//------------------------------//
// Chapter 42 - The Sun Sets At Dawn 
// Story: Pandemic 
// by ASGeek2012 
//------------------------------//

Sandra rushed into the conference room Friday morning. "We're getting reports from every shelter in town with fully transformed patients. Twilight was right, they all experienced some sort of vision, and now they can't stop talking about it."

"What's the nature of this vision?" Anthony asked.

Sandra consulted her folder as she sat down. "All we have right now is what the technicians are overhearing, as we haven't yet started any formal interviews. The gist of it is, they were all shown how a proper pony society should be structured." She looked up. "Some are treating it as a religious experience."

Starlight frowned. "I really hope that doesn't lead to creepy shrines like the one Sunset created back in Equestria."

"So I assume the so-called night ponies were involved?" Anthony asked.

"The night shift reported that patient Josie Woods was acting unusual," Sandra explained. "She's one of the membrane-winged patients Twilight referred to as night ponies."

"So how do we stop this from spreading?"

"That's going to be tricky," said Twilight.

"I know you don't want to alert Sunset to your plans," said Anthony. "But after this morning, that becomes a moot point."

"I might be able to set up a sort of psychic shield," said Starlight. "But no guarantees."

"Please try. The last thing we need is the transformed being brainwashed even further."

"This doesn't appear to be direct mind control," said Sandra.

"I believe Sunset was counting on manipulating a social dynamic rather than minds," said Twilight. "Our Princess Luna can enter ponies' dreams and direct them to some extent, and we don't consider that brainwashing."

"That's really a fine line you're treading, in my view," said Anthony.

"Let's not debate the point now, please, until we know more," said Twilight. "Sandra, did any of them report seeing a figure of some sort?"

"Yes," said Sandra. "A large white alicorn with a pastel-colored mane and tail."

"I reiterate my worry about shrines," muttered Starlight.

"It sounds like Sunset used an image of Princess Celestia in the vision," said Twilight.

"Isn't that the name of your present ruler?" Anthony asked.

"Yes, and I can assure you, Mr. Heller, she most definitely does not want to be an object of worship, either in Equestria or here. Sunset may have used Celestia simply because she looks like no other pony."

"My agent in the shelter where Miss Sommers is located is reporting that a lively discussion is going on," said Anthony. "We should launch Operation Red Dusk while she's distracted as we had planned. The SWAT team is already in position and the hidden recording equipment is set up."

Twilight turned to Starlight. "Do you have your unmarking spell ready?"

"As ready as it will ever be," said Starlight.

"All right. You head to the mine entrance. I'm going to Sunset's home to set the teleport trap."

"Will the recon you did last night help you in getting past her wards?" Anthony asked.

"Yes, I've devised a way to teleport directly into her basement. She likely has all her magical items hidden in that one place. She'll still know I'm there, but that's what we want to happen."

"How long do you need to find the artifacts she stole and set up the trap?"

"Two minutes," said Twilight. "Sunset must be stopped from teleporting to her home too soon. She's likely going to want to keep up the ruse of being a transformed human by finding a private place to teleport away. Keeping her in constant sight as long as possible should do the trick."

"I imagine she would use a bathroom for cover," said Kevin. "It's about the only place a patient has any privacy right now."

"We came to that conclusion as well," said Anthony. "We're prepared for that."

"Once Sunset teleports into her basement, I should have her teleported to the mine entrance within seconds," said Twilight. "Then I'm hoping you'll start hearing more proof than you could ever need."

"The serum that Twilight helped us create to keep Sunset subdued has also been deployed," said Sandra.

"I'm ready to help deal with any fallout of Sunset disappearing from the shelter," said Kevin. "I know Laura Tanner personally and might be able to help if she gets distressed about her close friend having suddenly left. I also want to help with the plans to get the fully transformed patients out of the shelters."

Anthony frowned slightly. "Is it wise to go ahead with that plan in light of the vision?"

"It's even more imperative," said Twilight. "The only way you're going to get ponies with a strong herd mentality to change their mind about something so powerful is to get them together and address them as a whole. I've already started to jot down talking points if you're willing to let me address them."

"We'll revisit that later," said Anthony. "Twilight, you're good to go. Everyone else is in position, and we have a car ready for Starlight."

Sandra's phone buzzed. She took it out and turned away from the others.

Twilight nodded and turned to Starlight. "I'm not going to risk alerting Sunset by giving you any sort of signal. You're going to have to use your best judgment as to when you think it's a lost cause."

Starlight nodded. "Got it."

Twilight placed a hoof on Starlight's shoulder. "But, please, give me a chance to reach her. I don't want to give up hope."

"I'll do my best, Twilight, but I won't take the chance she'll hurt you in any way."

Twilight slowly smiled and gave Starlight a brief hug.

