//------------------------------// // Chapter 14. Making My Way in The World. // Story: Magnets in a Mare's World. // by Triple-Rainbow //------------------------------// Radiance came by to visit me earlier today. Out of all the Power Ponies, I feel like she was the only one who gave any serious thought to my beliefs. With the others it would always be an argument. Zapp would shout for a while, sometimes I would shout back when she said something decidedly dumber than her usual brand of stupidity, and she’d finish off our meeting by saying there was no hope for me. Then Saddle Ragger would tell me that my thoughts were just my inner demons or some other religious drool. Fili-Second wouldn’t even try to approach any subjects relating to my morals or beliefs, often just going on about how the weather is and what’s on tv. Matter Horn likes to debate but I hate debating here. I think I understand the original Magneto’s pain just a bit more now when he had to debate that stubborn professor. Marevelous hasn’t come to see me since the first visit, so she was currently my favorite Power Pony at the moment. My second “favorite”, and I use that term relatively loosely, was Radiance since she neither forced the conversation to be about my values or tried to avoid the topic. I think, out of all of them, she understood me better than the rest of them. She wasn’t as against the idea of permanently dealing with villains as her friends were, and the only times she attempted to sway me were half-hearted, as if they were just token gestures so that she could claim she tired. I still didn’t like her, at least not like I did when I was a hero, but she was the most tolerable. We didn’t say much of note, just that we were both relatively well (as well as a person in a prison of deviants can be), and she ended our conversation by asking for a favor. Cat Colt, the little leech that had been sticking near me during lunch hours and our recreation period, is apparently Saddle Ragger’s sibling. They wanted me to keep an eye on her little brother in here until Saddle Ragger lawyers could find a way to get him out legally. A bit surprised to learn about a hero and villain dynamic that didn’t align to any comics from Earth, I attempted to interrogate Radiance on how a super heroes younger brother turned to a life of burglary. For once, the gossiping enchantress didn’t immediately go into the details of someone else’s life, and just told me to ask Zephyr if I wanted to know. Naturally, I wanted to know if I would get anything out of our little arrangement, and she told me to name my price. I immediately asked where my helmet was, thinking that I could lower my demands to something more reasonable from there I was actually very surprised when she answered without an ounce of hesitation. When I asked why she was so willing to give that up, she said, “You couldn’t get to it, anyway, Darling. Starswirl’s Vault in Canterlot isn’t just a matter of distance, it’s also one of the most heavily guarded facilities in Equestria.” “If it’s so impressive, then how do the Dazzlings and others keep getting their enchantments back?” “Because there’s a stallion in here who earned a place in the enchanted’s prison without having enchantments,” she hinted with a familiar knowing and smug look. “Zephyr? That clown was able to break into the Vault?” I asked. I suppose even if he was an annoying little wart that clung to me, he was or I suppose is, this world’s equivalent of Cat Woman. “Surprising, isn’t it? The ponice were just as surprised, which is why it took so long to collect enough evidence for an arrest and trial. Saddle Ragger is doing her best to dismiss most of the evidence as circumstantial, but it was pretty damning when we found that uh… Unique piece of clothing in his apartment.” “You could catch him in the vault itself and I would have still doubted it,” I retorted, earning a little giggle from the mare. “Now, if that’s all, I believe we’re almost out of time for today. Goodbye, Radiance,” I said, standing up from my seat and reaching over to hang up the phone. “Wait a moment, Darling,” Radiance called. “What about our agreement? If not for a friend, then surly you’ll want to help the colt that broke into the Starswirl’s vault?” Clever bitch. “A deal’s a deal, I suppose,” and with that, I walked away. She was a fool for believing that Zephyr and I were helpless. With my abilities and Zephyr’s knowledge, I would be able to retrieve my helmet and any enchanted item in the vault. I haven’t had the opportunity to talk to Zephyr yet, but after this entry I’ll try to find him and learn everything I can about the vault. I suppose for the sake of time I should skip the next week of bed-rest and the following week of catching up on the work that I needed to do. I hadn’t realized how much of a burden a secret identity was until I shared it with Timber. He still didn’t fully approve of my plan to earn the heroes’ trust and find a way back to my world, but he still tried to help. The schedule was re-arranged a bit to give me more