Twilight thumped her fore-hoof upon her desk and glared at the midnight blue diarch who stood before it. "Do you have any idea what kind of trouble you caused for me yesterday?!"
"And what would you have had me do, Twilight?" Luna replied sharply. "Ignore the situation and allow a riot to ensue?"
"You gave no one any indication you knew what was happening!" Twilight cried. "Starlight didn't even know what was going on until you were ready to act. If we had some advance notice, we might have come up with an alternate solution that didn't involve such an overt use of magic!"
They stood in an office that had been donated for Twilight's use while she remained at MIDROC, a privacy spell surrounding the two ponies. Luna frowned as she replied, "I felt this was more in my purview than yours or Starlight's. This involved a former night pony who has retained some of his powers and is abusing them."
"Yes, you're using the night ponies of Earth as your personal little kingdom. Again!"
"I resent that implication, Twilight Sparkle," Luna said in a low voice. "We have had this discussion before. Considering our own brutal and bloody history concerning the night ponies of Equestria before I became their Dreamwarden, I felt justified in ensuring it never happened here. And I will remind you that I do not control the Dreamwardens. They are autonomous and come to me only to ask questions or seek guidance."
Twilight forced herself to hold her tongue and calm down. When she had first heard of the Dreamwarden program after it had already been created, she had been very upset with Luna until she directed Twilight to look up Equestrian lore on the subject.
Night ponies back home were once far more numerous back in the days before the founding of Equestria. They had little to no supervision, as the entity who was supposed to be their Dreamwarden had become old and apathetic. While only some actively instilled horrible nightmares in others, they came to be feared by all and hunted to near extinction. It was only when Luna Ascended and demanded that the ineffective Dreamwarden turn her title over to Luna did the remaining night ponies come under proper supervision.
"I apologize," Twilight said in a stiff voice. "You're right in that there's no point in dredging up old arguments. I simply had hoped you had come to understand that I need to kept in the loop. I can't be reacting after the fact when all I can do is damage control."
"That is why I am coming to you now," said Luna. "I acted because I felt there was little time for consultation. Sunburst was there, but we both know that researching magic is more his forte than actually putting it to use."
Twilight sighed, her ears drooping. "That was perhaps a little shortsighted on my part. I had wanted to keep things as low key as possible."
"It was the right approach in the end considering the insights Sunburst has realized."
"I need to talk to him, but I'm going to be tied up here for the foreseeable future,"
"He is briefing Starlight," said Luna. "I am sure she will relay it to you."
Even after all this time, Twilight still sometimes felt like she needed to be the one to do everything, even in light of the fact that Starlight's knowledge of the theoretical side of magic had advanced tremendously in the last six months.
She had talked to a human IT worker once who had been promoted into management some years back. He had expressed some regret in taking that career path instead of staying on the technical side where he could keep his hands more directly on the technology. Twilight felt a bit like that man; she couldn't remember the last time she had worked on a challenging magic problem.
That thought prompted her next comment. "It's what I said to Cadance the other day. I don't want to throw more magic and ponies at this problem."
"I've learned of your clandestine contact with a human government representative," said Luna. "I believe it is the right approach."
Twilight was not surprised, since Luna herself had been so clandestine about a lot of what she had done. She kept that comment to herself. "So why are you not leaving the matter of Ryan to the Dreamwardens if you feel this is more their territory?"
"I would like to remand the matter to them," said Luna. "But they cannot act outside the dream realm except when dealing with fellow night ponies away from the eyes and ears of others. This is both to maintain their secrecy and ensure their powers are limited."
"I thought at least some rehumanized night ponies still retained some link to the dream realm."
"Normally, yes," said Luna. "But one has to have a sense of the pony in order to find them. I also suspect that Ryan's connection is either severed or much thinner than most, either through chance or something he is actively doing to suppress the connection. Rehumanized magic is forcing me to throw a lot of what I know to the side."
It was small comfort to Twilight that she was not the only one who felt the same.
"The Dreamwardens would prefer I step back from this," Luna continued. "But they also realize they need help outside the dream realm. Thus they are accepting my assistance, albeit reluctantly." She hesitated before adding in a softer voice. "To be honest, they are not very pleased with my actions, either."
As much as Twilight did not want to see Luna's feelings hurt, she took this as a positive sign that the Dreamwardens would not willingly drag Equestrian influence into their midst. "I'm holding a press conference in fifteen minutes. I need something to tell them."
"Can we not tell them the truth?" Luna said.
"That a person we have no control over can mass mind-control a large group of people at will? And that he's human on top of that?"
Luna frowned. "And why do we not have him in custody yet?"
"Because there are no witnesses that Ryan did it," said Twilight. "Americans are not unlike Equestrians in that they have a system of due process. We wouldn't think of convicting a pony of a serious crime in Equestria unless there was enough proof."
"Yet I am allowed to manage the dream realm, and my actions are not questioned."
"The situation is very different. You've built up centuries of trust among ponykind. We don't have that luxury, not even with the Dreamwardens."
"Is anyone doing anything to apprehend this man?" Luna asked in a testy voice.
"FBI Agent Anthony Heller and his partner have been investigating him," said Twilight. "But they're afraid someone in the organization may be secretly using Ryan to their own ends. It's obvious his records of rehumanization were altered or erased."
"Then I will request that the Dreamwardens help identify this person," said Luna. "Perhaps they can find someone who knew Ryan -- or whatever his real name is -- before he chose to rehumanize."
"Agent Heller thinks he rehumanized three months ago," said Twilight.
Luna hesitated. "Three months ago you said?"
"Yes, why?"
