//------------------------------// // 4-3 // Story: Heroes Never Die // by Shimmerist Ari //------------------------------// Ari got to sit in the back seat this time, between the two ponies. Everything was great! Though Wild Card fell asleep right away. Dresden was the one stuck driving. Mostly because he had a car. “Am I going anywhere in particular?” Dresden asked. “I’ll let you know,” said Magic Card. “Just do some more aimless wandering for now.” “What specifically do you see, anyway?” Dresden asked. “It’s hard to explain to somepony without magic,” said Magic Card. “Just another sense… Hm.” Every few miles, Magic Card would stick her head out the window and look around. So far, these had been false alarms. But this time. “Slow down.” Dresden did so, pulling up onto the shoulder. They were downtown right now. Of course, in America that still meant very few people outside their huge SUVs. It wasn’t hard for Ari to guess she was going for the one guy out walking. “Hey, you!” Magic called out to him. “Over here!” He stopped and pointed at himself. Magic Card squinted, appraising him for a solid minute before shaking her head. “No. You’re not the one. Not yet.” “Huh?” His finger never dropped. “What does that mean>” “Let’s go!” Magic Card pointed forward. Ari started to drive. “Wait!” He jogged after them. “You can’t just say something like that and leave!” But by then, Magic Card had rolled up the window and the car was out of reach. “What did you sense in him?” Ari asked. “I’m pretty sure he’s Shim-curious,” said Magic Card. “If you remember his face, maybe talk to him again later. But certain things can break up the flow of my collections, so you don’t want him yet.” Ari nodded. “How long does it normally take for you to find what you’re looking for?” Ari asked. “It’s like fishing. A lot of waiting till suddenly you got it,” said Magic. “But I’m one of the best seekers, you know. It doesn’t usually take long for a score. In just a few months I found all kinds of neat things. Found three undiscovered copies of Nintendo World Championship and a Stratovarius violin, among other things.” “Damn,” said Dresden. “You gotta be rich by now.” “Yep! My life used to suck like you poor monkeys,” said Magic. “But now it’s great! I get to run all over the country finding ponies for the SSP! I get to do what I love all the time, just collect to my heart’s content. That’s the real great thing about being a pony.” It must be so nice! “I wish one of your Ais could at least tell you what your cutie mark would be,” said Ari. “At least then, I’d know what I’m supposed to do.” “It still wouldn’t be the same without magic enhancing your abilities,” Dresden pointed out. “Yeah. I guess it’s harder for society to bar you from your dreams if you have a power that makes you accel at that,” said Ari. “But they’re going to try,” Magic pointed out. “Which is why we need to fight! Fight! Fight!” Ari nodded again, more determined. “Oh!” Magic stuck her head out the window again, tail wagging this time. “Got a bite! There! The… the uh…” Magic bit her lip as Dresden pulled into the strip mall area. Only then did Magic Card recognize the building they wanted. “The bookstore!” She jumped back in the car. “Do people still read physical books?” Dresden parked in front of a large Barnes and Noble. Ari had lived in this town half her life and never even knew such a thing existed. “Not everyone wants to be a pony cyborg,” Ari reminded him. “Well, it looks like it’s not a lot.” Dresden thumbed to the clearance poster over the door. Yet another business closing down. Books were going the way of eggs it seemed. The group of four walked into the store. There were plenty of people inside but a dwindling supply of books as the place wound down. Perhaps there was a point in history where 80% off would have been tempting. Instead, Ari wondered how these people even had money to spend. The two ponies in the group drew a great deal of attention. Everybody was taking pictures of them. That made Ari nervous at first, seeing as this was supposed to be a stealth mission. But then again they wouldn’t be able to suspect anything from just this. Magic trotted around the store making a low ‘nunununu’ under her breath. They were nearing the stares when a lady with a small child approached them. “Hi. Can my daughter pet you?” She asked, bending down on her knees to look at Magic Card. Ari couldn’t help but cringe at the question. She was connected to ponies enough on the internet to know how much they hated that question from strange humans. “Bleck! No!” Magic Card stuck her tongue out in disgust at the idea. Offended, the woman said some unkind words before she turned and stormed off. “Freaking monkeys.” Magic Card muttered under her breath. “You’ll understand how annoying that is one day.” At last, they found what had to be the target. She was maybe the same age as Ari with long, not-so-well-kept brown hair. Exactly the type of girl you’d expect to be in the bookstore, really. Both her pale skin and slim form could be described as ghostly. Perhaps her overly loose clothes could as well. Huge glasses. Not exactly a great fashion sense in Ari’s opinion and no makeup either. The mystery person was sitting in the reading area, skimming through a huge pile of books. This place actually did look kind of nice. Too bad it was about to die… though Ari was determined to replace it with somewhere better! Magic Card shushed them, signaling the rest to wait as she ran up to the target. Magic Card sat down right next to her, staring up at the woman for a long time without being noticed. The human turned three pages before moving to another book. Only then did she notice the company. Her reaction was shock that someone was there, a pause, then shock again that it was a pony coming to visit her. “Omigosh! It’s a pony!” “Yeah! I am a pony!” “Oh, wow! Your kind rarely comes out here! Um... um… can I pet you?” She held the book up covering most of her face. “Yes!” “Oh no!” The woman