Starlight started to turn away. "Okay, let's get this show on the--"

"Wait!" Sandra exclaimed. "Star Singer is awake!"

"What?!" Twilight cried.

"One moment she was still catatonic, the next she was alert and talking urgently in her native language. We're having trouble keeping her in the room."

"I need to talk to her!"

"Twilight, we don't have time!" Starlight said.

"I agree with Starlight," said Anthony. "We have to move now. We can't guarantee how long Sunset will remain distracted."

"Fred Turner is in that shelter," Twilight said. "I'm confident that he's having a vigorous debate with her right now. I have to know what Star Singer saw. How fast can we arrange to have her taken to the mine entrance?"

"Five minutes."

"Then let's do that. I can teleport directly to Star Singer's room from here, and then directly to Sunset's house from there. I can do this, Mr. Heller."

Anthony considered. "All right, I'll inform the others that you may be delayed, but please hurry."

Twilight nodded, her horn flashed, and she disappeared in a pop of imploding air.





"Don't you understand me?!" Star Singer cried. "Doesn't anyone understand even a single syllable of Equestrian around here?!"

Normally Star would know it was foolish to expect that the natives would know her language, but absolutely nothing was normal about her experience. She knew Twilight had a translation spell so she could learn the native language, but she had hoped perhaps Twilight had done the reverse. Perhaps Twilight had not expected Star Singer to come out of her trance this soon.

Star had already tried to escape once, but the natives had overpowered her. She tried using her magic to grab objects and swat at the natives until they relented, but she was still too weak from her experience, and she didn't want to risk hurting anyone.

"Do you understand the name Twilight Sparkle?" Star Singer said. "Twilight. Sparkle. Surely you recognize that? She's supposed to be working with you!"

That was her other fear, that Twilight had not managed to convince the natives that she was on their side. For all she knew, Twilight was being incarcerated somewhere. Not that the natives had the power to keep her there, but knowing how big-hearted to the point of impracticality Twilight could be, Star wouldn't be surprised if Twilight had submitted to it anyway.

Star finally lowered her muzzle to the bed and crossed her forelegs over her head. "Ugh, this is getting us nowhere."

She heard a loud pop, and a startled cry from the natives. She jerked her head up and gasped. "Twilight!"

Twilight rushed forward and spoke in Equestrian. "Star Singer, are you all right?"

"Nothing at all is right!" Star cried. "Sunset is making a huge mistake. I know that now for sure. You have to listen to me!"

"So you did get a vision? Was it really a magic-eating monster like Tirek?"

"That's not even the half of it!" Star blinked. "Wait, how did you know what my vision was?"

"I'll explain later, I don't have a lot of time," said Twilight. "And I don't have time to listen to every detail of your vision."

"But this is important!" Star yelled. "You have to know!"

"Sunset has to know as well, and you'll have a chance very soon to tell her yourself. The natives have arranged for you to be taken to where I'm going to confront Sunset."

Star's pupils shrank. "Y-you're really going to do it? You're going to fight her?"

"Not quite in the way you might think," said Twilight. "I'm hoping not at all, not if you can tell her what you saw, especially if it was so bad it sent you into a healing trance."

"That's what I mean about my vision not being even half the story. I was purposely put into a trance by another entity, a benevolent one who may be far, far older than even Princess Celestia."

Twilight's eyes widened. "Heavens, how long as this universe existed??"

"Almost fourteen billion years," Star Singer deadpanned. "We're dealing with scales unimaginable. Even after a long conversation with this entity, I'm still struggling to wrap my head around it."

"As much as this is very fascinating, Star Singer, I have to go," said Twilight. "Please, go willingly with the natives when they take you out of here. They're sending someone over right now. I'll make sure to keep Sunset talking until you get there."

Star Singer nodded. "I'll do my best. And ... um ... thank you."

"For what?"

"For trusting me as far as you did. I didn't exactly live up to that trust when I first came through the portal."

Twilight smiled. "We all had our impressions of Sunset to get past to see her plans for what they really are. What matters is, we may still have a chance to stop this."

"I'll certainly try."

Twilight nodded and drew back. She said something to the others in their language before retreating from them and teleporting away. The natives simply stared at the space formerly occupied by the alicorn princess.

"Well, just don't stand there," Star said as she hopped out of bed. "Let's get going!"





"You had the same dream!" Emma cried excitedly to Laura. "Oh my God!"

"I did, too," Joan said. "I even saw the same figure, the big white mare with the long horn and huge wings."

Kelly rushed over, her eyes wide. "You saw her, too?!"

"Oh God," Emma murmured. "Ohgodohgod ..."

"This is what we all wanted, wasn't it?" Joan said. "Laura, you were the first one to say it, that there had to be some sort of grand purpose behind this. Well, this is it."

"I-I know, I did say that," Laura said in a shaky voice. "I just wasn't expecting it to come like this."

