//------------------------------// // Chapter 54: Research // Story: Pandemic: What you are Meant to Be // by Halira //------------------------------// The couple left the church service with intent to go find out how Tattered was doing post surgery. Most of the ponies that had attended stayed inside to socialize and talk. "You didn't buy into any of what your mother was saying up there, did you?" Rosetta said in a worried whisper. "Some of it was okay, up until she started in with claiming ponies were blessed by God and implying humans aren't," Remedy whispered back. "I can see why ponies eat it up though. Pony or human, they like being told that they are special." "How does she intend to justify all the humans that weren't turned into ponies?" Rosetta asked, still keeping her voice low. "Divine providence, something like that, who knows. It worked on worshipers before they were ponies it will work now," Remedy said with a shake of her head. They hushed up as they saw Tempest approach them. When she got up to them they were both given a critical eye. "I have some questions to ask," Tempest said flatly. There was no asking permission. The night pony couple looked at one another and then back to Tempest. Remedy gave her a nod. "I'm assuming that was some kind of religious ceremony. How prevalent is this particular religion?" Tempest asked. "It's kind of hard to give a straight answer to that. The belief in Jesus Christ as God is very widespread, with billions of followers of that. On the other hoof what Blessing was saying in there seems to be a new brand that brings ponies into the mix," Rosetta answered. "I gathered as much about it being a newer form as you didn't have ponies before a month ago. How many among the transformed do you expect follow this broader religion, and how many are likely to be receptive to this new brand from among those?" Tempest asked in the same flat tone. "It's hard to give good estimates on that. At least half this country is Christian, if not more, and the south where there are more ponies had a higher amount of Christians. So yeah, there are going to be a lot of Christian ponies. As for how many are going to buy into this?" Rosetta gave an exasperated shake of her head. "There's no way of knowing." "Can I assume neither of you are followers of this religion? Neither of you seem particularly enthusiastic about Sunset Blessing's speech," Tempest asked. "Eh, we're loosely Christian, not as fervent as my mom clearly is," Remedy said. Tempests eyes narrowed as she looked down at Remedy. "Sunset Blessing is your mother? The same pony that was speaking in that building?" Tempest questioned. "Yeah, that's mom. You might have noticed her cutie mark; that's a Bible, and that's the holy book for Christianity. Religion is extremely important to her. She's actually gotten much more accepting of other things since becoming a pony, so she isn't that bad," Remedy said in defense of her mother. "She basically declared your true race an inferior race to ponies and has named herself after a criminal guilty of crimes on two different worlds that held similar views; a criminal that I should note was determined to wipe away races on both our worlds in favor of ponies. She has shown hostility to the presence of me and my compatriots. On top of all that she seems very much in league with your government somehow despite these facts. To say I have concerns would be understating things greatly," Tempest said harshly. "I don't have a good answer to the government thing, kind of curious about that myself. My best guess is that she just gets what they want done effectively. As for the rest...she's a good pony. Does she want the power to transform humans? Definitely, but she isn't going to forcefully transform any humans even if she somehow found out how to do so. She thinks that was wrong. What she'll do is try to convince them to become ponies," Remedy said evenly. Then looked Tempest straight in the eyes. "And the chances of her actually getting that power are near non-existent so it's a moot point. So you don't need to worry about it." Tempest glared back for a moment then closed her eyes and chuckled. "I do enjoy a pony with backbone," Tempest said in a low laugh. "You make a good point about your mother's lack of capability. Charismatic though she may be, she doesn't strike me as a magical genius. Still, she'll be watched, and I'll be advising the princesses of her religion and leave it to them what actions to take, if any." "Is there anything else you want from us?" Rosetta said coldly. Tempest was clearly rubbing her the wrong way, though that seemed par for the course. "Yes actually," Tempest said with a small smile. "Is Sunset Blessing going to interfere with my team's primary task of investigating the blank flanks and seeing if there are any that wish to return to humanity? If so what can be done to make her less of a nuisance?" "I can give you a lead on a pony that wishes to turn back into a human. He's not at the shelter and I promise that my mom will keep far away from that pony," Remedy said, ears picking up. "An actual transformed that definitely wants a return to his natural state would be nice to find. The impression I was given from your government officials was those were near non-existent, and I was dreading trying to interview thousands just to find at least one," Tempest said in something that sounded almost like a tone of gratitude...almost anyway. "That would be my dad. He and my mom are about polar opposites when it comes to accepting being a pony. They are refusing to talk or see one another. He's still living in our old house, not far past the treeline over there," Remedy said as she gestured with a wing to the back of the church grounds. "I'll fetch our researchers now if you have time to take them there. The princesses stressed that we move as quickly as we could with this," Tempest said as she glanced in the direction Remedy pointed. "Can you do it? Turn him back?" Remedy asked. "I obviously can not. My team won't at this time either, they'll simply be running some tests and reporting their findings back to Princess Twilight Sparkle. It's up to her or her personal student to reason out a way to do that. If she determines a way he'll almost certainly receive it once it becomes available," Tempest explained. Rosetta gave Remedy a quick nuzzle. "Go ahead and take care of your dad. I'll check in on Tattered and then head back to the camper to wait for you. I want to talk to Mama about what I learned about the pregnancy and the joys of dealing with a young demon possessed foal," Rosetta said, rolling her eyes at the last sentence and flicking her tail. "Well, probably will scare your sister into abstinence once she hears about it. We didn't even hear what kind of trouble an earth pony foal could cause during a surge," Remedy said with a smirk. "Extreme strength, easily capable of lifting just about anything despite their size. Also capable of bucking through solid stone like it is wet paper," Tempest supplied. Remedy