"I was still involved in some dreamwalking activities on Earth during that time," said Luna. "I knew some night ponies personally other than the Dreamwardens. Normally, I would not have mentioned it, but when I first emerged from the teleport spell and felt the aura of mind magic around me, it had a vague sense of familiarity."
"Familiarity?" Twilight said in confusion. "I'm not sure I understand what you mean."
"It's hard to describe. Every night pony, even those of Earth, give off a very distinct and unique sense of ... I don't really have a word to describe it. It has to do with their link to the dream realm. I distinctly felt something like that at Village Center."
"Midnight Star was there, and you've had previous dealings with him."
"It was definitely not him, as the familiar sensation was tied directly to the mind magic, and he was not the source."
"But what does it all mean?" Twilight said.
"I'm not sure," said Luna. "Let's just say that if and when Ryan is incarcerated, I would like to meet him. In the meantime, I will ask the Dreamwardens if any of them remember a pony like him. They have excellent memories. They remember night ponies who made an impression on them, especially if one had shown a power as great as this."
"That's just it, Luna," Twilight said. "I think his power came about not before his rehumanization but because of it."
Luna's eyebrows rose. "I beg your pardon?"
Twilight slipped out of her chair and approached the diarch. "I'm not completely ignorant of what Sunburst had discovered. He sent me a preliminary report. It was just a summary, but it has staggering implications."
"Such as?"
"We may have inadvertently triggered something in human evolution," said Twilight in a subdued voice. "Or rather, we catalyzed something that had been triggered by past contact with first the Romans and then the Anasazi. Left on its own, it can grow and develop over time. Both rehumanization and partial transformations may have vastly sped it up in some. They're gaining abilities humans should not have for centuries or perhaps millennia."
"Isn't there an obvious solution?" said Luna. "Stop the rehumanizations, and allow the Partials who do not wish to rehumanize to complete their transformation and quiet their erratic magic."
"Ignoring the huge political fallout, yes," said Twilight. "But it's only a short term solution. What I'm getting from Sunburst's analysis is this: that the presence of pony magic on Earth could speed up the development of human magic." Twilight considered. "Have you ever heard of the Gaia Hypothesis?"
"Yes," said Luna. "It states that the Earth is one large superorganism."
"And thus it self-regulates like any other organism," Twilight explained. "What I believe is happening is that the Earth is reacting to the presence of pony magic as a potential threat to its overall health, thus it is accelerating the development of human magic to achieve balance again."
"Isn't that a bit of a leap from just a summary?"
"Perhaps, but it fits with everything we've seen. Partials who remain in that state are the worst off, as they now have two potentially incompatible forms of magic interfering with each other. Even just the presence of latent magic could cause issues under the right circumstances."
Luna nodded slowly. "It would explain why we've seen failures of Sunset's spell to achieve a complete transformation of the mind as well as body for some ponies."
"Exactly," said Twilight. "Sunset never anticipated having to deal with interference from a whole other magic system. Even I didn't think it would interfere with rehumanization."
"But why should it?" Luna asked. "If we're returning them to their original form, should that not, well, satisfy the latent magic for lack of a better term?"
"For many, yes. For some, it's catalyzing the development of human magic. I don't quite understand why yet."
Luna sighed. "I feel like the more we know, the more we realize just how much we don't know." She gave Twilight a sympathetic look. "And you still need something to tell the people of this country."
"Yes," said Twilight in a somber voice. "And I'm going to take some of your advice. I'm going to tell them the truth, or at least as much as I'm able to."
Connie arrived at her daughter's school, a building which used to house a human elementary school. Now it hosted classes from elementary to high school age, many of the classrooms having been subdivided as ponies didn't take up as much space as humans. They had tried to give the place more of an Equestrian feel, thus they had painted hearts and silhouettes of young ponies on many of the doors.
Using this as the meeting place allowed Connie cover, as she could claim she was going to pick up her daughter after classes. For the ponies of the district -- if Wildy had influenced them at all -- it was to prevent any law enforcement action on Connie's part, as she would not risk it in a building full of foals.
As she strolled down the main hallway, students and faculty alike offered her a smile and a "good afternoon" as she passed. At the end of the hall, she was met by Ted, who smiled and said, "It's good to see you again, though I wish the circumstances were better."
Connie managed a small smile. "I'm glad you agreed to let me meet with you."
"I need to warn you first. There's a lot of wariness to go around among the others. They've already been burned once by the law."
"I understand," Connie said in a serious voice. "So let me get my feelings out in the open. I don't necessarily agree with what you did. I have no clue how you managed to prevent the FBI from capturing the lot of you, but I can't help but imagine that some serious magic was at work."
"Uh, you're not too far from the truth, but I honestly had little to do with that," said Ted.
"That does reassure me a bit. If it weren't for the fact that Agent Heller thinks there are elements in the bureau itself causing trouble, I'd be less accommodating."
Ted's ears drooped. "And I realize I'll still be in a lot of trouble over this anyway."
"Yes, and I can't protect you," Connie said in a somber voice. "Not even Agent Heller can if the FBI moves in on you, and he's sure they will any day now."
"Yes, and we may have some idea what they have planned," said Ted.
Connie tilted her head. "You do? How?"
"It's, uh, complicated," Ted said. "I should introduce you to some people who can explain this better than I can."
Connie nodded and followed Ted down a side corridor and towards a door labeled "Teacher's Lounge." He nudged it open with a hoof, and Connie paused when her gaze fell upon the young pony-woman seated between two humans on one side and two ponies on the other, as if to emphasize the plight of a person caught between two worlds.