"This can't be a fluke," said Kelly. "How can it be if every last pony had the same dream and saw the same figure?"

"They can't keep us cooped up in here any longer after this," said Emma's father.

"Damn right they can't," murmured Joan's husband.

"They're right," said Emma. "We have to be allowed to live as we want. As we should."

"I agree with Emma," said Sadie with a smile. "This is exactly what we've all been waiting for, some sort of sign or purpose. I think this is very clearly it."

"We can do this," Joan said. "I know we can. We've all been thinking the same thing anyway, that they can't keep caring for us. We were meant to work together and support each other."

"I lost an older brother in some stupid war in the Mideast," Kelly said in a bitter voice. "You think that's gonna happen again in a world like that?"

"Not a chance," said Sadie. "Not with everypony knowing that we should work together for our own common good."

"We're talking world peace," Joan said. "Two world wars have been fought, and I doubt we'd ever survive a third. This is a chance to avoid that."

"Everypony, please!" Laura exclaimed. "I know this was very profound and very important, but we have to stop and think first about what exactly we're going to do next."

"Well, well, well," said Fred as he trotted up. "A voice of reason. Finally."

All eyes turned to him. "Fred, what do you mean?" Laura asked.

"You're calling on ponies to think," said Fred. "Something which has been in short supply since everypony woke up this morning."

Sadie raised an eyebrow.

"What are you talking about?" Emma said in a cross voice.

"This is what I was going on about yesterday with Chris from the grocery store," said Fred. "Focusing on your own ideas about what you want to do with your life."

"To me, it seems ponies are quite in agreement with what they want to do," said Sadie.

"I see agreement, yeah. What I don't see is a lot of realism."

"But isn't the need to come together as a community to help each other a realistic goal?" Joan asked.

"I'm not saying it's not a great idea. Yeah, Laura's right, we can't keep expecting people to take care of us. I certainly don't want to be a freeloader. I got four good, strong hooves and the willingness to use them."

"Then what is your objection, if I may ask?" said Sadie.

"What I object to is everypony treating this as some kind of Second Coming," said Fred. "Now, I don't want to get into religious matters with you folks, I'm just using that as an example most will be familiar with."

"Fred, the figure in my dream never called herself divine," said Laura.

"I know. That's what makes me suspicious of the whole thing."

"But something like this has never happened before," said Emma.

"Think for a moment," Fred said. "You all started wondering 'what is the purpose behind this?' and, bam! You suddenly get one. I used to be a soldier. When recon tells me something funny is going on, I pay attention."

"Except there is no enemy to 'recon' here," said Sadie. "I'm sure you're very proud of your military record, but wouldn't you want a world where that's not needed anymore?"

"You kidding me? I'd love it. Only a complete psychopath wants to kill. World peace? Maybe that's what this is. I'm not saying we shouldn't pursue that."

"Then I honestly don't understand your objection."

"We may be a herd, but that doesn't mean we have to be herded," said Fred. "And that's what I feel like somepony is doing to us, maybe this Celestial Spirit pony from our dreams."

"We all seek wisdom when we need it," said Sadie. "I don't think this is any different. Does it matter what form it ... um ..."

She suddenly trailed off, her eyes widening.

"I think Sunny has a point, Fred," Laura said gently. "I'm not about to worship the creature from my dream, but I can't ignore her message. Not only did it appear to everypony, but it spoke to my own personal struggles."

Fred looked over the others. Even with as expressive as pony faces were, he couldn't tell whether he was getting through to them. They were at least still listening, so he supposed that was a plus. "I agree with you, Laura, that something bigger is going on. My point is, we need to make sure we're doing what we want to do, and because it makes sense, and not because a shared dream told us it's right."

"What's the difference if the end result is the same?" Kelly muttered.

"Maybe the difference is subtle, and it's lost on most of you," Fred said in a low voice. "But here's the thing: I know what it's like to spend a chunk of my life doing something because I thought I was driven by some sort of vision, even if it was mostly self-supplied. Anypony who knows how nuts I was before I gained hooves saw how well that worked out for me."

Laura appeared to pause in thought. "Sunny, what do you think about Fred's point?" Laura turned her head when she got no immediate response. "Sunny, are you okay?"

Sadie gave her an uneasy smile. "My apologies, Laura, I'm feeling a bit uncomfortable."

Fred narrowed his eyes.

"I believe my dinner disagreed with me last night, and I need to use the bathroom quite urgently."

"Oh, Sunny, I'm so sorry!" said Laura. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Ah, not really, I just may be indisposed for a bit."

"Too bad," said Fred with a small grin. "I was enjoying the debate."

Sadie smiled tightly. "I will respond to your last point, however. I do feel you are over-thinking it. We've been given a shared vision of a positive future. Even if somepony specific was behind this, I think we can agree she has only our best interests at heart."