opportunities to slip away and help with the only downside being my cut paycheck and that I had to do a majority of cleaning in the forest. Of course, I was alone when I had to fish up trash in the lake and around the immediate area of the camp, places where I could expedite my work by immediately collecting the cans and finish work faster than ever. By the end of the week, I had come up with a plan regarding the enchanted amulet. I still had the Dazzling’s necklace tucked away in a satchel (it’s not a purse, there’s a difference. An Earthling difference, granted, but still a difference). I didn’t really know what to do with it, so I thought dropping by the police station would be the best option. Of course, I wanted to earn a few brownie points as well, so I looked in the Yellow Pages for a donut shop and asked if they were willing to deliver a box of donuts to their own roof. They didn’t even raise an eyebrow at my request. I suppose they were used to Pegasi quite literally “dropping” by to pick up breakfast. So, after donning my costume which was still sporting a rather sizable hole in my cape, I flew off to Trott City with money for the donuts and the amulet. After getting the confectionaries from the dumfounded mare who was standing on the roof, I flew towards the TCPD with my peace offerings and amulet. It wasn’t hard to grab their attention as I floated down, causing several guards who were previously lounging outside with cigarettes or coffee to immediately discard their pleasant distractions as they drew their weapons. “Wait! Wait! Don’t shoot!” I shouted, throwing my hands up and preparing the invisible magnetic field around me to catch any bullets from some Trigger Happy Trixie idiot. “Keep your guns on him, everypony, but don't shoot unless I say so!” A voice called out as a mare in a long brown trench coat stepped through the front doors of the TCPD. She was an earth pony with blue and pink colored hair and beige skin. She wore a cold scowl on her face as she walked down the steps and dug into her coat, pulling out a badge as her other hand fished for her gun. “Commissioner Bon-Bon, TCPD. I got a system setup for detecting illegal enchantments in my office, and it was ringing louder than my alarm clock just now. So, drop the enchantment or else,” she ordered as she cocked her pistol. “That’s why I’m here,” I said, taking off the satchel and floating it over to the commissioner by the rings. “I come in peace with donuts,” I promised, holing out the bag of confectionaries in my outstretched arm. “What’re the donuts for?” The mare asked. “Um… Eating? You know, police like donuts, right?” I tried to laugh a little to lighten the tension. A few of them shared a confused glance with each other while the commissioner snatched the satchel out of the air and dug through it. I shouldn’t have been surprised that police stereotypes didn’t fully carry over between worlds, but it actually stung a little to know that they didn’t understand Earth humor. It felt awkward being stared at like I had just said a string of random gibberish and it acted as another subtle reminder that this world wasn’t like my own. “About time you brought this back! What the heck were you doing with it this whole time?” Commissioner Bon-Bon demanded, shaking the amulet angrily as her scowl deepened. “Using it as a paper weight, what else?” I joked with a shrug. “Funny colt, huh? Well, why don’t you come inside, we’ve got a nice room where you can practice your material.” “I don’t suppose we could put a pin in that, could we?” I suggested, taking a slight step back and prompting several safeties to be turned off on the police’s guns. “We could put lead in it, instead. Your choice,” the commissioner retorted. “Am I being charged with something?” “If you try to fly off, absolutely.” I would have argued that she didn’t have any right to take me in, but considering how little I actually knew about this world’s laws, and the fact that I wanted to leave a good impression on the heroes of Terra, I decided to do as they would do and stood down. Running away from the police definitely wouldn’t leave any good impressions, and it would have been difficult to escape since a third of the police force had wings. “Alright, but I’d like to keep on my helmet, if that’s okay.” The Commissioner looked back at the precinct for a moment, staring at, what I thought, was nothing in particular. Blatantly staring at a wall with nothing on it should have set off a red flag or two, but I was too naïve back then. So, with my ignorance acting as a ball and chain, I waited for her answer. “Fine, but any funny business, and we’re gonna make it a paperweight, got it?” “Loud and clear,” I said with a mock salute. Rolling her eyes in exaggeration, the commissioner holstered her weapon and sent a silent command for the other officers to follow suit. As we entered the lobby of the precinct and passed under what looked like a metal detector, I felt a strange sensation wash over me. It wasn’t a sensation derived from myself, like fear or anxiety. It was