She had seen Partials before, but none in such an advanced state of transformation. Her eyes widened slightly when she saw the hooves. Almost all Partials she knew still had feet. She was reminded of the morning when Christina had stumbled out of bed and fell when she woke up with hooves instead of feet. It had set off a full scale panic in the Morgan household, as Connie and Frank had not yet advanced to the point where the changes felt more natural.
Ted gestured to the pony-woman. "This is Beverly, but everyone calls her Bev."
Connie shook her hand. Bev's grip was a little weak and stiff, and when Bev drew her hand back, she rubbed her fingers like someone with arthritis might.
"You already know Wildy." Ted indicated the earth pony stallion next to her. "This is Fire Springs."
Fire smiled and lifted a fore-hoof. "A pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Morgan."
Connie presented her palm to him, and he pressed his hoof to it. "You can call me Connie, please." She presented her palm to Wildy as well.
Wildy blinked in surprise, hesitated, then bumped her fore-hoof briefly to Connie's palm.
Ted gestured to the humans. "This is Eileen and Jenny. They helped bring Bev to us, and, um, helped us get past the FBI."
This gave Connie pause, but she shook their hands anyway. Eileen managed a smile, but Connie could tell it was forced, and the girl seemed a bit skittish. Already this was raising questions in her mind. Where Agent Heller had surmised -- and Ted had openly admitted -- that only magic could have allowed them to escape the law, why would Ted be crediting humans with that feat?
Connie had to consider that they used more conventional means to escape, yet only a full-scale firefight would have had any chance of succeeding, and that would have left a bloody trail in its wake. She could scarcely believe Ted would be party to such a thing.
"I need to know more details about that before we continue," Connie said.
Ted was about to reply when Eileen spoke up instead. "Hang on. How do you not know?"
"I'm sorry?"
"You're working with Heller," said Eileen. "A fed. Doesn't he already know what went down?"
"No, he doesn't," said Connie. "That's part of the problem. His own bureau is keeping information from him."
Eileen's eyebrows rose, but her skeptical look remained.
"In fact, no one seems to know about what any of you did. Even the news media can only speculate on what happened, and the FBI is effectively responding with 'no comment.' Not even the Colorado state government can get any information out of them."
"Huh," Eileen muttered.
"I think she's right, Aunt Eileen," said Jenny. "When I was out earlier finding a place to charge my phone, I was able to find a pony who had a TV, and I caught up on some of the news. There's nothing about it. All they can talk about is the incident at Village Center."
Connie thought she heard a slight nervous quaver in the girl's voice. "Agent Heller wanted me to ask you something. Did you see any crystal ponies among the FBI personnel?"
"I didn't," said Eileen. "But then again, by the time I started to see the agents, they looked different."
"I don't understand."
"It has to do with Jenny's--" Wildy started.
"Can it!" Eileen snapped. "Or weren't you listening before when I told you it was up to her what she wanted to reveal?"
"But how can you just sit there and ignore--!" Wildy started.
"Wildy," Ted said in a firm voice. "Remember what we talked about before?"
"Fine," Wildy muttered. "Sorry."
"I'll tell her," Jenny said, the quaver more pronounced. "Under one condition."
"What is it?" Connie asked.
"Ted said you're in touch with Twilight Sparkle."
Wildy's pupils suddenly shrank.
"I want to talk to her. I need to know if she can do something about this."
Of all the things Connie expected to hear, that was not one of them. "I'm not sure Ted should have told you that."
"It's news to me!" Wildy declared.
Ted's ears drooped. "I'm sorry, but I needed to earn everyone's trust. Eileen met Twilight once."
"Briefly," said Eileen. "We're not exactly bosom buddies."
"One thing at a time," said Connie. "Jenny, just what is it you need Twilight for? She's been trying to minimize Equestrian interference, which is why she contacted me in the first place."
"It's because of what I can do," Jenny said in a hesitant voice. "You might want to sit down for this ..."
As soon as he got out of school that Tuesday afternoon, Bob headed straight to Heather's office, as Whisper Touch had asked to meet him there for their first collaborative magic session. Bob's understanding was that before his transformation, Whisper had been a licensed physician. Whether that certification was still considered valid post-transformation, Whisper had not bothered to ask, and it mattered little to the ponies of the town.
A bell above the door jingled as he opened it with a nudge of magic, something he thought more appropriate for a quaint shop rather than a physician. A somewhat harried looking earth pony mare sat with the end of a leash secured tightly to a fore-hoof, the other end attached to a harness around her pegasus foal.
The little winged colt flapped his wings madly, trying to dart off in a fit of surging magic. The mare yelped when her foreleg was yanked abruptly, her hoof shooting out straight. She frowned and reeled the leash in with a healthy dose of earth pony strength and the rebuke, "Jimmy, settle down, please!"
The colt made a clumsy landing and turned to glare at his mother.
"Don't give me that look, young pony." She lifted her gaze past Bob, smiling. "Oh, Heather, good, I thought you might have gone for the day."
Bob had already heard the approaching hooves and turned to see Heather trotting out from the hall. "Not at all, though you're my last patient for today. I'll be with you in just a moment." She turned to Bob and pulled him into a brief hug. "Bob, you're looking well. It's been some time since I've seen you."
Bob returned the embrace. "Good to see you as well."
"Whisper is in his office, second door on the left down the hall," said Heather.
"Thanks," said Bob. "Are you coming along also?"
"Me? No, I'm interested more in running this place. I wish you all the best in your endeavors, though."
Heather's voice sounded cordial enough, so Bob took her comment at face value. He had known that Heather was one of many crystal ponies who felt a bit lost after having assisted -- willingly or not -- in distributing the counterspell. Bob had maintained contact with her for a while until their interests diverged, if for no other reason than to talk to a pony who retained some of her human past and identity.