Fred nodded slowly.

"I'll be back as soon as I can," said Sadie before she galloped off.

Fred caught movement out of the corner of his eye. He glanced over to the technicians. One pointed to Sadie and spoke urgently with a colleague. The colleague nodded, and he and several other technicians broke ranks and headed after Sadie. One of the technicians left behind took out a cell phone and spoke very briefly into it before putting it away.

Fred stepped away from the others and looked in the direction Sadie had gone. "Sunset Shimmer, I presume."





Twilight materialized in the basement of Sunset's home in a flash of light, saddlebags draped over her barrel. A split second later, a second blast of light from her horn disabled all spells hiding anything from both magical and mundane senses. At once the runic circle and the biological analysis apparatus appeared, but when she swept her gaze about, that was all it had revealed.

Twilight sighed. She had hoped not to have to do this the hard way.

She lighted her horn and began to pace about the basement, hooves clopping distinctly against the concrete floor. She had allotted herself only thirty seconds to find Sunset's stash of magical devices. She was sure it had to be here; Sunset would not want to track multiple hiding places if she ever feared somepony might traverse the portal again.

"Twenty-five seconds," Twilight murmured as she swung her head from side to side.

She found nothing at the end where the stairs descended from the upper floors. She started towards the other end.

"Twenty seconds."

She passed the runic circle and approached the furnace.

"Fifteen seconds." Her horn suddenly flickered, and she stopped. "It's here!"

She looked down. Just barely visible was a faint square. To mundane eyes, it was scratched into the floor. To her senses, she saw it for what it was: a secret compartment.

She backed away, and she levitated the square slab of concrete up, its sides having been magically coated with a glass-smooth surface so it would fit perfectly with the similarly prepared cutout in the floor. As the slab lifted out of place, the thaumic shield imbued inside it could no longer hide the object of her search.

Twilight was about to set the slab down when she detected the trap spell and stopped with it barely a hoof-span from the floor. "Oh, very clever, Sunset," she murmured. "But not quite clever enough."

The slab was very heavy, so much that it had to be artificially so. Most unicorns couldn't handle levitating that much weight and plunder the contents of the compartment at the same time. Had she set it down, a trap spell would have activated and wasted more precious time. Twilight held the slab aloft with ease while she levitated out of the compartment a golden statue of a griffon in armor, then a plastic bag containing three dozen enchanted gems and crystals. She was about to replace the slab when she spotted something else at the bottom.

Twilight knew she was running out of time, but when she saw the runes written on one of the pages, she had to know what it was. She levitated it out as well before carefully replacing the slab. Her eyes widened as she shuffled through them.

"A spell to create a magical energy conduit? And with a permanent enchantment, no less." Her eyes tracked down the page. "Thaumic entanglement? Yes, of course, that makes perfect--" She stopped and sighed. "You're getting distracted, Twilight, just stick to the--" Her eyes widened, and she gasped. "No, wait, that's it! That's how we can solve the problem of mass-casting the counterspell! And the crystal ponies are indeed the key to it all!"

She quickly rolled up the pages and placed them in her saddlebags along with the device and the artifacts. She now had less time to set up her teleportation trap than expected, but she dearly hoped the delay would be worth it in the end.





"Miss Sommers! Miss Sommers, wait!"

Sunset had no time to wait; the longer she took to get to Twilight, the greater the chance Twilight had to unlock the portal. She was reasonably sure even somepony of Twilight's skill would take some time to figure it out, but she didn't want to take any chances.

At the same time, she had to be cautious and not raise any suspicions. She came to a stop and turned around. "Please, make this quick! I really have to go to the bathroom."

"That's part of our concern, Miss Sommers," said the technician. "You were heading off rather fast, we wanted to make sure there wasn't a problem."

"Something simply disagreed with me, that's all," said Sunset. "I had that happen to me sometimes before I became a pony."

The technicians approached her, arranging themselves in a semi-circle around her. "We're still working out the details of a proper pony diet," said one. "We should take a stool sample and test it to rule out any food poisoning or similar ill effects."

"Normally I would gladly comply," Sunset said as she started backing up. "But I would much rather have a bit of privacy. I think we've all earned that by now."

"Nevertheless, you're still officially a patient."

"I thought some sort of arrangement was being made for our release."

"I can't really speak to that, ma'am, but until that point in time, you're still a patient."

Sunset peered at them warily. Were they following her as she retreated? "In that case, I do believe I have rights as a patient, which means I cannot be subjected to tests against my will."

"That is very true, ma'am, and we're asking you to comply for your own--"

"Sorry, some other time!" Sunset said before she galloped away. She cast a glance behind her and uttered a small sigh of relief when she saw they were not pursuing her. While she was happy that they continued to care for the welfare of their transformed brethren, she thought that a bit too aggressive.

