“Have what…?” Rainbow had muttered.
“Glossy fur, from my cleaning,” I had responded.
“...Rarity!” Twilight’s exasperated statement sounds like she’s been saying it all night. “It’s only worked for Pegasi so far!”
“Only because nopony else stayed long enough… And she didn’t notice the healing.” I waited calmly for Rainbow to finish laughing.
“So that’s ‘it’, huh?” she said.
“Probably,” my response was.
“Oooh, just show her your friend!”
“Technically, I’m more Fluttershy’s Bolo than Twilight’s.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
“Oh, um, then Fluttershy’s friend. What’s a Bolo, anyways?”
“It’s what I am. Remember, they can’t hear me.”
“Shoot! I was too busy bein’ awesome!”
“Uh, Rainbow Dash?” Worry had shown in her tone. “Are you okay?”
“Better than yesterday! Oh, and what is that monster?”
I elected to remain silent, as I knew not what it was. Twilight played a different card.
“The one in the cave? Donno. How’d you get past it?”
“He made another entrance.”
“Wait, he can do that?”
I chipped in once again. “Yes, though it can take a while.”
“Seems so. Uh, it takes some time, though.”
“You know, your acting skills are terrible.” The distinctive sound of a hoof meeting her face echoed across the link.
“Ugh, Rarity would be so much better at this…”
She trailed off as I spoke once again. “We could always bring her in on the secret.”
“Oh? But I can’t…”
“You can.” I proceeded to give her a quick rundown of what my tactical cores had thrown at me.
“Awesome!”
Even though it produced more than one weird look for Rainbow from her friends, that conversation had demonstrated the feasibility of my remote com units- and established how favorable the reaction of at least one of my Commander’s friends is: Very favorable. I begin the manufacture of similar sets for my Commander and the Princess; the others will have to wait until I have appropriate readings to make sure they’ll fit- and hide- as comfortably as the first three. Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash is pulling off step one of the plan flawlessly: convincing the Cutie Mark Crusaders they’re gonna be cave explorers on that hill, all while pretending to attempt the opposite. I’m amazed by how well she pulls it off- and it seems Scootaloo’s admiration for her is helping about 1.49% more than I expected.
While she’s doing that, Twilight’s excavation team- using Pinkie’s impressively loud cannons- has cleared one of my aft personnel hatches. I order interior repairs to focus on the passages connecting that hatch to my clean troop compartments; it’s the only entrance I am able to protect directly at this time. Twilight has shown up at the digsite herself, along with the two larger Princesses, to review the progress. It seems Twilight has just finished explaining her Unicorn problems to the white Princess- who she calls either ‘Princess’ or ‘Celestia’. The two larger Princesses refer to each other as sisters, so I remain in the dark as to the dark Princess’ name, but I gather that they’re the ruling Princesses- no King or Queen, apparently, only princesses.
I consider, momentarily, formally recognizing them as Ultimate Command Authority. However, as with Fluttershy, I worry the formalities would only frighten them. I decide against; I will only designate and/or recognize UCA when my Commander specifies such for me. This might be slowed down by how she currently does not seem to know she is my commander; thus, I decide, I will attempt to comply with any and all local laws or directives set forth by the ruling class, except when such directly conflicts with my Commander’s orders or safety, or my own continued operation. In short, I will make an effort to be a good citizen.
I have not seen the monster since it retreated into the forest, following Rainbow’s noisy departure. Some of its friends tried attacking the digsite shortly afterwards, though; a quarter-ton warhead made quick work of them. It was somewhat interesting to watch one of the guards give an almost-sigh of relief as soon as he saw the Light VLS hatch pop open. Equally amusing was how the oncoming monsters turned to flee at the same moment, before the missile even left the launch cell.
While the Crusaders put together their expedition to my hillside, Rainbow Dash is already working on step two: Get Rarity to venture- alone- close enough to spot the Crusaders near the forest. This is the tricky part, during which I adjust the plan a couple times, for unexpected contingencies. She still manages it, though.
Step three is for me: Watch Rarity catch the Crusaders near the Everfree, and shine my invisible ‘appeal lamps’ at her from the entrance of one of my caves. This is how I’d first drawn Fluttershy; I’d used these ‘appeal lamps’ in the cave and, when the invisible but psychologically attractive light reached her eyes, she was pulled in, hook, line, and sinker. Thus, I ought to be able to get Rarity to enter too, if she’s only close enough.
Score! Rarity caught the Crusaders not thirty meters away from the nearest cave entrance, and doesn’t seem to have noticed that her course, directly towards the cave with the lights in it, is not towards town.
Rarity sighs as she walks. At least this time, she’d caught the Crusaders before they did something dangerous. Then, she’d started off in this direction for no better reason than that it felt like a good direction to walk. After all, she’d just had to close her boutique indefinitely.