"As much as I would like to catch up, I have to see to my next patient, and Whisper is eager to start," said Heather.
Bob nodded. "Good to see you again in any case."
"Likewise!"
Bob trotted down the hall until he came to the door with a placard on it that read "Whisper Touch, MD." The door was slightly ajar, but he knocked softly anyway.
"Please, come in," came Whisper's voice.
Bob pushed the door fully open with a fore-hoof. Whisper sat at a wooden desk, several notebooks and manila folders upon it. On one of the walls hung his diplomas. Another wall was festooned with diagrams of pony anatomy. From the flowing foreign script in the corner of some of them, Bob guessed they had been authored by Equestrian physicians. A larger generic diagram of body structures common to all tribes was surrounded by those detailing the specific differences for each tribe.
Whisper turned to him and smiled. "Thank you again for agreeing to do this, Bob."
Bob nodded and looked around. "Is it just us?"
"Oh, no, I just had you meet me here since you knew where the office was located," said Whisper as he hopped out of his chair. "We've found a place outside of town that should be reasonably safe from predators as well as prying eyes or ears."
"Eventually, I don't want to be so secretive," Bob said. "Some ponies already distrust crystal ponies as it is."
"Understood, but what we're trying to do is light years ahead of any other magic research being done. We're more concerned about discovery from humans than other ponies."
That was Bob's concern as well. Already there was at least one human who knew: the bribed BMO agent. There was always the chance that he would demand more than Trixie could give for his silence.
At least Bob had not said out loud what he had gained from examining the Farhearing Stone. Since then, he had time to think on that knowledge more, and not as much was as clear as he had initially thought. He wouldn't know for sure until he had a chance to apply what he had learned.
Whisper stepped towards Bob. "Let's go fetch Susie, then we can head over to the Crystal Patch." Whisper smiled. "That's what we're calling our meeting place, so we have a way to refer to it in mixed company."
Perhaps Bob was reading too much into the choice of words, but "patch" had initially sounded like "palace" in his ears, likely because of what he had been thinking at that moment: the Crystal Empire, a location on the other side of the portal where most of the crystal ponies of that world lived.
He hoped Whisper had no aspirations of founding something like that on Earth. Like the pegasi in their failed attempt to create a cloud city, it could take many generations before anyone could accomplish such feats.
"I want to manage expectations, Whisper," said Bob as they headed down the hall. "I don't know how long it will take before we see any sort of progress. If we get any at all."
"I fully understand, and I've tried to convey that to the others." Up ahead, a smiling crystal pony mare stepped out of one of the other rooms. "All set, Susie?"
"Ready as I'll ever be!" Susie said in a bright voice. "I've checked with Heather, and she can spare me for the rest of the day."
"How many more of our brethren did you manage to gather?"
"Four," Susie said. "And we have confirmation from six more who will be arriving tomorrow, plus invites out to another ten."
Bob had never seen that many crystal ponies in one place, with as scattered as they seemed to be. That Susie had managed to get that many to agree to congregate in one place was itself impressive.
"Splendid!" said Whisper. "Do you need help finding accommodations for them in town?"
"I'm good so far," said Susie. "They'll mostly take up residence in the new district being built on the west side of town."
"Good, good. Being in the same neighborhood means we'll be able to collaborate more closely."
Bob could also see how that would appear as if they were setting themselves apart from the other tribes. Then again, the night ponies already had thanks to their nocturnal nature, but at least they often shared the morning and evening meals with the other ponies.
"What about materials?" Whisper asked.
"We've tasked a pony with collecting an assortment of precious gems, semi-precious gems, and naturally occurring crystalline rocks and minerals," said Susie. "We tried to aim for a large variety."
"I should mention that Twilight did something similar," said Bob. "It didn't work for her either."
"Let's try to be a little more optimistic," said Whisper. "I can't explain why, but I have a good feeling about this. And I understand not to expect miracles, especially on the first try. This is more for us to get to know each other and work out an approach."
"Yes, indeed," said Susie. "Many of the other ponies are eager to meet you, Bob."
Bob just hoped they would not be disappointed.
Connie heard a story that even in a post-ETS world still sounded utterly fantastic. She was expected to believe that a teenage human girl could accomplish far more than even the most accomplished Earth-born unicorn could? She didn't think there were even very many Equestrian unicorns could pull off such a feat.
It at least put to rest any lingering thoughts that Eileen or Jenny were gun-toting gangsters.
"So to answer your earlier question, I don't think I saw any crystal ponies," said Jenny. "I'm pretty sure the Narrative would have come up with some role for them other than just knights."
"I was surprised, too, when I heard they had none there," said Wildy. "They always take those traitors with them on these things."
"Frankly, I'm not sure they could've stopped Jenny," said Fire. "She was having the equivalent of a foal's magic surge, and they're pretty powerful. Normally the FBI takes only one or two crystal ponies along at a time. Jenny would've easily overwhelmed them."
Jenny shuddered slightly. Connie had the sense from the start of the girl's tale that Jenny was more upset than proud of what she had done.
"We were speculating earlier that it's almost like the FBI purposely botched this operation," said Fire.
"Agent Madsen had mentioned that as well," said Connie.
Wildy frowned at the name but said nothing.
"We were worried that they did it to have an excuse to enter the pony sector in force," said Ted. "That it was a setup for a bigger operation. Instead, now we think they're going to try to use Bev's older brother as a way to set up a sting after luring her out of the pony sector."
"It might not be him!" Bev protested, the first time the woman had spoken since Connie had arrived. "Jenny might be wrong. The Narrative never mentioned he was my brother."