She rounded a corner, only to skid to a stop. She stared, then face-hoofed. "You've got to be kidding me!"

The door to the ladies' room was blocked open, and a red cone stood in the opening. A crudely written sign taped to the door frame read "OUT OF ORDER," and the sound of banging upon metal could be heard within.

Sunset frowned. She considered using the men's room instead, but she didn't want to risk the workers seeing her. She instead dashed down the hall towards the stairs to use the one on the upper floor like they had to the day when Kelly accidentally broke the shower control and caused a flood.

Two National Guard soldiers halted her. "I'm sorry, ma'am, the rest of the building is off limits."

"I need the use of the bathroom," Sunset said in an exasperated voice.

"You're free to use the men's room in the interim."

"That's not what you did last time," Sunset said. "You escorted ponies who needed the restroom to the second floor and then escorted them back."

"I'm sorry, ma'am, but I have my orders."

Sunset narrowed her eyes. This was getting ridiculous enough to be suspicious. She had started to feel uneasy when Fred Turner spoke out. He seemed to be going out of his way to be contrary, as if he had been put up to it. That thought made the need to get to her house all the more urgent.

"Very well," said Sunset as she turned away. She cantered over to the men's room and pushed open the door with her fore-hoof. Of course, it was occupied. A technician stood at the sink combing his hair. That was odd, also, as they tended to use a separate set of facilities.

Sunset headed into one of the stalls. Makeshift ramps had been installed as an aid to the transformed, as human toilets were not built with little ponies in mind. At least this meant that all four of her hooves would be off the floor and not visible to someone outside.

She closed the stall door, climbed the ramp, and cast a silence spell. She vanished in a largely quiet concussion of teleportation magic.





"Okay, Twilight, you can do this," Twilight whispered as she tweaked the ley lines of the teleportation trap one last time. She was taking a big chance with her approach. She couldn't risk Sunset having any reaction time whatsoever. Even something as simple as a shield would disrupt the spell. She had to tie the trap directly to her teleportation spell, such that it would trigger of its own accord without any thought from her.

Tinkering with the teleportation spell was generally very high up on the list of Things You're Never Supposed To Do Even If You Think You Know What You're Doing. Most unicorn mages who taught the spell cautioned that it was the one spell that should be memorized, cast perfectly, and left well enough alone otherwise.

The self-imposed deadline of two minutes had passed, and Twilight still was not completely satisfied with her work. Her heart pounded as she adjusted yet another ley line, and she finally forced herself to call it good. Her teachers back at the school for gifted unicorns would have likely fainted if they had seen what she had done, alicorn or no.

When it did happen, it happened in the blink of an eye.

Sunset appeared, and before the sound wave from the displaced air could reach Twilight's ears, her teleportation spell activated. Her horn flashed, and Twilight's stomach twisted like it had that very first time she had successfully teleported. Hooves that had stood on concrete just a moment before now lay upon bare dirt. She splayed them out to steady herself, and her gorge threatened to rise.

By the time she had recovered, an angry Sunset exclaimed, "What did you just do? Where did you send us?!"

Twilight took a deep breath to steady herself. They stood along the remnants of a dirt road, several pines towering over them. The road turned towards a ridge just past where a "DEAD END" sign had been erected. The road dipped out of view not too far along, thus the actual entrance to the abandoned mine was not visible. "A safe distance away from the town," she said in a level voice. "That's all you need to know right now."

Sunset's eyes narrowed, and her horn glowed as she looked around.

"Don't waste the magic," Twilight said as she approached. "There's no charms, enchantments, or other traps. I just want to talk."

The glow of Sunset's horn faded. "Can you blame me for being suspicious, Twily? You just successfully sprang a trap on me. If this had been any other context, I'd be seriously impressed."

"I didn't want to take the chance of hurting the natives."

"Don't play dumb with me," said Sunset. "You think I can't detect what you filched from my house? Have you been so badly corrupted against me that you'd resort to stealing?"

"I have not been corrupted," Twilight declared. "You still don't get it. I never grew up the way you intended because I didn't remember you existed. If you want the absolute truth, I don't like what Celestia did, either, but I understand why she did it."

"She stole your destiny from you," Sunset snapped. "You could be standing here beside me, helping me instead of trying to stop me. If anypony could've figured out what I was doing and why, it would be you."

"And who are you to decide my destiny for me? Like you're trying to do for an entire species!"

Sunset sighed. "This again."

"I don't understand, Auntie, I really don't," said Twilight. "That you can brush off the hopes and aspirations of an entire civilization like it's nothing."

"I had this conversation with Star Singer," Sunset said. "I am not brushing it off. I am quite impressed with what this species has done. They have created an amazing civilization without magic. That is an incredible accomplishment, and I admire them greatly."