That had not been an easy decision. She wanted to keep it open if at all possible, but had found it practically impossible to work without her magic, which had been giving her fits for the last couple weeks- and now had gone completely. She’d just sent refunds for all of her incomplete orders before she headed out here. Now, she has very little to do, save walk.
Even her normal beauty routines have been denied her. Three weeks ago, she had started getting lumps in her skin. Thankfully, none of them are visible even now, underneath her fur; however, the said fur had started discoloring in a rather blotchy manner over the last week. She’d been able to cover that with dye, at least; Up until today, she had been able to eliminate the nasty odors some of the bumps and colors gave off with a spell; as-is, her most recent spell will wear off in about two hours, and she won’t be able to replace it.
In order to counter that, she is now looking for a suitable cave to live in, one in which she can avoid ruining her reputation. While she had been jealous of first Fluttershy’s and now Rainbow’s glossy coats, she had suspected it was connected to how neither of them had any more aches, pains, or other problems any more. Twilight’s problems, she’d noticed, had also disappeared. Thus, as much as she’d been outwardly trying to find out about the more obvious effect, her true goal was the one that most certainly worked on the Alicorn.
Then, Rainbow Dash had come around and been eager to discuss the highlights of the latest Daring Do book. There had been a couple of times when her dear friend had seemed confused by her own words, even though she never paused or stumbled. This had struck her curiosity, but she’d already received far more important information, and decided not to spoil it or any more Rainbow might offer.
It seems Daring Do encountered the magic shiny thing as well- and had noticed all her cuts and pains were gone, as well. She’d been deep in one of the pipes above what is now ruined Everfree when that happened. Thus, Rarity could now connect the effect to a location, an object, and had been headed there when she spotted the Cutie Mark Crusaders parading about the hill next to the blast zone. She’d diverted her course to get them away from the dangerous Everfree and, once they left, had resumed her journey.
She had noticed that her new course did not point towards her new destination, but actually slightly away from it; however, it felt like the right direction, and she had an inkling it wouldn’t be far. If nothing came of it, she had decided, she’d just resume her course to the Everfree crater. After all, there’s no harm in exploring the hillside for a couple minutes- Celestia knows, she might even find something to help her! Speaking of Celestia, she notices both the royal Princesses depart, and hears some noises about returning with some unicorns to try something.
That reminds her. Ever since she’d gotten her cutie mark, she’d always had a distinctive feeling of what to do to reach any particular fashion goal. She’d never told anypony about it, even her friends. Unfortunately, that feeling had flickered and disappeared almost a full week ago. Not only had her job become that much harder, but it had left her nonplussed about how to achieve such a gleaming coat; she’d focused on that not only to disguise her real goal but in an effort to trigger her missing feeling. Now, for some reason, it’s back all of the sudden- and when she has no fashion goals in mind, no less!
As she turns to look back forwards, she freezes, one hoof suspended over a cave entrance. Rather interesting that descending into it feels like the right direction. She moves around the hole, looking down it. The sunlight doesn’t reach into the opening but, she notices, this cave never acquires the foreboding darkness of most caves, at least before the first bend. A quick decision passes her prefrontal cortex, and she progresses into the cave. She’ll stop and leave before it acquires that foreboding feel; until then, as it still feels like the right direction for some reason, she’ll give it the benefit of the doubt.
Interesting. She’s already rounded at least four corners, and the cave has simply stopped getting darker. It’s also still a comfortable walk, more like a darkened hallway in Twilight’s castle than a cavern. As a matter of fact, unless she misses her guess, there’s a faint glow around the next bend. She rounds it, but does not find the source; rather, there is a clear light shining from around another bend. Unfortunately, she lost her ability to feel magic alongside her ability to perform it. However, the steady, smooth glow still looks like a magical light to her. She rounds the final corner slowly and carefully.
There’s some kind of plain-colored metal wall across this short stretch of cavern. A large door in it is standing wide open, the light spilling out of it with the hum of a fan. It takes her eyes a couple of seconds to adjust, then she notices just how large- and deep- this doorway is. It’s somewhat larger than most of the doors in Ponyville, yet not so large as the ones in Twilight’s castle. As a matter of fact, she notices it’s large enough for Princess Celestia to walk comfortably through, without being excessively large. It’s also several meters deep and, as she steps slowly into it, she wonders to herself about exactly what it is and who built it. Inside feels like the right direction, though she does notice that the ‘right direction’ feeling tapers off once inside. Heading back out feels like the wrong direction, though, so she figures she might as well figure out what this is before she leaves. Her fashion sense had never been this vague before.