"Wait, slow down," Connie said. "This Narrative made another prediction?"
"Yes, it said that someone in my family is working for the FBI," said Bev. "The only one who has been in contact with me is Sam, my younger brother, who would never betray me like that! I don't even know where Larry is."
"I do, unfortunately," said Ted in a somber voice. "I found out just before Connie arrived. He's in Denver."
Bev's tail twitched. "That can't be right."
"He visited a pony mart with Sam on the east side of the human sector," said Ted. "The man fit Bev's description of him perfectly."
Bev dropped her face into her hands. "He couldn't ... he wouldn't do this to me ..."
"From what you told me about him, I'll bet he could," Eileen said.
Bev jerked her head up, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. "Maybe he's changed! Maybe he's gotten better and has turned his life around."
"From what I was told, Larry was letting Sam pay for everything," said Ted.
"Sounds like he's still a deadbeat, then," said Eileen.
Bev shot to her hooves. "I don't have to listen to this."
"Everyone, please, calm down," said Connie, while at the same time her cell phone buzzed. She took it out to find it going through it's boot up sequence. "Well, that answers my next question about your abilities, Bev."
Bev's expression softened as she sat back down. "I can't control it. Even Jenny is starting to gain more control over her own ability. I'd much rather be just an ordinary unicorn."
Connie thought she heard a bit of uncertainty in the woman's voice, but she was not sure. "Yes, I was told you don't want to rehumanize."
"And you're not going to make her, either," Wildy muttered.
"No, I'm not," Connie said. "It's her choice. Just like it's my daughter's choice to remain a pony, and I respect and support that."
Wildy's expression softened slightly, and she responded with a subdued, "Good."
"Unfortunately, where I can give my daughter support, it's not something I can do as easily for Bev."
"But you're supposedly in contact with Twilight Sparkle. Surely she has access to the transformation spell and can give Bev what she wants!"
"I don't think she can violate the treaty that easily for just one person," Connie said. "She feels the same sympathy for Partials as you do, but there's only so much she can do. And, frankly, it's not the priority right now."
"What is the priority then?" Wildy asked.
"Keeping you all safe," Connie said.
"And just how are you going to do that?" Eileen asked. "Maybe you have two feds on your side, but there's a whole bureau after us."
"Maybe not the whole of the bureau," Connie said. "Agent Heller suspects this is the work of Matthew Fuller, the regional director."
Jenny's eyes suddenly widened.
"He has almost complete autonomy in dealing with the Midwest and parts of the Front Range. He has a lot more latitude than someone in his position normally has."
Jenny bolted to her feet. "Connie, my sister is Sunrise Storm. She's at MIDROC with the Pony Council delegation now."
Connie should have expected even more surprises. She had no idea Jenny was at all related to the pegasus who even a lot of humans seemed to know at least her name.
"Is she in some sort of danger from this guy now?"
"I doubt it," said Connie. "Not considering Twilight is at MIDROC as well."
Jenny turned to Eileen. "Shit. Those voice mails on my phone were likely from my sister. What if she needed help from me?"
"You can't answer those voice mails," Eileen said.
"What?? I have to! She may be just as worried about me as I am about her now!"
"And risk someone tapping into the conversation? Especially after what Connie just told us about this dickwad who's running the show."
"What am I supposed to do then, just ignore her?!" Jenny yelled.
"Jenny, I'll talk to Twilight about her," said Connie. "But I think your aunt is right, we can't trust our cell phones right now."
"You are, with Twilight."
"We're ... communicating by more magical means," said Connie. "As she was concerned about the same thing as well."
Jenny dropped into her chair with a distressed sigh.
Eileen draped an arm around her niece's shoulders and said, "Even if it is just Fuller, he's got a lot of people and firepower. I don't see how we can stand up against that."
Connie looked thoughtful. "No, we can't. But we can make it harder for them to keep the secret."
"Uh, I don't follow."
"It's obvious they're trying to keep this hushed up," said Connie. "They want no witnesses."
"You mean they don't want human witnesses," Wildy said bitterly. "They don't care what ponies think."
"Yes, exactly."
Wildy blinked. "Huh?"
"It's unfortunate but true," said Connie. "Humans are considered more reliable witnesses right now than ponies are."
Wildy just stared.
"Why are you looking surprised? You just came up with that idea yourself."
"Yeah, but I never expected you to admit it," said Wildy.
"Nevertheless, we can take advantage of it," said Connie.
"How?" Ted asked.
"First of all, we insist that Bev's brother come to her."
"We're already considering that."
"Second, we invite far more humans into this district than you have before."
"What?!" Wildy cried.
Fire gasped. "Yes, that's absolutely brilliant!"
"No, it's not, it's stupid!" Wildy said. "It gives the feds more opportunity to sneak an agent in."
"So what?" Fire countered. "It's like Connie said, they'd still have to mount some sort of large operation to take Bev and Jenny into custody."
"And this makes it easier for them!"
"No, it doesn't," said Connie. "The scope of Jenny's ability means they would need a lot more agents and a team of crystal ponies to stop her magic. If he really is concerned about doing this in secret, he won't risk such high visibility."
"If he's really concerned about that," said Wildy. "We're all speculating about what he will or won't do."
"But it fits with what's going on," said Eileen. "He wants Bev to come to some secret location away from other people. That to me says he doesn't want witnesses."
"I hate to say this, but that points more towards Bev's brother Larry being involved," said Connie.
Bev gave her an indignant look but remained silent.
"There's another thing in our favor," said Fire. "I don't think Fuller knows about Jenny's predictive powers yet. Her other abilities, yes, as they're more obvious when they manifest."