"You have a strange way of showing it," said Twilight.

"Nothing is perfect, Twily, and that includes this species. Everything can be improved. Even they understand that! Did you know that as little as two hundred years ago, they kept their fellow natives as slaves? Now slavery is repugnant to them. They improved themselves."

"Yes, they did it. By their own choice. You're taking that choice away from them!"

Sunset narrowed her eyes. "You know what my reasons are for doing this, Twily. You think I got up one morning and decided to be a crazy mad scientist who changes aliens into ponies for fun? I'm trying to benefit two worlds."

"I would rather let Equestria die than have it be remembered for what you're doing to this species!"

Sunset's mouth dropped open. "Twily ... you can't mean that."

"You have your convictions, but I have mine as well," Twilight declared. "I'm dedicated to the cause of friendship. Did you ever think that maybe if you had been as well, you could've approached these natives, offered them the ability to become ponies and use magic, explained the potential benefits of it, and let them decide for themselves if they wanted it or not? You might have been pleasantly surprised."

Twilight doubted that any significant chunk of humanity would willingly do such a thing, but she hoped to work in the context of Sunset's mindset. She also surmised that there might be more people like Eileen who would come to think this would solve all their problems.

"Do you really believe I could risk that?" said Sunset. "This planet is divided into over two hundred nation-states. They can't agree on anything. By the time they finished debating it in committee or fighting some pointless war over it, it could be too late."

"This planet has a rich, diverse culture, and you're throwing it away."

"I am taking the accomplishments of this species into account," said Sunset in an exasperated voice. "I tried to explain this to Star Singer. I am not replacing, I am improving. While it's true that all their technology will be initially useless to them, it won't be long before they turn back to it, adjust it, combine it with magic, and forge something truly incredible. This universe is vast, Twily. Countless suns with planets like this around them. This species longs to go to those planets, but their technology goes only so far. What if they could solve the distance limitation of teleportation? They could invent interstellar travel. They could colonize the entire galaxy! The entire universe! Enough pony magic for eons!"

A new voice joined them. "You're wrong, Sunset. Dead wrong."

Sunset whirled around and gasped. "Star Singer!" She started towards the bedraggled unicorn mare. "I was worried about you. Are you--?"

"Stay away from me!" Star Singer shouted. "You're utterly mad, and I don't want anything to do with you anymore!"

Sunset's pupils shrank. "Star, you don't mean that," she said in a small voice.

"I had that vision you were so enamored of me seeing," Star said in an intensely bitter voice. "I saw more than I ever wanted."

"You saw the threat."

"The only threat around here is you."

Sunset cast a level look at Star. "I don't understand. Are you telling me that I fail?"

Star narrowed her eyes. "No. You succeed. All too well."

"You're not making any sense."

Star marched up to Sunset. "Then I'll explain it to you. You don't understand as much about the natives as you think you do. You think they'll turn back to their technology after you create your little happy pony society. They won't."

Sunset gave her a surprised look. "What?"

"I don't know what the specific reason will be," said Star. "It could be that you dialed up their herd instinct too high. Or whatever vision you plan to give them is just a little too good. Or it could be the reason why they pursue more advanced technology: to improve their lives. They might perceive magic as improving their lives so much that they don't need technology anymore."

"Assuming I believe you interpreted your vision correctly," said Sunset. "Should it matter? It would indeed be a supreme disappointment if they didn't combine magic and technology, but ponykind would still be served."

"And again, you're wrong," Star cried. "You're condemning this species to death. It will attract the Devourers."

Sunset stared. "The what? What the hay are they?"

"A terrible mistake," Star said in a subdued voice. "Or a terrible crime, depending on your point of view. An ancient technological civilization, one of the first to arise, became so advanced they discovered magic. And they feared it. They believed it could destroy their entire civilization, and when they found more magic in the universe, they feared for their existence. They created the Devourers. They consume magic."

"So did Tirek," Sunset deadpanned. "He had his limits, he was just too stupidly arrogant to realize it."

"These don't have that limit, or they worked around it," said Star. "After feeding, they give off unimaginably powerful beams of light."

"Yes, of course," said Twilight. "It's like how light is a waste product of magic use. It would be the equivalent of excreting waste after a meal."

"The ironic thing is that the natives have already detected evidence of them, and if you want proof, Sunset, go look up <gamma ray bursts>," said Star, briefly dropping into English. "Even a tiny handful of the weapons of a technological civilization can destroy one of these things, but they're completely invisible to detection to non-magicals and can't harm a technological world unless they're unlucky enough to get caught in the beams. Magic can detect them but is powerless to stop them."

"You've already made me suspicious on two counts," said Sunset. "First, you knew a phrase of a native tongue describing a phenomenon that -- I might add -- already has theories behind it that do not involve magic-eating monsters. Second, your vision is far more detailed than they ever have been."