covered her entire face and turned away, blushing. “I forgot that was a rude question to ask!” “If you think it’s rude, why did you do it?” “I’m sorry! I… I just got flustered for a second. Forgive me!” “Do you want to pet me or not?” She put down the book and turned back to Magic. Then she tapped her fingers together, shyly considering it. “Is it okay?” “Yes!” She put her hand on Magic Card's head, slowly at first, cautious of any kind of reaction. But once her hand was on, she began stroking Magic’s mane with some confidence. Magic Card closed her eyes and smiled. So did the lady. “But no grabbing!” Magic Card warned. “That’s the thing we actually hate. Feels weird, you know?” “Okay…” “My name is Magic Card. You are?” “Um. Pamela. You know um…” She relaxed for just a moment. Then Wild Card sat down on her right, Dresden and Ari both took the nearby one-seaters. Magic Card moved confidently onto Pamela’s lap, making escape impossible. “This is the one!” Magic Card announced. “I’m sure of it.” Pamela sat perfectly still, not daring to make a move after such a proclamation. Ari decided it would be best to just cut to the chase after that. “I’m just going to ask you outright.” Ari looked her in the eye. “Are you a Shimmerist?” The question froze Pamela in horror. Her already pale face turned positively ghostly as she shook her head. Then swallowed. “I’m sorry! I really don’t hate anyone it’s just… just um…” “Relax! We’re Shimmerists, too. We like the fact that you’re a Shimmerist.” “You do?” Pamela looked to Magic Card, who confirmed it with a nod. At last, she relaxed again. But a confused kind of relief. Clearly, Pamela had never met such like-minded individuals. Perhaps not even online. “But how did you… know exactly?” “Magic!” Magic Card proudly proclaimed. “Oh. Right. It’s easy to forget magic is real out here.” “We’re actually starting a group for Shimmerists,” said Ari. “We want to set up a community center and everything.” “Really?” Pamela looked up from her pony with clear interest. Ari nodded. “Community and friendship are the greatest values of Shimmerism,” Ari proclaimed. “So we want to foster community.” “Well. They are closing down the bookstore,” Pamela said. “This was where I came for… well to try and talk to other people.” “Do you meet a lot of people here?” Ari asked. “Well… no. But sometimes! It’s a lot for me.” “Well the Shimmerist Center will be a way better spot for socializing,” Ari promised her. “Don’t you feel like society’s getting only ever more isolated?” Pamela grabbed a book, considered it, then nodded. “Well pony values are the only thing countering that right now! You’ll be able to have an actual community with like-minded people.” “Do you um.” Pamela fidgeted with the book for some time, hesitant to admit her dirty secret. “Do you two want to be… to be ponies too?” “Yes.” Ari nodded without hesitation. “Absolutely,” Dresden added. Maybe more than anything else, that brought comfort to Pamela. She put down her comfort book and smiled. “Well. Maybe I’ll go then. I always kind of wanted to… Where um…?” “We’re not sure yet. I’m just getting an email or anything for now. And scouting out people who might want to join,” said Ari. “So what kind of Shimmerist are you?” “What… kind?” Pamela stared at Ari blankly. “Like a social Shimmerist? Techno Shimmerist? Eco Shimmerist?” “I thought there was just… Shimmerists. What kind are you?” “I’m a social Shimmerist. With the Social Shimmerist Party.” “What’s a ‘social’ Shimmerist?” “We’re an alt-left, secular, Shimmerist, socialist, anarcho-communal-syndicalist–” “I don’t know what any of that means!” “You said you were a Shimmerist just a minute ago!” “Okay, I understand that part.” “Alright. So which type of Shimmerist are you, then?” “I dunno. The normal type?” “Who inspired you to become a Shimmerist?” “No one, really. I just heard Shimmerists wanted more people to be ponies and um…” “Hm.” Ari closed her eyes to think. “Okay, this question usually decides it. Order these from most to least important. Ponies are superior to us because A. They’re more social. B. They’re more moral. C. They’re more orderly and disciplined. D. They’re more powerful.” “I’m not sure if I believe any of those things. Or at least, it isn’t that important if it’s true.” “What?!” Ari gawked, unable to react to this. “Are you an eco-Shimmerist, then? And you only care about the fact that ponies are also better for the environment?” “Not really.” “Then why do you want to be a pony?” “Oh, I think ponies are better than humans. But it’s because they’re so cute.” Pamela clasped her hands together. Cute? “Well.” Ari sat around unsure how to respond. “I mean, you’re not wrong.” “And they cuddle like all the time! Like always! How amazing would it be to live in a world where it’s just 100% socially acceptable to cuddle whoever whenever and there’s nothing… implied about it!” “Yeah, I guess.” “Honestly?” She looked both ways before coming closer to Ari. “I know this is kind of a more… hardcore belief but its kind of makes me sad to see humans influencing the ponies to be more… well to re-adopt our taboo about physical intimacy. I just hate how distant everyone is in modern society! I don’t want to see that idea spreading.” That was not hardcore at all. At least, not considering the circles Ari usually hung out in. “Hm!” Ari nodded firmly. “No, I understand. Pony culture should be influencing the human side of things, not the other way around. It’d suck if the government managed to just stomp out everything unique about them and make all the ponies into bland wage slaves like they want. That’s why the SSP has a strict goal of promoting the good aspects of pony communities.” “They do? Like the whole cuddling thing?” “Well that’s not… officially on the list,” Ari admitted. “But I guess it’d include that.” “Then I want to sign up for the SSP! How do I join?” “We’re anarchists. You don’t sign up for the SSP. You just are the SSP. So welcome aboard, friendo!” That was one down.