"But if they did, why no crystal traitors among them?" Wildy asked. "Why let her get away like that? I'm still worried they let her into the pony sector as an excuse to come straight in here, and we're just being played for suckers."
"I have to go back and consult with Agent Heller," said Connie. "This is all very valuable information."
"Don't take this wrong, Connie," said Eileen. "But I really hope you're on the level with us. We're taking a huge risk in telling you all this shit. If we had any other choice, we wouldn't be doing this."
"I understand," Connie said in a softer voice. "I'm taking a similar risk. I'm effectively collaborating with people who, in a strict interpretation, have broken the law."
"Why are you doing this?" Wildy asked in a voice which sounded genuinely curious.
"Because I don't want my daughter growing up in a world of hate," Connie declared. "And that's regardless of whether she rehumanizes or not. It's time to move past the question of why ponies exist and accept that they do and don't deserve to be treated like second class beings, or forced to abandon their culture just to conform."
"And you're not asking them to abandon their culture when you introduce human ideas like money and consumerism?" Wildy asked.
"I don't ask anyone to give up anything. Ponies will accept what they want and reject what they don't. I'm also asking humans to accept pony ideas. It's why I'm encouraging ponies to let more humans visit their communities. I want humans to see how ponies live just as much as I want ponies to accept how humans live."
"And we have a new opportunity to do that now," said Fire. "Especially in the wake of what happened at Village Center. It will show that we refuse to let that event define the debate."
Connie knew she was risking her entire political career. Hotheads in the City Council were yelling for a suspension of her biggest human-pony cooperative efforts in light of Village Center, despite Twilight having announced that a rehumanized person may be behind the incident. Some on the Council either refused to believe the explanation or simply used it as an excuse to push for rolling back Connie's programs and forward their own political agenda.
She was aware that the ballots for the election in a month had yet to be printed. There was still time for the Council to submit her to a no-confidence vote come November 7th.
The Crystal Patch turned out to be a familiar place to Bob. It had been here where he had found a Native American relic that he had shown to his Aunt Sarah, which in turn had led to her acquiring her cutie mark. A group of crystal ponies stood in clearing near the remnants of a fire ring from some years past, likely the result of illegal camping. What was now the outskirts of Pony Hope had once been BLM land that had not been designated for camping or hunting.
The fire ring had been re-purposed, filled with the materials Susie had mentioned had been gathered. Like with those donated to Twilight during her earlier attempt to find suitable Earth materials for holding magic, some had obviously come from rings or other jewelry that likely were in the possession of these ponies when they were humans.
However, Susie's claim of a "wide variety of materials" really meant a wide variety of quartz. Bob saw bits of everything from the soft white of milky quartz to the pink hues of rose quartz, from the mint green of prasiolite to the purple beauty of amethyst.
Whisper introduced the other crystal ponies present before glancing about and giving a concerned hum. "There was somepony else who was supposed to be here, but she appears to be absent."
"She must have stepped away for a moment, since she was the one who brought the materials," said Susie.
Bob counted the crystal ponies present. Six in all, which matched what Susie had said earlier. Only when he heard hooves crunch against fallen leaves did he turn his head and see a familiar unicorn mare approaching.
"Ah, there she is," said Whisper with a smile.
"Purity?" Bob asked.
Pure Waters smiled as she approached. "Good to see you again, Bob."
"I thought you were heading back to Montana."
"I did." She gestured towards one of the crystal pony stallions. "But my coltfriend Light Spark told me what you were trying to do, and I wanted to help."
Whisper turned to Bob. "We needed a unicorn to provide the energy that the rest of us will transform. We figured you can't do that and manipulate the materials at the same time."
"I thought this was only fair," said Purity. "All the other tribes are learning more about what they can do, so why not them, too?"
"I'm not sure there will be too much of that today," said Bob. "I first need to examine these materials and see if I can figure anything out. You may get a bit bored."
Purity smiled. "If it means seeing you practice magic, I won't be the least bit bored. I really did pick up on your instruction, so maybe I'll get to learn something new."
"We also need to practice," said Whisper. "We want to be very careful in how we absorb magic from other ponies. We want to take only what is given and not a single bit more."
Bob nodded and stepped over to the fire ring. He levitated a chunk of smoky quartz. "What was the selection process used for these?"
"Some of it was based on what Princess Twilight tried," said Purity. "I know those failed, but Whisper thought it would be good to try it again."
"And the rest?"
"As a human, I was something of a mystic. I believed that certain minerals had the ability to channel natural forces and energies. I used to carry some all the time, and I placed them around the house to give it a better sense of well-being. Quartz is a sort of go-to mineral for general energy flow."
Bob refrained from noting that he had thought all that to be so much bunk as a human. Then again, humans had thought the idea of real magic was bunk as well, and look where they were now.
"If I may ask, how much do you know about how the Equestrians bind magic to objects?" Purity asked.
"Well, a little more than I did when Whisper first contacted me."
"Things are looking up already, it would seem!" said Whisper to the eager nods of the others.
"It's a fraction of what the Equestrians know," said Bob. "Long story short, I had a chance to see another unshielded artifact and something clicked. I can't describe it in words. I'm hoping to examine these materials and see if I get the same experience."
"By all means, please begin," said Whisper. "Meanwhile, we'll practice absorbing magic from Purity."
"Light told me a little about this," Purity said. "I'm to cast a spell first."
"Exactly. And let us know if you feel your magic is being drained faster than you're expending it. We want to absorb only the magic of the spell and no further."