"Yes, they have theories, and they're not wrong," said Star. "They simply don't cover every case. And as for my other knowledge, I didn't get them from a vision. I got it from Triss."

"Triss?" Twilight asked. "Is this is the entity you mentioned to me?"

"Yes," Star said in a subdued voice. "She's another magical race's equivalent of an alicorn. Her world was the first magical civilization and one of the first to fall to these things. She doesn't think there's been a magical race since then that's Ascended."

"What of the civilization that created the Devourers?"

"Long dead, but the Devourers live on," said Star. "Literally. They're some sort of self-sustaining -- maybe even self-replicating -- organic technology."

Twilight gasped in horror. "Oh, heavens." She turned to Sunset. "Do you understand now the scope of what you've done?! If you won't listen to reason concerning the morality of transforming a species against its will, then consider this instead!"

Sunset remained silent, her gaze downcast.

Twilight stepped closer. "I want to think there's some compassion in you, Auntie. You can't condemn a species to death. This is not just some philosophical point that you can talk around by claiming you're changing only their bodies. This is real death. Are you ready to condemn a future generation of your own kind to obliteration just to satisfy your ideas of what you think ponykind needs?"

Sunset was silent for another long moment before she finally raised her eyes to Twilight. "I want to ask you a question," she said in a low voice. "Have you ever had a problem you deemed unsolvable? Something you simply stopped working on because no solution appeared in sight?"

Twilight hesitated. "Not that I can remember."

"So why should we consider this one unsolvable?"

Twilight stared. "You can't be serious! It's not the same thing!"

"Why not?" Sunset demanded.

"I solve problems that have clear, attainable goals. This is barely either!"

"Twilight, this universe is huge. Unless these creatures can violate light speed limitations -- which is highly unlikely if they're a product of a technological civilization -- it could be thousands if not millions of years before they get here. More than enough time to think of a solution."

"You're not getting it!" Star exploded. "Triss has seen these other civilizations rise and fall. She's even personally warned them. Nopony ever came up with a solution. What makes you think you can succeed -- countless generations after you're dead and gone -- where so many other entire races have failed? Are you that full of yourself that you think you alone can solve it?"

"Don't take me for a fool, Star," Sunset snapped. "I get it. Magic can't stop them. I shall remind you this world started off as a technological civilization."

"Which they'll abandon."

"Then I shall make sure they don't," Sunset declared. "I owe a great debt to you, Star Singer. You did indeed expose a flaw in my plan. I simply need to adjust--"

And again, things happened in a split-second, but a split-second too long.

Twilight had no idea what had gone wrong. Perhaps Sunset had sensed the casting, or the thaumic power conversion leading up to the spell execution, or simply the unusual nature of the spell. The dismaying end result was all that mattered: when the beam from Starlight's horn converged on Sunset, it was met with a shield.

Starlight didn't stop. She clenched her teeth, splayed her hooves to steady herself, and continued pouring on the power.

"Whoever you are, you can't stand up against my shield for long!" Sunset exclaimed.

"Oh, yeah?" Starlight called out in a strained voice. "We'll see about that! I almost bested Twilight once, I can take you."

"What manner of spell is this?!"

"What, you and your ginormous ego can't figure that out?"

"Have it your way," Sunset snarled. "If you want a fight, I'll give you one."

"BRING IT ON!" Starlight roared.

Twilight gasped as she heard distant cracks, and bright pinpoints of light flared off Sunset's shield very close to her fur until she poured more magic into it to shore it up.

Sunset's eyes widened, and she looked around as light continued to flare off her shield. "This was a trap all along?!"

"Aunt Sunset, I'm sorry!" Twilight cried.

"You claimed you weren't corrupted, and now you betray me like this!"

"You have to be stopped," Twilight said in a quavering voice. "Let the shield facing Starlight go down. It won't hurt you, it will just weaken you and--"

"I will do no such thing!" Sunset thundered. "I can hold up against a single unicorn's attack and simple arms fire." She glared at Star Singer. "Unless you intend to betray me as well."

Twilight's horn started to glow, her eyes glistening. "I'm sorry, Auntie."

Sunset's mouth dropped open, horror dawning in her eyes as Twilight let loose with a blinding white beam of light. Sunset grunted with the effort as her own horn blazed, her shield quivering as magic cracked like lightning around it.

"Twily, you can't do this," Sunset said in a despairing voice.

"You have three choices, Aunt Sunset," said Twilight in a shaky but determined voice. "You can let your shield down towards Starlight and live. You can let it down towards the natives and die. Or you can do neither, and ... a-and I'll eventually burn through your shield."

"Twily, how can you--"

"Don't make me kill you, Auntie!" Twilight cried, tears trickling from her eyes. "I don't know if I can stop my attack in time when your shield collapses! I d-don't want to hurt you, but I can't let this continue."

