time, and a similar glow seemed to envelop Eileen's body. This time she hardly felt anything more than a tingling sensation, though it seemed to come from deep inside her. She couldn't point to any one organ as the source, as if felt more fundamental than that, as if Twilight had touched something that was just quintessentially Eileen.
Finally, the glow faded, and Eileen felt strangely refreshed. Twilight paused, and her horn glowed more sedately. Her smile widened. "It worked! The transformation spell is gone."
"Should we keep Ms. McDermott here for observation?" asked one of the other physicians.
"That's a good idea," said Twilight. "Just so we can make absolutely sure that the counterspell worked. Two days should be enough, but I think we should proceed in the meantime on the assumption that it worked."
Before Eileen could respond, there came a rapid knock at the door before another physician poked her head in. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but are you almost done here?"
Kevin turned his head towards her. "We're finishing up now, Sandra, and we have some good news ..."
Eileen tuned out the conversation when she glanced out in the hall, and her gaze fell on several armed National Guardsmen, more than she had seen in any one place before now. She flinched when a second pony burst into the room, one with a pink coat and tri-colored mane of blues and cyans. "Twilight, we have to talk to you right now! It's about Star Singer!"
"Oh, dear," Twilight said. "What is it?"
"Not here," Sandra said crisply. "Security around Kevin has been ordered increased."
"What, again?" Kevin said.
"Come with us and we'll explain everything."
Twilight turned to Eileen. "I'm sorry, but I have to go."
"Nah, it's fine," Eileen said with a weak smile. "Thanks for everything."
Twilight returned the smile before heading out with Kevin and the other pony.
"Ms. McDermott?" said one of the remaining physicians. "If you'd come with us, please."
"Yeah, sure," Eileen said absently as she stared at the closed door for another moment.
Back in Denver, there was a bar she sometimes visited when she wanted to get a little oiled with some friends. After a drink or two, she often loosened up enough to joke that her life was so screwed up it was beyond belief. Now she just had a little alien pony give her life advice. It had taken an unbelievable event to counter an unbelievable situation.
The challenge now was to make it stick. She doubted that all the unicorn magic in the universe could help her with that.