Bob was grateful he would not have everypony staring at him while he attempted this initial assessment. That Whisper seemed adamant about doing this in a safe manner made Bob feel better about the whole experiment; it certainly helped refute the notion that crystal ponies had some nefarious agenda.
He rummaged through the available materials until he came upon one that looked similar to the Farhearing Stone, if far smaller. He carefully levitated the emerald, having to concentrate to maintain a hold on it due to its small size.
The gem had a crystal lattice structure remarkably similar to the artifact. He would not have been surprised if the base material was the same, the differences incurred by centuries of exposure to Equestria's ambient magical field. From what he remembered of Twilight's theory on the subject, magic subtly altered ordinary materials, allowing them to become "thaumically aware," or "magically-aware" was the more common term among other ponies.
Bob glanced to the side and saw all the crystal ponies weakly glowing. Purity had her eyes closed, the glow of her own horn fading and brightening.
He returned his attention to the gem, which he placed upon one of the rocks that formed the edge of the fire ring. He recalled what he had learned upon examining the Farhearing Stone and summoned up the binding rune in his head while combining it with his levitation spell. If it worked, the gem would be charged with the magic of the spell energy and self-levitate.
He was not expecting success, and success was exactly what he didn't get.
It was not precisely what the crystal ponies wanted. Their goal should theoretically be simpler to accomplish, which was using these materials as magical batteries. Storing raw magical energy should be easier than applying a structured spell, but Bob figured he would learn something in the attempt.
What he had learned was that he felt something was missing.
At first he thought his mind was simply echoing what Twilight had stated in her report, that Earth materials lacked a certain something, though she had not been able to explain in terms Earth scientists could understand. Since then, speculation had focused on either an additional spacial dimension or an undiscovered force carrier particle, either of which were predicted by some versions of the Grand Unified Theory.
Yet as he tried the same thing on another gem -- a small ruby -- he got a similar sensation. Similar, not the same.
He repeated the experiment with a sapphire. Again, something was missing. Again, the sensation was not quite the same.
"I need to rest a bit, I'm sorry," Purity said in a tired voice.
Bob set down the sapphire as Whisper said, "Our apologies if we pushed too far and started draining you."
"It didn't feel like that, I just have never kept my horn charged for that long a stretch. Give me about ten minutes, and I should be fine."
"Of course."
Bob glanced at the other gemstones, but hearing Purity's voice made him reconsider, and he picked up a piece of milky quartz instead. He charged his horn and applied the rune again.
He blinked in surprise. The sensation was not there. He got no sense something was missing. Yet when he released the quartz crystal, it went into free fall. He caught it and confirmed the attempt to bind the spell had failed like it had with the others.
He tried it again. It failed again, yet he still did not sense something was missing. If he could trust what this feeling was telling him, then the quartz should have worked.
He frowned. It was hardly at all scientific. Until then, he could draw on the fact that magic had structure and followed a set of rules. This was neither, just some intangible feeling which had no clear logical basis. It had to be little more than wishful thinking on his part.
He heard hooves approach. "Have you found anything?" asked Purity in a hopeful voice.
"I'm not sure, to be honest," said Bob.
Purity smiled. "I saw you holding the quartz with a thoughtful look on your face."
"Has he discovered something?" said Whisper as he trotted over.
"I thought I had sensed something about this mineral, but it's likely a fluke," said Bob.
"Maybe it's not!" Purity said in an excited voice. "Remember what I told you about quartz and its ability to channel energy?"
"But that's just ..." Bob trailed off. He levitated the milky quartz again and turned it over several times. Was he sensing a very weak magic flow like he sometimes did when levitating Equestrian materials?
He had to know whether this was just a figment of his imagination or not.
Bob turned to Purity. "Which type of quartz channels energy best?"
"It can be different for each pony depending on their--"
"Which one worked best for you?" Bob said, some impatience creeping into his voice.
Purity looked over the available crystals. She levitated a piece of rose quartz. "This one."
Bob took it from her. He again felt a very faint flow of magic. "Take it back for a moment."
Purity gave him a confused look but did as he asked.
"Do you feel anything?" Bob asked. "And I mean something tangible."
"When I feel energy flowing from crystals, it's always tangible to me," said Purity.
Bob wondered if dealing with a mystic was not the best idea in the world. "I mean do you feel any of your unicorn magic flowing through it?"
Purity considered. "I don't think so. It speaks to me spiritually, not magically."
Bob took it back from her. That should have convinced him it was a fluke. Yet he could not shake the feeling that he had discovered something.
"Purity, please let me know when you're ready to use your horn again," said Bob. "I want to try something."
Later in Connie's office, Jason listened with a mix of astonishment and concern as Connie described her meeting with Ted and his cohorts in the pony sector. He took a moment to process the information when Connie was done before turning to his partner. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking about Jenny Tanner?"
"That she represents an even bigger danger than Ms. Kelton?" Anthony offered.
"Yes. I don't know where the hell she got that power from, but she can't be allowed to use it whenever she pleases, at least not without some sort of supervision or oversight."
"I didn't tell you this so you can go apprehend her," Connie said in irritation. "They only told me about it on the condition that you wouldn't go after them yourselves."
Anthony turned to his laptop. "We're not, certainly not now."
"But when this is said and done, she needs to report that ability at once," said Jason. "Regardless of our personal feelings in the matter, that's the law."
"What happens to her after that?"
"She'll be detained for a short time until they get a better handle on her power and update her PREQUES rating." Jason turned his head towards Anthony. "What is her rating anyway?"
"That's what I'm looking up now." Anthony paused. "Or should I?"
"What do you mean?"
"You were worried about the database being monitored if we poked around looking for information on whoever Ryan used to be," said Anthony. "I just discovered that Miss Tanner's name is already in the FBI computers."