Sunset set her eyes hard. They flicked first towards Starlight with an almost appraising look, then back towards Twilight, her gaze burning with a mix of rage and disappointment. "Very well, you traitor."

The shield facing Starlight fell.

Twilight immediately ceased her attack, and she desperately hoped the humans would stop as well. Starlight's spell struck Sunset as her shield flickered out. Twilight held her breath, closing her eyes tightly against the possible carnage that would result if the bullets kept coming. She heard a sharp, shrill shriek from Sunset followed by the cry, "What are you doing to me?!"

Twilight dared to open her eyes. She uttered a short gasp as she saw the cutie mark ripped from Sunset's haunches, shivering as she remembered what it had felt like to have her own taken away during her first encounter with Starlight. Everything that had made Twilight special, that she had aspired to and was passionate about simply taken from her as if she had never had it in the first place. She swallowed hard as Starlight lifted the cutie mark above her, and that dreaded, awful equals sign appeared on Sunset's haunches instead.

"What did you just do to me, you little bitch?" Sunset snarled.

Starlight panted heavily, the cutie mark quivering in her grip. "You can't ... figure that out ... yourself? ... I'm ... disappointed ..."

Sunset marched towards Starlight. "I don't know how you did that, but you're--"

She never finished her sentence. New fire opened up from hidden positions, but instead of bullets, she was peppered with small darts in her haunches and side. Her horn flickered weakly as she attempted first to shield, and when that failed, to counter the sedative's effects. She staggered, seemingly managing to stave off the attack, until a flash of magic from Starlight's horn reinforced the unmarking, and Sunset's magic failed.

Sunset quivered in place for another second, and her eyes rolled back in her head. She fell over with a thump, her eyes sliding closed.

Twilight fell to her haunches, her head hung, tears dripping to the ground. "I'm sorry it had to be done. I'm so sorry."

Star stepped slowly up to her. "You ... you had this all planned?"

Twilight nodded without looking up. "It was the only way. The natives needed proof, and we had to take her out of the way so she couldn't interfere with stopping this."

"And can you stop it?"

Twilight looked up. "Yes, we can. Finally."





Anthony sat absolutely still, his hands steepled before him. An uneasy silence had settled over the room after witnessing the final part of the operation. He finally leaned back in his seat and let out a long sigh. "I want to state for the record that if I had any lingering doubts about Twilight's dedication to helping us, they were entirely dispelled."

"Good call on giving the order to cease fire," said the graying figure on the teleconference screen.

"Our goal has always been to take her alive, Mr. President."

The President of the United States gave him a grave nod. "Yes, but you saw for yourself that it almost all went to hell near the end. It would've been nice and easy to just pop her one when her shield came down."

"Given everything we were hearing from Sunset, I wanted her to understand exactly what kind of species she was shoving aside," said Anthony. "We don't need her brand of 'improvement.'"

"What do you think about the bit Star Singer mentioned about gamma ray bursts?" asked the President. "Could we really have been staring at evidence of the existence of magic without even realizing it?"

"That's for the physicists to decide," said Anthony. "Right now, I want to follow up with what we heard near the end. Twilight sounded like she may have had another brainstorm, and the sooner we know about it the better."

"Agreed. In the meantime, we're arranging for coordinated modifications to the EAS broadcast towers. I can't emphasize how fast we need to act, Mr. Heller."

Anthony leaned forward in his seat. "How bad is it getting, Mr. President?"

"A lot worse than even the media has a handle on," said the President in a grave voice. "Despite the shutdown of the grid, just about the whole country has or had the flu. Just the sickness itself is causing disruptions of public services from absenteeism, never mind exchanging hands for hooves." He paused. "And despite our best precautions, a member of the staff on board Air Force One has a fever."

"Mr. President, Twilight has a working counterspell for ETS. You could land at the nearest airport, and we can have either Twilight or Starlight--"

"No, don't take them away from their duties. The numbers we ran won't tolerate it."

Anthony let out a long sigh and laced his fingers together under his chin. "I've heard Doctor Marlowe's numbers, but I imagine she doesn't command nearly as many resources as our intelligence agencies. What are we looking at here?"

"Right now, I have my best people drawing up potential recovery plans," said the President. "While we hope for the best case scenario -- where ETS is stopped and all transformed people are changed back -- but we have to prepare for the worst. If we can."

"And what's the estimate concerning the worst?"

The President frowned. "Worst case is: everyone who has ETS or starts to show ETS symptoms in the next twenty-four hours becomes permanently transformed. That means anywhere from fifty million to two hundred million transformed, most of which are in the United States."

Anthony took a slow, deep breath.

"And if that happens," said the President. "God only knows what this country will look like with anywhere from fifteen to twenty-five percent of its citizens as little magical ponies."