something more physical, like the cold touch of winter on bare skin. Commissioner Bon-Bon lead me to a windowless room with only a pair of chairs facing each other and a table between them. I was able to easily recognize it as an interrogation room, but the severe lack of cameras of any hints of a two way mirror threw me for a loop. Instead of a blatantly obvious mirror on the wall, the police had put in an enchantment to blend the window into the stone walls that lined the room. It was the same type of enchantment that Moondancer had at her shop and the one that hid the Terror Twin’s lair. The room was also prepared solely for me in mind. There wasn't a scrap of metal in the entire room. The table and chairs had been replaced with a wooden table and two plastic folding chairs, the lights above me were the same ones used by the Flim Flam brothers, and even the door was replaced with a thick oak door. “Sit right there. Some ponies have a few questions for you,” Bon-Bon ordered. "And don't do anything stupid, alright." Nodding in compliance, I took my seat opposite of the door before she closed it behind me. I still had my box of donuts on hand, and with nothing else to do, I decided to take one out and eat as I waited. I spent good money on those donuts for a joke only I could laugh at, I was going to get some enjoyment out of them. When I was around two donuts in, the door finally opened, revealing the Masked Matter Horn standing behind the threshold. She was holding a clipboard under her arm along with a manila folder. At a glance, there was almost nothing different about her costume aside from the missing metal horn, but her metal bracelets and knee guards, along with the impractical strip of metal that cupped her breasts before connecting back at the base of her shoulder-blades, (I couldn't imagine that was comfortable) had each been replaced with plastic replicas which were likely enchanted to be nearly as strong as the original metal pieces of her uniform. It seemed like any words she prepared died in her throat when she looked at me eating. We simply stared at each other for a few uncomfortable moments before I scooted the Donut box closer. “Donut?” I offered dumbly. Blinking out of her silent stupor, the fake unicorn looked at the pastries before walking inside and taking her seat. “Thank you,” she said as she took one of the sprinkled confectionaries. 
 She laid down the manila folder, still closed, and placed the clipboard beside it, revealing a checklist with dozens of blank boxes. “So, Magneto, do you know why you’re here right now?” “I’m going to assume it’s not to get a pat on the back for bringing the amulet.” “‘Pat on the back?’” She parroted. “What, don’t you have pats on the back here?” Yet another discrepancy between worlds. For this world, the equivalent would be “Hug and a nuzzle.” Considering how gruesome this world can be at times, it’s almost baffling how curtsey it tries to be. “I don’t think we do. Anyway, you’re here because we’re worried,” Matter Horn explained. “About what?” She threw a glance at the wall to the right of us, an action I chose to ignore as she opened up the manila folder. “Would you feel comfortable removing your enchantment?” She asked, to which I answered immediately. “No.” “I was afraid of that,” she muttered. “Would you mind telling me anything about your enchantment. Where you found it, what you know about it, if some creature convinced you to do something? Anything really.” “Can I ask why it’s important?” “The scanner you went through at the entrance didn’t detect any malicious patterns in your enchantment, but we’d just like to make sure you’re,” she paused once more, flipping through the papers in her folder once more before pulling out a picture. “We want to make sure you’re safe with your enchantment. The power scanner isn’t as accurate as the ones used at the Harmony Castle, so we still don’t know much about it or your enchantment. Tell me, does this mare look familiar to you.” Sliding the picture over to me, Matter Horn leaned back into her chair as I picked up the picture. It was a grey faced woman with a blue goat horn and a yellow deer antler sticking out of the sides of her head. She wore a brown suit jacket with yellow gloves, one was a leather fingerless glove while the other looked like a wool glove. The only other things of note were the mugshot sign board that listed her name as Eris and the black piece of tape that covering where the eyes should have been on the photo. She wore a twisted smile as she stared at the camera. Peaking behind the tape as she tried to look at me. The eyes weren’t there. But they were. I felt them staring into me, piercing my soul with judgment as I gazed into an abyss of madness locked behind a flimsy door. As soon as I would turn my back that door would open by just a hair, earning inches on seconds as the madness inside crawled out from “Is she someone important?” I ended up asking as I pushed the picture back to Matter Horn. “Have you met her?” She asked. “No, I haven’t seen her before. I bought my