Jason frowned. "For what?"
"I can't tell, it's been classified at a higher security level than mine."
"Okay, this is getting ridiculous," Jason said. "What the hell is Fuller's game? He's obviously got a personal interest in both Ms. Kelton and Miss Tanner that he doesn't want anyone else to know."
"I think you're right," said Connie. "Remember what I said about the Narrative that Jenny described? It's like a fantasy story running parallel to real events that gives her insights into what's going on elsewhere. The Baron is the main character, and he's sounding like the Narrative's way of referring to Fuller. Jenny described the Baron as working for only his own aims and not some bigger organization, so perhaps Fuller is as well."
"I don't know how much I believe in this predicting-the-future shtick of hers," said Jason. "It's not exactly something that will hold up in court."
"She didn't refer to it as predictive," said Connie. "She wasn't sure what it was, but she didn't think it was that. In either case, it seems to have proven correct up until now."
Jason glanced at the open book on Connie's desk and flicked his tail at it. "You get a response yet from the Princess?"
Connie glanced at the book and shook her head. "The eyes on her drawing are still closed. She must be busy. I should tell you that Jenny wants to talk to her."
"Unless you're willing to bring that book into the pony sector, that's not likely going to happen," said Jason.
"And I would advise against it," said Anthony. "That's our only means to communicate with her without surveillance. We shouldn't risk discovery or damage to the book." He looked over to Jason. "I'm going to risk a check of the PREQUES database for Miss Tanner."
"Go for it," said Jason. "We need something to go on. Any luck with your contacts in Washington?"
"I have a lead. Someone who used to be a DBA for the Department of Rehumanization who owes me a favor. He still has friends who are working on that system. If he can convince them to back-door into the database, they might be able to get the info we need."
"I don't envy him. They background-check those DBAs something fierce. Convincing them to do something like this won't be easy." Jason turned back to Connie. "So what about their account of what happened? Were any crystal ponies present at all?"
"No one recalled seeing any," Connie said. "They thought that was odd as well."
"Miss Tanner was a one-point-three," Anthony announced. "Slight hair and eye discoloration, a thin patch of fur around the hips, lingering earth pony strength, and something noted as 'magical resonance of unknown origin.'"
"So Fuller knew from the start something was up with her," said Jason.
"The fact that she's in the FBI system means someone was tracking or investigating her," said Anthony.
"They certainly low-balled her when the assessed her." Jason stepped over to the laptop, his eyes scanning down the record. "Whoa, there's a blast from the past."
"What?" Anthony asked.
Jason levitated a pen and tapped the screen. "Right here, the crystal pony registered for Miss Tanner's rehumanization."
"Tonya Jarris?"
"Yeah, I know her," said Jason. "And she doesn't make mistakes like that. Whatever power Miss Tanner has, it didn't develop until recently."
"That matches with what Jenny told me," said Connie. "It started in the last few weeks or so before she had her first surge."
Jason considered. "Can you look up Tonya's name? I'm interested to see what she's up to now."
Anthony nodded and typed at the keyboard. One eyebrow rose slightly. "She's assigned to head of security at MIDROC."
"Whoa, now, what?" Jason said. "She's working for Fuller?"
"Seems like it."
Jason frowned. "Then she either has no idea about what Fuller is up to, or she's undergone some sort of one-eighty in her thinking. The Tonya I know would never put up with these shenanigans. Any details on what exactly she's doing?"
"Why not ask Twilight?" Connie said. "She's at MIDROC and may have run into her."
"We may have to, as her current assignment is classified," said Anthony.
"I thought you said she was head of security," said Jason. "What's so classified about that?"
"She was assigned to some sort of mission starting today, but I don't even have a location let alone what her exact mission is."
"Oh, I can guess. I'll bet you anything she's been assigned to whatever operation Fuller has planned to take Ms. Kelton and possibly Miss Tanner into custody."
"Why's that?"
"Her cutie mark," said Jason. "She can absorb something like five times the energy of the average crystal pony. Hell, she can drain a pony completely if she puts her mind to it."
Anthony leaned back in his chair. "I don't like the idea of someone like that working for Fuller in that capacity."
"Unless she thinks it's all legit. I want to try to contact her."
"I think that's too risky."
"You don't know Tonya like I do," said Jason. "I knew her when she was a cop. She won't compromise her principles for anyone, not knowingly anyway. And she would be a hell of an ally on our side."
"Jason, I'm going to have to disagree with you here," said Anthony. "If you're wrong, this will get us into a lot of trouble and could destroy this entire investigation."
Before Jason could reply, a voice rose from the book. "Hello? Is anyone there?"
Connie turned towards the book and picked it up. "I'm here, Twilight."
"Connie, if you could brief her on what's going on while I speak with my partner, I'd appreciate it," said Anthony.
"Of course," said Connie before she stepped away with the book.
"Look, I know what you're going to say," said Jason.
"I'm not sure you do," Anthony said. "I've been going along with your hunches because they often turn out correct, but we're in a delicate spot right now."
"Yeah, tell me about it. If Tonya is here for some operation against them, we don't have a lot of time. She's not one to dawdle, and she's very good at organization."
"I don't mean that."
"We have to weigh the risk here," said Jason. "I think it's more risky not to try and contact her. If she really doesn't know Fuller's agenda, she needs to be stopped from doing something that could further it."
"And if you're wrong?" Anthony asked in a warning tone.
"What difference does it make? We don't have a solid case against him yet. This is a chance to get something on him."
Anthony sighed. "I hate decisions like this."
"I know," Jason said in a more somber voice. "Let's hope we don't have another one like this again."