giggled, she shouldn't of, but the image of Wild having a foal carry her around was just too silly an image not to laugh at. "A strong encouragement for abstinence for every mare once they hear about it. Luckily I don't have to worry about having any more foals married to another mare," Rosetta said in agreement. Then got an odd look on her face as she turned to Tempest. "Stupid question, but I'm right about not being able to get pregnant with another mare, right? It seems obvious that I can't, but our knowledge on basic pony things is really lacking." "There are spells that can cause it to happen with two mares, but generally speaking that isn't going to happen on it's own," Tempest confirmed, looking like she found the question amusing. "Spells huh?" Rosetta said with a sly look at Remedy that gave Remedy a sinking feeling in her stomach. "Maybe somewhere down the line we can get a foal from you then." Remedy was not going to even consider the possibilities of that at this time. The fact that she could get pregnant in any way was still a very new concept to her. Besides, it sounded like one foal was much more than enough for her and Rosetta to worry about. "Let's get going. We have delayed long enough and there is work to do. I've no time to sit around listening to ponies talk about copulating," Tempest said in a commanding voice and leaving any easier going signs of personality behind again. It seemed too much to hope for that she would stay lightened up for any length of time. At least there were occasional signs Tempest wasn't a complete bitch, just mostly one. Remedy and Tempest swung by the school which was housing the Equestrians in addition to all the government workers. Tempest gather up the unicorn with the magnifying glass and beetle for a cutie mark-who happened to just be named just Beetle of all things, and the pegasus who was inappropriately named Crumb Cake. She then seemed to debate bringing the earth pony, but eventually ordered him to come as well; his name was Time Turner. Two for three with names that lined up with their cutie marks seemed a pretty good ratio. Did Equestrian parents know what kinds of cutie marks their foals would get,did they change their names to adjust, or were they born with them? It was a question for another time. Tempest next had the good grace to actually request transportation from Baker, rather than just order transportation provided. Baker quickly obliged her after Remedy explained the situation and the short distance involved. Within another ten minutes Remedy found herself standing on the front porch of her old house with four Equestrians and a human soldier in tow. She knocked on the door and within a few seconds it opened to reveal her weary looking dad. "What's going on? Who are they?" Her dad asked with alarm as he glanced back and forth between the soldier and Tempest. "Hi dad, these ponies are from Equestria and they're researching how to turn ponies back into humans. I told them about you and they were eager to meet you right away," Remedy explained as she gestured to the Equestrians. Her dad's eyes widened and a spark of hope could be seen in them as he smiled. "That's great, come in all of you. Make yourselves at home in the living room," her dad said as he stepped aside and pointed a hoof in the appropriate direction. Remedy led Tempest in and the rest of the group followed after the tall unicorn. When they got into the living room they all remained standing about. The Equestrians glanced around the contents of the room. Time Turner seemed particularly interested in the television. "I'm just letting you know they're just gathering research at the moment to see if it can be done. Don't expect to get turned back today. I'm not sure exactly what they are going to do, but I know it's just information gathering right now," Remedy warmed her dad as he came into the living room. His good mood seemed to drop a little at hearing this, but it didn't completely disappear. "Alright, well, whatever I can do to help. If studying me helps them crack this I will be a guinea pig for anything," her dad said. "We're happy to hear that. Beetle and Crumb Cake will be doing some tests on your harmonic resonance along with some other tests," Tempest said more cordially as Remedy had heard her speak to anypony. Tempest then turned to Remedy. "Are you willing to be tested as well, Phobia? They need to get as much information about different ponies as they can," Tempest asked. "You aren't going to try to forcibly change me back into a human somewhere down the line are you?" Remedy asked back with narrowed eyes. "If you're determined not to then that's not our intent. The choice may not be up to us though, I have to warn you. I do promise this is just gathering more data for now and nothing will happen to you while we do so," Tempest answered. Remedy's dad cleared his throat loudly to get everypony's attention. "I need to be promised that you will do everything in your power that my daughter is not turned back into a human against her will. If I don't get that I'm not cooperating," her dad said with flattened ears. Remedy and the rest looked at her dad in confusion. He wasn't somepony she expected to come to the defense of ponies staying ponies. "I was under the impression you were as opposed to the transformation to ponies as your estranged wife was in favor of it. Judging by what I've seen of her that makes this a little surprising to hear," Tempest said slowly. "I spend a lot of time by myself thinking and I'm pretty sure at this point that there are some, some, ponies that it's in their best interest to remain ponies. My daughter has a marefriend and that marefriend is pregnant. I expect that foal isn't going to be eligible to be human. I think if she's intending on starting a family with that mare it's probably better that she remain a pony. On top of that she has some complicated circumstances with her life as a human that I would rather she not be plunged back into. She still has her problems to face, but they are problems she wants to face, and I can't in good conscious do anything that would deny her that. I try to be a good father, and that means thinking about what's best for the welfare of my child...foal. This is what's in her best interest. Plus, I'm pretty sure she would hate me for it if she was changed back against her will, and I've enough family that hates me," her dad explained, ears still lowered sadly. "You have my word that I'll give full recommendation that Phobia remain a pony. I'm under the impression that those with cutie marks are locked in their forms based on the Princess's early research. Our focus is primarily on blank flanked transformed and her assistance is mainly for helping establish differences in those with cutie marks and those without," Tempest assured him. Remedy walked over to her dad and wrapped him up in a hug. "You're an awesome dad, and I love you," Remedy said adoringly. "I love you too, and you've turned out to be a pretty awesome daughter," her dad said as he hugged back.