Thus, she reviews the contents of the room. There are a large number of throne-like devices occupying most of the room. A quick inspection suggests they’re designed for a pony to sit in, and they do look quite comfortable. There’s also a mirror, placed in the corner next to the door, in which she observes her dyes are giving way again, the mottled disaster forcing its way back through her coat. She sighs into the mirror. “If only a cleaning spell could fix that,” she sighs aloud.
“Skin cancer is an easy fix,” a stallion she didn’t see speaks up.
Her heart skips a beat as she spins around, searching the room frantically for he who saw her in this despicable state. “W- where are you?”
A chuckle. “No worries, I won’t judge you. I am Zeus, the machine of which this room is a part, and the one with the, um, ‘glossy coat treatment’. It’s really just a thorough cleaning, down to the microscopic levels.”
Her head tilts. “Why didn’t it work on Twilight?”
“She didn’t stay long enough. My nanites only perform such cleanings after repairing all bodily damages, and that takes a lot of time, sometimes.”
“Nan-ites?”
“The tools I use for medical services and cleaning. With them, I can restore your coat to its original, healthy appearance, no dye required.”
She glances towards the door, which has closed behind her; she has a distinct feeling it will open again as she approaches, though. “What about my magic?”
“Pardon?”
“Can they fix my magic?”
“Maybe. It depends on what is wrong; I am afraid my understanding in that area is somewhat lacking.”
She cringes. “What if they can’t?” she asks softly.
“They will do no additional damage. I do not generally touch that which I do not understand. Regardless of whether magical repair is possible, I should be able to rather permanently eliminate your coat problems.”
“How fast?”
“Depends on how we go about it. If you are to sit in one of the seats in that compartment, we can expect at least twenty-nine hours, probably closer to forty; it would seem you’ve developed quite a few more issues than the three of your friends I’ve seen so far. However, if we make use of my medbay, we can expect completion in as little as three and a half hours- with the caveat that you won’t be conscious for the duration of the repairs- and you might have to walk down some less-than-pretty passages.”
She tilts her head for a second. The way he said that sounded like those passages would be quite ugly- and she’s not a fan of unconsciousness. However, the idea of being back in shape in time to calm her no-doubt worried friends is a good one. “Med-bay, I believe.”
“Very well.” He then guides her down a few passages, some of which live up to her nastiness expectations, to a large room with three coffin-like containers in it.
She takes a quick look around; the sign on the door had read “Medbay”. It’s quite a clean room; as a matter of fact, she notices it’s cleaner than the operating room in the Ponyville Hospital. “What now?” she asks.
The lid on one of the coffin-like things slides open. “That’s a medical nanovat. If you lay down inside it, I can perform the repairs quickly. Alternately, you can return to Passenger Seven and use one of the seats.”
She gives the odd chamber a stern look, and glances at her own now very blotchy coat before climbing in. “Okay,” she mutters. Once inside, while the door closes, some kind of liquid flows in while an object pops out of one of the walls to attach itself to her face. She’s still processing exactly what’s going on when she falls asleep.
I inform Rainbow Dash of our plan’s success, though I do not mention her friend’s issues; it seems she was trying to hide them. I had not informed Rainbow of my full intent on part three; she believes I was merely going to convince her to sit it one of the seats for a few hours. As it happens, not only will she also be fully healthy when she heads out at the time Dash expects, but I managed to get a Unicorn in my medbay- and under its far more powerful scanners.
The good news is that her magical power loss appears to be caused by a brain tumor. Even after removal, it will likely take a couple of days- and headaches- for her to regain control of her magic. I expect as much as a week and a half for full recovery. This is good news for both Rarity and myself; not only do I get my first full sensor evaluation on a healthy magic horn, but I am able to set her magical power on the path to recovery, as well. Additionally, I gather a vast amount of data on Unicorn neurological structures; I may not be able to un-irritate nervous tissue, but I can still scan it.
The similarity of Daring Do’s, Fluttershy’s, Twilight’s, Rainbow’s, and Rarity’s brains is astounding; if not for their magic, which seems to originate in an interesting gland in their hearts, they would all be so similar they might as well have a hive mind. While this level of similarity increases the potential threat from psychoactive attacks, it also makes neural headset programming orders of magnitude easier.
Speaking of their ‘magic gland’, it would seem the energy flowing from it collects in the limbs of Earth ponies, the wings of Pegasi, and the horns of Unicorns, where the energy seems to be put to use. I find myself wondering exactly what might actually use the energy… And notice that the output of this magic gland seems to be miniscule next to the amount actually usable at any given time, like a small solar panel attached to a large battery bank. I believe I have figured out the first step to using magic, and drop my design cores onto the problem.
The answer comes back very quickly. By using the knowledge conferred by my examination of their magic glands, it seems it would take only a small adjustment to my fusion plants to increase normal power output by 13.49%... And also add a magic gland function. I order this adjustment done to Fusion One- and its subsequent ignition.