enchantment around a year ago and I’ve been practicing with it since then,” I listed off. It wasn’t entirely a lie, only the part about how long I was in Equestria was inaccurate. “Who did you buy it from?” “A stallion in a dusty trench coat. He had tan skin and a a leather jacket with a hood. I couldn’t see his face because of his ugly purple scarf.” Another lie. I bought the enchantment from Moondancer and took back my property from the salesman, he could keep all of his trash. Of course, at the time, I thought she was only referring to the enchantment that hid my face. The scanner in the entrance of the TCPD looks for any hints of curses or enchantments, and since my abilities didn’t originate from either, it only detected the enchantment in my helmet. I’m glad I was too naive to realize what they were implying back then. If I had, then I may have tried to explain my abilities better in some feeble bid to earn more of their trust. And now, their trust would be one of the tools for my inevitable escape. “And what did he say when he sold it to you?” Matter Horn asked as she pressed on with her questions. “Is there a point to all this?” She ignored my question as she checked off several boxes on her clipboard. Feeling a pang of anxiety race through me, I reigned myself in and adopted a more professional posture, like a student sitting in the principal’s office. I wasn’t equals with Matter Horn, I was the rookie, the unknown factor that had just wandered in demanding others call me a hero. Being irrational or showing any sign of negative emotions towards her would only earn their scorn. Coughing awkwardly, I tried to back-pedal on my last comment. “Sorry, I’m just a little nervous right now.” “I can understand that, Magneto. The ‘point’ of this is to gauge… How we should approach you. You were able to resist the Dazzling’s enchantment, and fought against my friends and I without any outside help. I can guess that you want to try being a hero professionally, right?” “Yes ma’am,” I answered with enough confidence to mask my doubt. “I just want to make sure you understand what you’re doing, and to see if you’re able to handle this. In the past, I would have tried to talk you out of this, or tell you that you weren’t allowed, but past experience is a… It’s a teacher. So, Magneto, do you really want to be a hero. And let me clarify, that means putting the lives of the innocent first, not just protecting them but ensuring others can’t get hurt. It’s a lot of weight to carry, Magneto, not everypony can, especially considering… certain factors,” she meant my gender and how others would regard me. I already had months of experience dealing with degrading comments and remarks. If I couldn't take a few taunts and crude gestures from mares, then it would have been impossible for me to go home. “It’s a taxing job, and it’s not as thankful as many ponies think it is, and it’s not a job you can take lightly. There is an alternative. I’ve been authorized to give you one hundred and twenty thousand bits if you hand in your enchantment willingly. It’ll be given to somepony who can properly wield it, likely an officer or agent, and you get to leave this behind. No questions about who you are, how you got it, you just get the money and leave the enchantment.” With her ultimatum delivered, she pulled out a slip of paper from the folder and slid it to me. It was check with the more zeroes than I had ever seen on a check before. And, considering that I bought a dozen donuts for only a dollar and nickels and dimes, that much money in this world would have been in the millions on mine. If I were on Earth, I would have definitely thought about her offer. Especially since I lost almost nothing. I’d still have my powers, they’d have a helmet that could block telepaths and not much else, it was the greatest scam ever told. But, I didn’t need their money as much as I needed their trust at the time. This was clearly a test, a way to see how “good” I was in their eyes. Accepting that check would help me in a few ways, but not as much as earning the respect and favor of the heroes. Why would I need a hundred thousand bits if I was rubbing elbows with some of the richest super heroes on the planet, heroes who could owe me one day? After taking a moment to weigh my options, I slid the check back to Matter Horn. “I just want to help, Matter Horn. Thank you for the offer, but this is something I need to do. I’ve spent the past year working towards this. I’m not going to give up now just because of a few zeroes on a piece of paper.” To my delight, Matter Horn smiled as she stood up from her chair and leaned forward, extending a delicate hand as an olive branch of trust. “Well then, let me be one of the first ponies to welcome you to Trot City, Magneto.” “The pleasure is all mine, Matter Horn,” I said as I grasped her hand with a firm shake. It's funny, now that I can look back on it. Even their handshake felt completely foreign to me. So limp and awkward compared to the professional grip of a human. It felt wrong in my hand.